I highly doubt that the protests are ‘against the policies ‘ of Israel. You know better. The protests are for the annihilation of Israel. They are explicitly pro Hamas. Don’t write bullshit.
nuance, not all of them are like that. Palistine does want extermination but Isreal said the same thing but more politely. Zizek got flack for pointing that out and was falsely called an anti-Semite. i mean he said it right after that said that the attacks by Hamas should be universally condemed and anyone who doesn't do that has a screw loose.
Welcome to war propaganda. nuance is lost. people neglect the shades of grey.
on the other hand, it's not like your'e off base to be worried. because some extremists REALLY DO SUPPORT HAMAS. it's a woke mind virus. i swear they and their censorship was no different than fascists and the ultra conservitive right.
Romania and the soviets used to be very very pro life. even banning contraceptives.
I too am frankly surprised that Monica took this stance. I love her and her leadership a lot, but this article was... off-base and filled with incorrect info. Also, the story of that young woman being stuck in the face with a flag stick was proven to have been an extreme exaggeration & not a deliberate act of violence attempting to injure her. Further, the Zionist counter-protesters engaged in a lot more violence than the pro-Palestinian supporters. Most of the latter were also not explicitly pro-Hamas, so that slanderous comment was also unlike Monica. This was an unpleasant post to read, but I understand we are not always going to agree in full with our heroes. Needless to say, FAIR is supposed to be against identity politics, and I would like to remind Monica that Zionism is a most pernicious example of that. It is very unbecoming of one of the leaders of FAIR to be defending any manifestation of it, including playing into the fallacy that opposing an explicitly ethnocentric ideology like Zionism, or a whole nation based on it like Israel, is "antisemitism." There should be no connection between an ideology espousing ethno-supremacist views based on the Perpetual Victim trope and any ethnic and/or religious demographic. Nor should support for Hamas be assumed by supporters of Palestinian liberation from the conditions of Gaza.
Any antisemitism, such as it exists, is incidental to the campus protests (and protestors). The impetus of the growing and massive movement against Israel and for the Palestinians comes from the heart of today's hard leftist wokeism. Oppressor/oppressed is the operative metric here. Don't forget that.
Well, I think that's actually one of the bigger problems: the language that people use. Words like 'right,' 'wrong,' 'good,' and 'evil' make it automatically very difficult to want to look at the other side and try to work together. (Giraffe Talk, Marshal Rosenberg - is an amazing concept here).
The whole conflict is based on large segments of populations that loathe each other because of that way of thinking too If only it gave the left a little bit of a window into how things can continue, but I don't think that they have that subtlety of thought.... Having said that, I've been to Israel, and I know that it's the only democracy in the entire area and certainly somewhere worth protecting. Unfortunately, they still have to deal with the likes of Hamas. Wishing them away won't make it so, and you're likely dealing with the bulk of the population there supporting them
Having said all of that, I think these [protesters?] are incredibly naive. They haven't looked into anything about the situation and have some form of mass hysteria. Of course, these days the economy demands that we be consumers of social virtue and wear it like an epithet. Sadly, schools don't teach rational thinking, just emotional thinking. You don't need highly-skilled teachers to do that. And it can make society just a little bit more watchful on the politicians and the bad laws we currently see and endure.
One thing that really does worry me is that nobody questions the funding of schools in terms of. the hundreds of millions of Saudi dollars pouring in, which very likely a part of this problem - I wonder which departments they are funding No way I would let a national power have anything to do with education of my citizens...
"Having said that, I've been to Israel, and I know that it's the only democracy in the entire area and certainly somewhere worth protecting. Unfortunately, they still have to deal with the likes of Hamas. Wishing them away won't make it so, and you're likely dealing with the bulk of the population there supporting them."
Israel is far from a democracy for those who are not of Jewish descent. That has been noted by many anti-Zionist Jews who have spent extensive time in both Israel and Gaza such as journalist Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate, and Ilian Pappe.
An actual democracy in that region would indeed be worth preserving, but an ethno-state favoring one particular ethnic and religious demographic is not and cannot be a true democracy. And you can thank many decades of brutal treatment of the Palestinians starting with their displacement in 1948 for the creation of Hamas. This current debacle did not begin on October 7th. The latter did not appear out of the void without provocation. The only way for a true democracy to arise in that land is for Jews and Palestinians, and everyone else who may want to live there, to exist there in peace as true equals under the law. If it's a "Jewish state" based on legal recognition of Zionism, or of Sharia Law, that is not going to happen.
.....So you think Palestinians would actually marry Jews? Play it all back on yourself and you'll find what an absolute lie you're supporting. And really don't confuse Hamas as being something that's actually legitimate. They are terrorists! They terrorise the population and oppose everything we stand for! And if you support Hamas, you are absolutely supporting an ethno state and Nazis - extermanists!! if you support Hamas and the absolution of Israel, then you are completing the job because all of the Middle East has completely killed off Jews. They are no Jews in Egypt. Iraq, Syria, etc. You're on the wrong side of this! Israel is the only place in the Middle East that has a democracy and equal rights for women. It has a democracy, the Middle East has a very big problem with democracy and freedom of speech!
I can tell you've not gone there. And I can tell you don't know that! the Bible has the names of Judea, Jerusalem. While the term "Palestine" was used in the 5th century BCE, the Jewish claim to the land is based on a history in the region dating back to the 1st century BCE and earlier!
5th century BCE: The term "Palestine" used by Greek historian Herodotus
1st century BCE and earlier: Jewish presence in the region established, yearning for return and sovereignty present in religious texts and tradition
1st-2nd century CE: Jewish-Roman wars lead to displacement of many Jews, but the yearning for return remains strong
7th century CE: Arab conquest, Islam introduced, Jewish presence continues but faces challenges under new rule
16th century - 1917: Ottoman rule, Jewish presence continues, with ongoing yearning for return and self-determination
19th century: Rise of Zionism, Jewish immigration increases, driven by the desire to return to their ancestral homeland
1917: Balfour Declaration supports establishment of Jewish homeland
1948: State of Israel established, mass immigration of Jews, fulfilling the long-held dream of returning to their homeland
"....So you think Palestinians would actually marry Jews?"
