It’s been hard to find anything worth writing about lately. So much is just partisan bickering with little real substance. Let’s consider the pro-Palestinian student protests for a moment.
I have three observations. First, I think that those who characterize the protests as “LARPing activism” or “cos-playing radicalism” have it about right. Fortunately, I remember the student protests of the 60s and early 70s pretty vividly. I can say with confidence that most student demonstrators really didn’t give a damn about the Vietnam War. They were vitally interested in not being drafted. I would submit as proof of that assertion that the demonstrations were greatly muted long before the war ended but just about at the time that the draft ended in 1973.
My second observation is that IMO Tom Cotton’s remarks about the protests on the talking heads programs yesterday were pretty devastating. If the protesters were really pro-Palestinian they’d be demanding that Hamas surrender. There are a lot of things they may be demonstrating about but it’s not in support of the Palestinians.
My final observation on the subject is that the right strategy for addressing them is quite straightforward. People definitely have freedom of speech and a right to protest but they don’t have a right to bullhorns or disorderly conduct and they don’t have a right to conduct protests or camp on private property. The police should be called in the moment a protest strays from speech or one of these encampments is created on private property. When protesters are arrested clear distinctions should be made. Non-students should include charges of trespassing and, possibly, criminal property damage. If they are non-U. S. citizens they should be deported. While non-citizens have the same freedom of speech as citizens while on U. S. soil, they don’t have a right to raise hell here. Consider it a teachable moment.
“If the protesters were really pro-Palestinian they’d be demanding that Hamas surrender.”
Maybe you can explain the leverage that college students in the US have over Hamas that would cause them to consider anything they say. Come to think of I dont remember you demanding that Russia surrender. Guess you dont care about Ukraine.
Have always found this line of reasoning pretty weak. The protests, AFAICT, are largely about changing the behaviors of entities n the US. Some of it is kind of directed at Israel but there is zero chance it will have an effect. The few students who are not LARPing and have some idea of the history will also know that Hamas wont care what they say.
Anyway, if they break the law arrest them. It does look like the police are arresting, pretty forcefully, a number of people not breaking any laws. You also have some universities changing their rules just so they can stop protests, even when peaceful.
https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/iu-changes-policy-day-before-encampment-arrests
Steve
Lock the entitled bastards up and give them a criminal record.
Ignorant S O B’s.
One of the things I don’t see mentioned in any discussions I’ve read is the role of Title VI in administration incentives. A college I graduated from has had a Title VI investigation opened up against it after a pro-Palestinian rally in the Fall resulted in a few students injured and several arrested. I don’t think the school is at any real risk for losing federal support, but it will have to conduct a thorough investigation, report its findings, and show it has taken the incident seriously (perhaps with new policies going forward).
The rally appears to have been organized by non-students on social media to be held next to campus, so the school will want to emphasize the limits of its responsibility. But the organizer was “Students For Palestine,” and the non-campus location was a street running through campus and most attendees were not in the street. The rally was not permitted by the city or the school, but the question will be what policies did the school have in place that might have helped and did it enforce them? Has the school taken any action against students it knows violated its rules? Has it reported non-students who have committed crimes to the local authorities? Does the school have policies on overnight camping on school grounds, or being inside school buildings after hours?
All of the college’s incentives now that they realize the potential intensity of mob action around this issue are to enforce their rules, so that something bad doesn’t happen in the absence of enforcement.
I’m late to comment, but let me pitch Presbyterian colleges. They are the classicly liberal types of liberal arts schools, and they put a great deal of effort into getting their students to graduate. My kid went to Macalester (MN), and they got him past the finish line. I’ve heard good things about Milliken (IL), Hanover (IN), Centre (KY), and Maryville (TN) as well. Jewish students, especifically, might consider the advantages of a small college with close interpersonal ties between students and faculty.