I think a Palestinian would definitely want to marry a Jew if they happened to meet one and the two fell in love with each other. I do not agree that mutual hatred between the two ethnic groups should be encouraged, because that is something both demographics will have to get past once a true egalitarian democracy is established in that land and both Zionism and Sharia Law are not legally recognized as law.
"Play it all back on yourself and you'll find what an absolute lie you're supporting. And really don't confuse Hamas as being something that's actually legitimate. They are terrorists!"
And what do you call the behavior of the IDF towards the Palestinians for many decades now? Hamas is a reaction to that. I do not want to see any innocents killed, but that is what happens when one group is provoked and oppressed and they are given no peaceful recourse. I want to see a world where both the IDF and Hamas are gone.
"They terrorise the population and oppose everything we stand for! And if you support Hamas, you are absolutely supporting an ethno state and Nazis - extermanists!!"
And Zionism is not extremist? And I oppose Zionism as much as I oppose Sharia Law. I would never respect a government that put either form of identity politics or theocratic tenets or ethnocentricism into law and government policy.
"if you support Hamas and the absolution of Israel, then you are completing the job because all of the Middle East has completely killed off Jews."
Opposition to Zionism is not hatred for Jewish people -- it is opposition to ethnocentric bias that, in this case, translates into a doctrine of Jewish supremacy based on perpetual victlmhood, the very definition of identity politics. Zionism does not "protect" Jewish people, it turns them into the same type of monsters that once terrorized them and provokes actual antisemitism against them. Many Jewish people also oppose Zionism, as they believe it is taking the very *wrong* lessons from the Holocaust.
"You're on the wrong side of this! Israel is the only place in the Middle East that has a democracy and equal rights for women. It has a democracy, the Middle East has a very big problem with democracy and freedom of speech! "
Zionists have an *extreme* problem with free speech, considering how on behalf of Israel the Zionists under the financial control of AIPAC have actually written into law a ban on criticizing Zionism and sent the police to beat up peaceful protesters against the slaughter in Gaza. And as Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate, and other Jewish journalists who spent a lot of time in both Israel and Gaza noted in those videos I shared, Israel is most assuredly not a democracy. Saying it's okay to ban marriage between Jews and Palestinians because "they wouldn't want to marry each other anyway" is missing the point and rationalizing a lack of democracy, i.e., freedom of choice, right there.
"I can tell you've not gone there."
Since I am not of Jewish ethnicity or religion, I couldn't just travel there like any Jewish person in the world could. Lack of democracy right there. And as I pointed out in those videos, many people of Jewish descent who *have* been there make it clear it is not a democracy. Zionists claim otherwise because it favors their ideology. That is not democracy, that is ethnocentrism.
"And I can tell you don't know that! the Bible has the names of Judea, Jerusalem. While the term "Palestine" was used in the 5th century BCE, the Jewish claim to the land is based on a history in the region dating back to the 1st century BCE and earlier!"
It doesn't matter what the Bible says, because any law respecting that would automatically be a theocracy, *not* a democracy. And Palestinians have been there for ages too, at least as long. I do not agree that Jewish people should be kicked off the land. I believe that Zionists should not have the right to kick *other* people off the land, and should share it with others as equals. I do not support any system based on Zionism or Sharia Law, or a Christian theocracy etc.
"1948: State of Israel established, mass immigration of Jews, fulfilling the long-held dream of returning to their homeland"
No group of people have the right to fulfill a dream if it constitutes another group's nightmare. That is, no group should have the right to gain at the expense of another. Every demographic in the world needs to learn to share land and resources equitably, not "claim" it for their group alone due to some ancient theocratic doctrine that other religions will not recognize. There are no "chosen" people in a universal sense, that is an extreme form of chauvinism. And Judaism is also not equivalent to Zionism, and many deeply religious Jews rightfully oppose it for that reason. Israel needs to be replaced with a true secular democracy where Jews, Palestinians, and anyone else willing to live there peacefully allowed to do so, and where Zionism, Sharia Law, etc are not recognized as legal policy.
As for the allegation that the Bible says that God "gave" that land to the Jewish people, and that being His "chosen people" means you are entitled, no, that is not the case. As Jewish scholar Dr. Naomi Wolf, who has read the Bible thoroughly, including in its original Hebrew, said:
"Dr. Naomi Wolf: "Okay, so I was challenged below: "Read the Bible! God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people." So....I may get crucified for this but I have started to say it -- most recently (terrified, trembling) to warm welcome in a synagogue in LA: Actually if you read Genesis Exodus and Deuteronomy in Hebrew -- as I do -- you see that God did not "give" Israel to the Jews/Israelites. We as Jews are raised with the creed that "God gave us the land of Israel" in Genesis -- and that ethnically 'we are the chosen people." But actually -- and I could not believe my eyes when I saw this, I checked my reading with major scholars and they confirmed it -- actually God's "covenant" in Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy with the Jewish people is NOT ABOUT AN ETHNICITY AND NOT ABOUT A CONTRACT. IT IS ABOUT A WAY OF BEHAVING.
Again and again in the "covenant" language He never says: "I will give you, ethnic Israelites, the land of Israel." Rather He says something far more radical - far more subversive -- far more Godlike in my view. He says: IF you visit those imprisoned...act mercifully to the widow and the orphan...welcome the stranger in your midst...tend the sick...do justice and love mercy ....and perform various other tasks...THEN YOU WILL BE MY PEOPLE AND THIS LAND WILL BE YOUR LAND. So "my people" is not ethnic -- it is transactional. We are God's people not by birth but by a way of behaving, that is ethical, kind and just. And we STOP being "God's people" when we are not ethical, kind and just. And ANYONE who is ethical, kind and just is, according to God in Genesis, "God's people." And the "contract" to "give" us Israel is conditional -- we can live in God's land IF we are "God's people" in this way -- just, merciful, compassionate. AND -- it never ever says, it is ONLY your land. Even when passages spell out geographical "boundaries" as if God does such a thing, it never says this is exclusively your land. It never says I will give this land JUST to you. Remember these were homeless nomads who had left slavery in Egypt and were wandering around in the desert; at most these passages say, settle here, but they do not say, settle here exclusively. Indeed again and again it talks about welcoming "zarim" -- translated as "strangers" but can also be translated as "people/tribes who are not you" -- in your midst. Blew my mind, hope it blows yours."- Dr. Naomi Wolf
Why would you say that these protests began as "peaceful protests against policies of the Israeli government"? What evidence do you have that these protesters intentions were ever peaceful or that they were only protesting Israel government policy as opposed to the existence of Israel at all. When you base the premise of your entire article on something that simply isn't true, it makes the sentiment in the rest hard to believe.
Kumbaya is just pablum. There need to be strict consequences for actions that that violate individual freedoms. We are in this state of chaos expressly because people are not held accountable. We have laws. Enforce them. No more than excuses.
I agree, civil discourse must be restored. Its hard, even I find myself from time to time descending into personal insults, which is not constructive. But the situation is now endemic, which is scary, that now the likes of Kathryn Maher, head of NPR, can say whatever she wants to vilify entire cohorts of people (i.e. straight white men). We really have to get a handle on this before the madness descends to a point where we cant reign it in.
Yep. The thing I find so interesting is, in order to openly diss a certain cohort of people, you must really have a deep resentment in your soul. She has this stylish blonde exterior, but she must be very very dark inside. I wouldn't under any serious circumstance speak about others the way she has spoken. Utterly uncivilized, in the deepest sense.
Actually, the behavior we're seeing from university people is very similar to what occurred in Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s. And I find it an interesting contrast between this and the heavy hand that was used in the 1980s when various campus protests took place, or what would happen if the protests happened to come from another side of the political spectrum.
And let's not forget this protest model was (successfully) practiced by a number of BLM supporters and the like not so many years ago. It's an established playbook, one they also copied (intentionally or otherwise) from earlier movements...just like their race-based focus and hatred. Just because they happen to call themselves Marxists doesn't make it so. They have far more in common with the National Socialists than they'd like to admit, and this current crop of students would do well to reflect on that reality as well.
There are also some interesting studies out about how many of the leaders within the SD and SS were university-trained lawyers, doctors, and other academics...most with at least respectable if not high scores on their finishing exams. People like to paint the majority of the NSDAP as unwashed, uneducated fools...and while that might in a very general way hold true for the SA, other segments of the party were very different.
Well, we should never forget the part that education played in Rwanda. where people were taught to hate each other. Or in 1960s communist China in the cultural revolution We all know where the identity politics goes. Usually to gulags or violence...
“protests against policies of the Israeli government” Yes, of course, but they show their true colours soon enough. Such very often is a thin cover to virulent antisemitism, even when the discourse seems civil. There’s always a cover, religion at one time, science + race in the early 20th century, and now politics. The left doesn’t recognize it in themselves because they still think it’s the race argument that is the problem, which still exists on the extreme right, but even they take up politics as giving greater plausible deniability these days.
Thank you, Monica, for your strong words. I heartily agree.
My question is, where do we go from here? I doubt that the university administration will heed any recommendations by anyone.
What can be done to actually make change? Aside from scrapping the idea of attending, or defunding the universities at this point it seems like beginning afresh with a whole new structure such as UTA has done is a start?
In some ways it seems like overkill. How could this insane university attitude be reworked to instill security, and heterodox society and culture within?
I've been wondering the same. It is terrifying seeing the extremism coming out of today's western Universities. How can we not compare it to Germany pre WWII? And, to make matters worse, our (both Canada & US) K-12 schools are a huge part of the issue. Many young people are learning about 'social justice' there and are already infected with the 'woke mind virus' (credit to the awesome Gad Saad) even before entering University.
That being said, there is an easy solution but today's administrators are lacking the necessary courage to execute it. As soon as any student tries to shut down a professor or guest speaker, they need to be suspended. Good viewpoints will win out in the marketplace of ideas. And, bring back proper debate clubs.
Taking a step back from this particular example of hypocrisy, if we look at Academia and Higher Ed as a whole, it is clear that they enjoy a station in our society far above what they deserve. (OK. Some fields deserve respect, such as Medicine and STEM - but only as long as they are evidence-based and not ideology-based). Higher Ed rivals religious cults in sanctimonious quackery.
Consider that Academia, a product of Liberal Western Tradition, focuses much energy on decolonization and eliminating the effects of Western influence around the world. Can anyone spot the irony here?
Another dose of irony is these educational institutions churn out legions of uninformed student-protestors who know next to nothing about what they are protesting. The internet is full of videos of college protestors being unable to answer basic questions regarding the Israel - Palestine conflict. It's cute that college students think they will influence Netanyahu's government when they are so uneducated in the history of his nation.
A bit of unrelated irony: Universities have long been marketed as the best path into the Middle Class but as college enrollments have grown, the Middle Class has shrunk.
Why do we put up with these bozos?
(full disclosure - I am a college professor who is embarrassed on behalf of my colleagues).
Another great post, Monica! One thing though. Re: "As citizens in a free society, we should—and we must—advocate for truth and social justice. " How would we define "social justice", particularly how it differs from just plain "justice"? Thanks!
As an American combat veteran, who also spent 3 months filming documentaries in Israel/Palestine, I find the comments on this article to be both uninformed and biased. During my 3 months in Israel/Palestine I personally witnessed the daily degradation and brutality inflicted upon innocent Palestinians of all ages by Israeli occupation forces and rabid settlers. No people on the face of the earth should have to endure the stealing of their land and homes, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide. The overwhelming majority of people in the world, including many Jews, condemn Israel's onslaught of Gaza, and just as with the Vietnam war, in which I served 3 tours of duty, it took the passion and moral certainty of college students and young people to bring an end to the war. The accusations of antisemitism at the current demonstrations is simple a ploy to distract from the ethnic cleansing and genocide happening daily. There are many Jewish students and Jewish organizations who have dispelled the myth of rampant antisemitism at the demonstrations, and also want an end to the war, and a solution that allows the Palestinians to live in peace and dignity.
When were you there? If it was sometime after 2005, it wasn’t in Gaza because there were no ‘rabid’ settlers or occupation forces as Israel had withdrawn under great international pressure exactly so as to let the Palestinians live in dignity. What did they do instead? They voted in a terrorist government that proceeded to funnel all resources into their terror agenda instead of serving the people. This is the government the protesters are supporting today based on their lies and propaganda.
Absolutely. And they're cashing in mightily. It's no surprise that many of these guys in charge of these countries are multi billionaires while their own population is poor as rags, When they can inflame situations, they just get a sparkle in their eyes, realizing they can buy a new condo
I was there in 2003, and by the way, the International community, including the United States, have stated that the settlements in both the West Bank and Gaza, prior to 2005, are illegal under International law. Secondly, the start of Hamas was the idea of the Israeli government who sought to have a countering political entity to the Palestinian authority in the West Bank. Divide and conquer. Just because the United States government, and their subservient allies declare Hamas a terrorist organization, doesn't make it so. The definition of a terrorist is someone with a bomb, and no airforce. International law states that people whose land is illegally occupied have the right to resist and fight back. October 6 did not happen in a vacuum, the Palestinian people have had the jack-booted Israeli thugs killing and terrorizing them for over 75 years.
Also, the protesters are not demonstrating in support of Hamas, although Israeli propagandists and hasbara want everyone to think so, they are demonstrating in support of an immediate and total ceasefire, return of the hostages, and for colleges and universities to divest from any investments of companies that provide weapons and military support to Israel.
Your true colors are revealed when you say Hamas is not a terrorist organization along with 'jack-booted Israeli thugs.' You mean the same Israel that left Gaza ( with infrastructure) in 2005 where Hamas then built 400 miles of tunnels with aid money, did nothing for the Palestinians you claim to care about, including putting schools and hospitals on top of the military installations?
Have you heard what they are chanting? They are EXPLICITLY protesting in favor of Hamas and other terrorist groups. I've been in NYC and seen it firsthand. I'm not sure where you are getting your information.
So many things wrong with your post I don’t know where to begin. Does the ‘right to resist’ include blatant war crimes like the Oct 7 massacre or pogrom? Or suicide bombings of buses and pizza parlours? That’s interesting. 75 years of killing and terrorizing? 19 years of total withdrawal from Gaza + 17 years of military control by Egypt would leave at most 39 years of opportunity for oppression, and just how much terrorizing was going on? Does an oppressor just pack up and leave in order to appease their ‘victims’? Strange evildoers that. If Hamas was dedicated to the well being of its people, protecting them from all the killing and terrorizing, why did they not ever build even a single shelter with all the aid money they got from the gullible international community. Apparently they had other priorities, like tunnels and Hamas leaders bank accounts. I could go on, but I had to laugh at your claim that the protesters are asking for the return of the hostages!! Now that is very interesting, and suggests to me that you are seriously deluded, but you actually want to think well of the terrorist supporters. They can’t really be so evil, can they? Well, they can and they are.
I could spend time refuting much of what you posed, but instead I would ask you to click on this link and listen to what a Holocaust survivor has to say, and give me your feedback.
Rabid is an understatement. When I was filming in Hebron, I watched as the settlers spit on, threw rocks at, and intimidated any Palestinian who was near them, as the Israeli occupation forces stood by with smirks on their faces and not doing anything to stop it. they poison Palestinian wells, destroy their olive groves, and even harass and intimidate children on the way to school. If the American people saw what it was really like for the Palestinians living under occupation, there would be a whole different mindset about what Israel is perpetrating Unfortunately, the American mainstream media presents a picture that is totally skewed in favor of the Israeli narrative.
Israeli's and Palestinians lived side by side in relative harmony until the 1948 Nakba. As far as Jews living in Hebron, if they simply treated the Palestinians living there with decency and just a modicum of respect, the Palestinians would have no issue with that. A question I get from people when discussing Israel/Palestine is "Why do the Palestinians hate Americans/Israeli's so much." When I was there for 3 months, I spoke to and interviewed many hundreds of Palestinians, and not one of them ever stated that they hated Israeli's or Americans. What they did hate was the policies of the Israeli and American governments that adversely impacted their lives. Simply put, the overwhelming majority of Palestinians want to have their own state, and live in peace.
I highly doubt that the protests are ‘against the policies ‘ of Israel. You know better. The protests are for the annihilation of Israel. They are explicitly pro Hamas. Don’t write bullshit.
They are Marxist wanting the downfall of western culture. Calling themselves comrades.
most of them maybe.
They WANT the police to beat them up.
They WANT the national guard called in.
When they create their first martyr, that will spark nationwide protests.
And the right is taking the bait.
Idk. Negotiating with them is nuts. They are spewing a lot of hatred. You would just ignore?
nuance, not all of them are like that. Palistine does want extermination but Isreal said the same thing but more politely. Zizek got flack for pointing that out and was falsely called an anti-Semite. i mean he said it right after that said that the attacks by Hamas should be universally condemed and anyone who doesn't do that has a screw loose.
Welcome to war propaganda. nuance is lost. people neglect the shades of grey.
on the other hand, it's not like your'e off base to be worried. because some extremists REALLY DO SUPPORT HAMAS. it's a woke mind virus. i swear they and their censorship was no different than fascists and the ultra conservitive right.
Romania and the soviets used to be very very pro life. even banning contraceptives.
I too am frankly surprised that Monica took this stance. I love her and her leadership a lot, but this article was... off-base and filled with incorrect info. Also, the story of that young woman being stuck in the face with a flag stick was proven to have been an extreme exaggeration & not a deliberate act of violence attempting to injure her. Further, the Zionist counter-protesters engaged in a lot more violence than the pro-Palestinian supporters. Most of the latter were also not explicitly pro-Hamas, so that slanderous comment was also unlike Monica. This was an unpleasant post to read, but I understand we are not always going to agree in full with our heroes. Needless to say, FAIR is supposed to be against identity politics, and I would like to remind Monica that Zionism is a most pernicious example of that. It is very unbecoming of one of the leaders of FAIR to be defending any manifestation of it, including playing into the fallacy that opposing an explicitly ethnocentric ideology like Zionism, or a whole nation based on it like Israel, is "antisemitism." There should be no connection between an ideology espousing ethno-supremacist views based on the Perpetual Victim trope and any ethnic and/or religious demographic. Nor should support for Hamas be assumed by supporters of Palestinian liberation from the conditions of Gaza.
i fear you may be correct Allan W
Any antisemitism, such as it exists, is incidental to the campus protests (and protestors). The impetus of the growing and massive movement against Israel and for the Palestinians comes from the heart of today's hard leftist wokeism. Oppressor/oppressed is the operative metric here. Don't forget that.
This is a thoughtful, well written article espousing rational ideas that should be self evident. I appreciate it.
And, I so wish we could all get back to that kind of ideal. Never stop writing or believing in it.
The Ivy League universities created this mess.
The number of professors walking out in support of it is clear evidence of that.
The students and activists supporting it are naive tools in a much larger scheme.
It is at once frightening and incredibly sad.
It also angers me that none of them seem to have the skill set to see the difference between right and wrong or good and evil.
Never give up.
Well, I think that's actually one of the bigger problems: the language that people use. Words like 'right,' 'wrong,' 'good,' and 'evil' make it automatically very difficult to want to look at the other side and try to work together. (Giraffe Talk, Marshal Rosenberg - is an amazing concept here).
The whole conflict is based on large segments of populations that loathe each other because of that way of thinking too If only it gave the left a little bit of a window into how things can continue, but I don't think that they have that subtlety of thought.... Having said that, I've been to Israel, and I know that it's the only democracy in the entire area and certainly somewhere worth protecting. Unfortunately, they still have to deal with the likes of Hamas. Wishing them away won't make it so, and you're likely dealing with the bulk of the population there supporting them
Having said all of that, I think these [protesters?] are incredibly naive. They haven't looked into anything about the situation and have some form of mass hysteria. Of course, these days the economy demands that we be consumers of social virtue and wear it like an epithet. Sadly, schools don't teach rational thinking, just emotional thinking. You don't need highly-skilled teachers to do that. And it can make society just a little bit more watchful on the politicians and the bad laws we currently see and endure.
One thing that really does worry me is that nobody questions the funding of schools in terms of. the hundreds of millions of Saudi dollars pouring in, which very likely a part of this problem - I wonder which departments they are funding No way I would let a national power have anything to do with education of my citizens...
"Having said that, I've been to Israel, and I know that it's the only democracy in the entire area and certainly somewhere worth protecting. Unfortunately, they still have to deal with the likes of Hamas. Wishing them away won't make it so, and you're likely dealing with the bulk of the population there supporting them."
Israel is far from a democracy for those who are not of Jewish descent. That has been noted by many anti-Zionist Jews who have spent extensive time in both Israel and Gaza such as journalist Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate, and Ilian Pappe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdTjVg07U_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0gECjlpXF8&t=127s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxQNk81ELbI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgss_DU-dCU
And in fact, even its Jewish population are not allowed to marry someone of Palestinian descent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_in_Israel
An actual democracy in that region would indeed be worth preserving, but an ethno-state favoring one particular ethnic and religious demographic is not and cannot be a true democracy. And you can thank many decades of brutal treatment of the Palestinians starting with their displacement in 1948 for the creation of Hamas. This current debacle did not begin on October 7th. The latter did not appear out of the void without provocation. The only way for a true democracy to arise in that land is for Jews and Palestinians, and everyone else who may want to live there, to exist there in peace as true equals under the law. If it's a "Jewish state" based on legal recognition of Zionism, or of Sharia Law, that is not going to happen.
.....So you think Palestinians would actually marry Jews? Play it all back on yourself and you'll find what an absolute lie you're supporting. And really don't confuse Hamas as being something that's actually legitimate. They are terrorists! They terrorise the population and oppose everything we stand for! And if you support Hamas, you are absolutely supporting an ethno state and Nazis - extermanists!! if you support Hamas and the absolution of Israel, then you are completing the job because all of the Middle East has completely killed off Jews. They are no Jews in Egypt. Iraq, Syria, etc. You're on the wrong side of this! Israel is the only place in the Middle East that has a democracy and equal rights for women. It has a democracy, the Middle East has a very big problem with democracy and freedom of speech!
I can tell you've not gone there. And I can tell you don't know that! the Bible has the names of Judea, Jerusalem. While the term "Palestine" was used in the 5th century BCE, the Jewish claim to the land is based on a history in the region dating back to the 1st century BCE and earlier!
5th century BCE: The term "Palestine" used by Greek historian Herodotus
1st century BCE and earlier: Jewish presence in the region established, yearning for return and sovereignty present in religious texts and tradition
1st-2nd century CE: Jewish-Roman wars lead to displacement of many Jews, but the yearning for return remains strong
7th century CE: Arab conquest, Islam introduced, Jewish presence continues but faces challenges under new rule
16th century - 1917: Ottoman rule, Jewish presence continues, with ongoing yearning for return and self-determination
19th century: Rise of Zionism, Jewish immigration increases, driven by the desire to return to their ancestral homeland
1917: Balfour Declaration supports establishment of Jewish homeland
1948: State of Israel established, mass immigration of Jews, fulfilling the long-held dream of returning to their homeland
"....So you think Palestinians would actually marry Jews?"
I think a Palestinian would definitely want to marry a Jew if they happened to meet one and the two fell in love with each other. I do not agree that mutual hatred between the two ethnic groups should be encouraged, because that is something both demographics will have to get past once a true egalitarian democracy is established in that land and both Zionism and Sharia Law are not legally recognized as law.
"Play it all back on yourself and you'll find what an absolute lie you're supporting. And really don't confuse Hamas as being something that's actually legitimate. They are terrorists!"
And what do you call the behavior of the IDF towards the Palestinians for many decades now? Hamas is a reaction to that. I do not want to see any innocents killed, but that is what happens when one group is provoked and oppressed and they are given no peaceful recourse. I want to see a world where both the IDF and Hamas are gone.
"They terrorise the population and oppose everything we stand for! And if you support Hamas, you are absolutely supporting an ethno state and Nazis - extermanists!!"
And Zionism is not extremist? And I oppose Zionism as much as I oppose Sharia Law. I would never respect a government that put either form of identity politics or theocratic tenets or ethnocentricism into law and government policy.
"if you support Hamas and the absolution of Israel, then you are completing the job because all of the Middle East has completely killed off Jews."
Opposition to Zionism is not hatred for Jewish people -- it is opposition to ethnocentric bias that, in this case, translates into a doctrine of Jewish supremacy based on perpetual victlmhood, the very definition of identity politics. Zionism does not "protect" Jewish people, it turns them into the same type of monsters that once terrorized them and provokes actual antisemitism against them. Many Jewish people also oppose Zionism, as they believe it is taking the very *wrong* lessons from the Holocaust.
"You're on the wrong side of this! Israel is the only place in the Middle East that has a democracy and equal rights for women. It has a democracy, the Middle East has a very big problem with democracy and freedom of speech! "
Zionists have an *extreme* problem with free speech, considering how on behalf of Israel the Zionists under the financial control of AIPAC have actually written into law a ban on criticizing Zionism and sent the police to beat up peaceful protesters against the slaughter in Gaza. And as Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate, and other Jewish journalists who spent a lot of time in both Israel and Gaza noted in those videos I shared, Israel is most assuredly not a democracy. Saying it's okay to ban marriage between Jews and Palestinians because "they wouldn't want to marry each other anyway" is missing the point and rationalizing a lack of democracy, i.e., freedom of choice, right there.
"I can tell you've not gone there."
Since I am not of Jewish ethnicity or religion, I couldn't just travel there like any Jewish person in the world could. Lack of democracy right there. And as I pointed out in those videos, many people of Jewish descent who *have* been there make it clear it is not a democracy. Zionists claim otherwise because it favors their ideology. That is not democracy, that is ethnocentrism.
"And I can tell you don't know that! the Bible has the names of Judea, Jerusalem. While the term "Palestine" was used in the 5th century BCE, the Jewish claim to the land is based on a history in the region dating back to the 1st century BCE and earlier!"
It doesn't matter what the Bible says, because any law respecting that would automatically be a theocracy, *not* a democracy. And Palestinians have been there for ages too, at least as long. I do not agree that Jewish people should be kicked off the land. I believe that Zionists should not have the right to kick *other* people off the land, and should share it with others as equals. I do not support any system based on Zionism or Sharia Law, or a Christian theocracy etc.
"1948: State of Israel established, mass immigration of Jews, fulfilling the long-held dream of returning to their homeland"
No group of people have the right to fulfill a dream if it constitutes another group's nightmare. That is, no group should have the right to gain at the expense of another. Every demographic in the world needs to learn to share land and resources equitably, not "claim" it for their group alone due to some ancient theocratic doctrine that other religions will not recognize. There are no "chosen" people in a universal sense, that is an extreme form of chauvinism. And Judaism is also not equivalent to Zionism, and many deeply religious Jews rightfully oppose it for that reason. Israel needs to be replaced with a true secular democracy where Jews, Palestinians, and anyone else willing to live there peacefully allowed to do so, and where Zionism, Sharia Law, etc are not recognized as legal policy.
As for the allegation that the Bible says that God "gave" that land to the Jewish people, and that being His "chosen people" means you are entitled, no, that is not the case. As Jewish scholar Dr. Naomi Wolf, who has read the Bible thoroughly, including in its original Hebrew, said:
"Dr. Naomi Wolf: "Okay, so I was challenged below: "Read the Bible! God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people." So....I may get crucified for this but I have started to say it -- most recently (terrified, trembling) to warm welcome in a synagogue in LA: Actually if you read Genesis Exodus and Deuteronomy in Hebrew -- as I do -- you see that God did not "give" Israel to the Jews/Israelites. We as Jews are raised with the creed that "God gave us the land of Israel" in Genesis -- and that ethnically 'we are the chosen people." But actually -- and I could not believe my eyes when I saw this, I checked my reading with major scholars and they confirmed it -- actually God's "covenant" in Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy with the Jewish people is NOT ABOUT AN ETHNICITY AND NOT ABOUT A CONTRACT. IT IS ABOUT A WAY OF BEHAVING.
Again and again in the "covenant" language He never says: "I will give you, ethnic Israelites, the land of Israel." Rather He says something far more radical - far more subversive -- far more Godlike in my view. He says: IF you visit those imprisoned...act mercifully to the widow and the orphan...welcome the stranger in your midst...tend the sick...do justice and love mercy ....and perform various other tasks...THEN YOU WILL BE MY PEOPLE AND THIS LAND WILL BE YOUR LAND. So "my people" is not ethnic -- it is transactional. We are God's people not by birth but by a way of behaving, that is ethical, kind and just. And we STOP being "God's people" when we are not ethical, kind and just. And ANYONE who is ethical, kind and just is, according to God in Genesis, "God's people." And the "contract" to "give" us Israel is conditional -- we can live in God's land IF we are "God's people" in this way -- just, merciful, compassionate. AND -- it never ever says, it is ONLY your land. Even when passages spell out geographical "boundaries" as if God does such a thing, it never says this is exclusively your land. It never says I will give this land JUST to you. Remember these were homeless nomads who had left slavery in Egypt and were wandering around in the desert; at most these passages say, settle here, but they do not say, settle here exclusively. Indeed again and again it talks about welcoming "zarim" -- translated as "strangers" but can also be translated as "people/tribes who are not you" -- in your midst. Blew my mind, hope it blows yours."- Dr. Naomi Wolf
Why would you say that these protests began as "peaceful protests against policies of the Israeli government"? What evidence do you have that these protesters intentions were ever peaceful or that they were only protesting Israel government policy as opposed to the existence of Israel at all. When you base the premise of your entire article on something that simply isn't true, it makes the sentiment in the rest hard to believe.
Totally agree. I’m disgusted with FAIR here because this is such obvious bullshit.
Kumbaya is just pablum. There need to be strict consequences for actions that that violate individual freedoms. We are in this state of chaos expressly because people are not held accountable. We have laws. Enforce them. No more than excuses.
I agree, civil discourse must be restored. Its hard, even I find myself from time to time descending into personal insults, which is not constructive. But the situation is now endemic, which is scary, that now the likes of Kathryn Maher, head of NPR, can say whatever she wants to vilify entire cohorts of people (i.e. straight white men). We really have to get a handle on this before the madness descends to a point where we cant reign it in.
She did the same thing when she was with Wikipedia. Clueless and never held accountable.
Yep. The thing I find so interesting is, in order to openly diss a certain cohort of people, you must really have a deep resentment in your soul. She has this stylish blonde exterior, but she must be very very dark inside. I wouldn't under any serious circumstance speak about others the way she has spoken. Utterly uncivilized, in the deepest sense.
Actually, the behavior we're seeing from university people is very similar to what occurred in Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s. And I find it an interesting contrast between this and the heavy hand that was used in the 1980s when various campus protests took place, or what would happen if the protests happened to come from another side of the political spectrum.
And let's not forget this protest model was (successfully) practiced by a number of BLM supporters and the like not so many years ago. It's an established playbook, one they also copied (intentionally or otherwise) from earlier movements...just like their race-based focus and hatred. Just because they happen to call themselves Marxists doesn't make it so. They have far more in common with the National Socialists than they'd like to admit, and this current crop of students would do well to reflect on that reality as well.
Yes. The historian Niall Ferguson documents the case of Germany in his article, The Treason of the Intellectuals, at The Free Press.
There are also some interesting studies out about how many of the leaders within the SD and SS were university-trained lawyers, doctors, and other academics...most with at least respectable if not high scores on their finishing exams. People like to paint the majority of the NSDAP as unwashed, uneducated fools...and while that might in a very general way hold true for the SA, other segments of the party were very different.
Well, we should never forget the part that education played in Rwanda. where people were taught to hate each other. Or in 1960s communist China in the cultural revolution We all know where the identity politics goes. Usually to gulags or violence...
“protests against policies of the Israeli government” Yes, of course, but they show their true colours soon enough. Such very often is a thin cover to virulent antisemitism, even when the discourse seems civil. There’s always a cover, religion at one time, science + race in the early 20th century, and now politics. The left doesn’t recognize it in themselves because they still think it’s the race argument that is the problem, which still exists on the extreme right, but even they take up politics as giving greater plausible deniability these days.
Well-written! Thank you!
Thank you, Monica, for your strong words. I heartily agree.
My question is, where do we go from here? I doubt that the university administration will heed any recommendations by anyone.
What can be done to actually make change? Aside from scrapping the idea of attending, or defunding the universities at this point it seems like beginning afresh with a whole new structure such as UTA has done is a start?
In some ways it seems like overkill. How could this insane university attitude be reworked to instill security, and heterodox society and culture within?
I've been wondering the same. It is terrifying seeing the extremism coming out of today's western Universities. How can we not compare it to Germany pre WWII? And, to make matters worse, our (both Canada & US) K-12 schools are a huge part of the issue. Many young people are learning about 'social justice' there and are already infected with the 'woke mind virus' (credit to the awesome Gad Saad) even before entering University.
That being said, there is an easy solution but today's administrators are lacking the necessary courage to execute it. As soon as any student tries to shut down a professor or guest speaker, they need to be suspended. Good viewpoints will win out in the marketplace of ideas. And, bring back proper debate clubs.
Taking a step back from this particular example of hypocrisy, if we look at Academia and Higher Ed as a whole, it is clear that they enjoy a station in our society far above what they deserve. (OK. Some fields deserve respect, such as Medicine and STEM - but only as long as they are evidence-based and not ideology-based). Higher Ed rivals religious cults in sanctimonious quackery.
Consider that Academia, a product of Liberal Western Tradition, focuses much energy on decolonization and eliminating the effects of Western influence around the world. Can anyone spot the irony here?
Another dose of irony is these educational institutions churn out legions of uninformed student-protestors who know next to nothing about what they are protesting. The internet is full of videos of college protestors being unable to answer basic questions regarding the Israel - Palestine conflict. It's cute that college students think they will influence Netanyahu's government when they are so uneducated in the history of his nation.
A bit of unrelated irony: Universities have long been marketed as the best path into the Middle Class but as college enrollments have grown, the Middle Class has shrunk.
Why do we put up with these bozos?
(full disclosure - I am a college professor who is embarrassed on behalf of my colleagues).
Another great post, Monica! One thing though. Re: "As citizens in a free society, we should—and we must—advocate for truth and social justice. " How would we define "social justice", particularly how it differs from just plain "justice"? Thanks!
The byline says that Monica Harris is "advisor" to FAIR. Isn't she Executive Director?
As an American combat veteran, who also spent 3 months filming documentaries in Israel/Palestine, I find the comments on this article to be both uninformed and biased. During my 3 months in Israel/Palestine I personally witnessed the daily degradation and brutality inflicted upon innocent Palestinians of all ages by Israeli occupation forces and rabid settlers. No people on the face of the earth should have to endure the stealing of their land and homes, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide. The overwhelming majority of people in the world, including many Jews, condemn Israel's onslaught of Gaza, and just as with the Vietnam war, in which I served 3 tours of duty, it took the passion and moral certainty of college students and young people to bring an end to the war. The accusations of antisemitism at the current demonstrations is simple a ploy to distract from the ethnic cleansing and genocide happening daily. There are many Jewish students and Jewish organizations who have dispelled the myth of rampant antisemitism at the demonstrations, and also want an end to the war, and a solution that allows the Palestinians to live in peace and dignity.
When were you there? If it was sometime after 2005, it wasn’t in Gaza because there were no ‘rabid’ settlers or occupation forces as Israel had withdrawn under great international pressure exactly so as to let the Palestinians live in dignity. What did they do instead? They voted in a terrorist government that proceeded to funnel all resources into their terror agenda instead of serving the people. This is the government the protesters are supporting today based on their lies and propaganda.
Absolutely. And they're cashing in mightily. It's no surprise that many of these guys in charge of these countries are multi billionaires while their own population is poor as rags, When they can inflame situations, they just get a sparkle in their eyes, realizing they can buy a new condo
I was there in 2003, and by the way, the International community, including the United States, have stated that the settlements in both the West Bank and Gaza, prior to 2005, are illegal under International law. Secondly, the start of Hamas was the idea of the Israeli government who sought to have a countering political entity to the Palestinian authority in the West Bank. Divide and conquer. Just because the United States government, and their subservient allies declare Hamas a terrorist organization, doesn't make it so. The definition of a terrorist is someone with a bomb, and no airforce. International law states that people whose land is illegally occupied have the right to resist and fight back. October 6 did not happen in a vacuum, the Palestinian people have had the jack-booted Israeli thugs killing and terrorizing them for over 75 years.
Also, the protesters are not demonstrating in support of Hamas, although Israeli propagandists and hasbara want everyone to think so, they are demonstrating in support of an immediate and total ceasefire, return of the hostages, and for colleges and universities to divest from any investments of companies that provide weapons and military support to Israel.
Your true colors are revealed when you say Hamas is not a terrorist organization along with 'jack-booted Israeli thugs.' You mean the same Israel that left Gaza ( with infrastructure) in 2005 where Hamas then built 400 miles of tunnels with aid money, did nothing for the Palestinians you claim to care about, including putting schools and hospitals on top of the military installations?
Check out this link to a Holocaust survivor and give me your feedback, if you have the courage to watch it. https://x.com/DoubleDownNews/status/1783270524388294756
Have you heard what they are chanting? They are EXPLICITLY protesting in favor of Hamas and other terrorist groups. I've been in NYC and seen it firsthand. I'm not sure where you are getting your information.
https://www.instagram.com/stories/jessemechanic/3349957675877061877?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng
https://twitter.com/i/status/1783150203152859407
So many things wrong with your post I don’t know where to begin. Does the ‘right to resist’ include blatant war crimes like the Oct 7 massacre or pogrom? Or suicide bombings of buses and pizza parlours? That’s interesting. 75 years of killing and terrorizing? 19 years of total withdrawal from Gaza + 17 years of military control by Egypt would leave at most 39 years of opportunity for oppression, and just how much terrorizing was going on? Does an oppressor just pack up and leave in order to appease their ‘victims’? Strange evildoers that. If Hamas was dedicated to the well being of its people, protecting them from all the killing and terrorizing, why did they not ever build even a single shelter with all the aid money they got from the gullible international community. Apparently they had other priorities, like tunnels and Hamas leaders bank accounts. I could go on, but I had to laugh at your claim that the protesters are asking for the return of the hostages!! Now that is very interesting, and suggests to me that you are seriously deluded, but you actually want to think well of the terrorist supporters. They can’t really be so evil, can they? Well, they can and they are.
I could spend time refuting much of what you posed, but instead I would ask you to click on this link and listen to what a Holocaust survivor has to say, and give me your feedback.
https://x.com/DoubleDownNews/status/1783270524388294756
‘Rabid settlers’. Jews are dogs?
That’s the tell.
Freddie deBoer also said rabid regarding the so call right wingers who disagreed with his anti Israel stuff. Thats when I got off his substack
It’s the old ‘no Jews or dogs allowed’.
Rabid is an understatement. When I was filming in Hebron, I watched as the settlers spit on, threw rocks at, and intimidated any Palestinian who was near them, as the Israeli occupation forces stood by with smirks on their faces and not doing anything to stop it. they poison Palestinian wells, destroy their olive groves, and even harass and intimidate children on the way to school. If the American people saw what it was really like for the Palestinians living under occupation, there would be a whole different mindset about what Israel is perpetrating Unfortunately, the American mainstream media presents a picture that is totally skewed in favor of the Israeli narrative.
Why can’t Jews live in Hebron? It’s the site of the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Jews that is.
Israeli's and Palestinians lived side by side in relative harmony until the 1948 Nakba. As far as Jews living in Hebron, if they simply treated the Palestinians living there with decency and just a modicum of respect, the Palestinians would have no issue with that. A question I get from people when discussing Israel/Palestine is "Why do the Palestinians hate Americans/Israeli's so much." When I was there for 3 months, I spoke to and interviewed many hundreds of Palestinians, and not one of them ever stated that they hated Israeli's or Americans. What they did hate was the policies of the Israeli and American governments that adversely impacted their lives. Simply put, the overwhelming majority of Palestinians want to have their own state, and live in peace.
Equating Zionism with fascism = false equivalence. Dismissing concerns = straw man. Denying Zionism's Jewish roots = historical inaccuracy. Reducing conflict to class ignores ethnicity. Singling out Israel = inconsistent. Marxist analysis demands more rigor.
This post is brilliant. Thank you for writing.
It's stuff like this that I think leads to decreased tolerance: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-12/silver-lake-retires-their-remaining-anti-gay-cruising-signs People fearing having their quality of life decreased in the name of LGBT rights and having to shut up about it in response.