Which Side Are You On?

Damn those outside agitators!

That seems the conventional reaction this week to pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses.  It’s nothing new. Violence at Black Lives Matter protests was similarly blamed on “outside anti-racist agitators,” when evidence suggests the violence was more often the work of Proud Boy types.  Various right-wing shenanigans have been regularly attributed to Antifa, somehow skipping by the inconvenient reality that “Antifa” is shorthand for anti-fascist and that members of Antifa, if there is such a thing, show up to resist right-wing fascism, not practice it.

It is breathtaking to observe the nearly unanimous opposition to pro-Palestinian encampments or the rather benign “takeover” of buildings. Most opposition is couched in supportive terms, such as this oh-so-reasonable New York Times column by John McWhorter, who joined the chorus of critics who allegedly support the pro-Palestinian cause but wish all those agitators could just be a bit more politic - or polite. 

I could cite dozens of opinion pieces or public statements that ooze with, “I understand their concerns, but . . .” “Counter-productive.” “Helping to elect Trump.” “Privileged kids wasting their parents’ money.” That last one is a doozy. I suspect that the vast majority of conscientious protesters are not trust fund babies named Biff and Muffy.

The authorities are living up to the name by exercising their authority with real vigor. Although the protests and occupation of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall were met with only moderate authoritarian excess, it is noteworthy that a show of overwhelming force against a few dozen peaceful students and their allies does not require a great deal of wanton brutality. Those cops in full riot gear were sure ready though, had they encountered anything but - by and large - peaceful compliance.  As to the outside agitators, the New York Times, in a somewhat rare display of fairness, thoroughly debunked the establishment’s propaganda.

At Dartmouth College, my old stomping grounds, a small, harmless tent grouping on the college green was broken up by the local police, aided by state troopers. Reports from a local newspaper columnist revealed excessive zeal, including the manhandling and body-slamming of a 65 year-old woman (Jewish!) history professor - video clip available at the link. Dartmouth’s tough-gal president reacted similarly last fall, when two students had the temerity to pitch a tent on the front lawn of her campus mansion.  They were arrested, handcuiffed, charged and are awaiting trial. While certainly not a universal truth, the (mostly)  men attracted to law enforcement are quite inclined to enforce rules, not challenge them. Which brings me to . . .

There are two dynamics at play in the unrest playing out on campuses and elsewhere. The primary catalyst is the cataclysmic disproportionality of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. The debate over the use of “genocide” as a descriptor indicates the ironically immoral extent of Israel’s criminal slaughter and starvation of innocent women, children and men. 

In this light is it even rational to object to the specific tactics used by a few thousand students and allies who are horrified and outraged by the indiscriminate murder of nearly 40,000 humans?  

The shame is not in the actions of protesters, it is in the inaction of others. Listening to Biden gently chastising the protesters was infuriating, as he has done little to nothing to stop the needless and endless bloodshed. And the grandstanding of amoral opportunists like Mike Johnson is disgusting. He, who like Biden is complicit in providing the 2,000 pound bombs that tear the limbs from childrens’ bodies, dares to lecture the few Americans who care enough to try something - anything - to bring the war to an end?

The other dynamic at play is a broader dismay with the state of our union. Recent years have accelerated the erosion of social justice more broadly considered. Our Congress is suffering perennial paralysis. Our Supreme Court, corrupted by money and theology, has been systematically taking away the rights of Americans, rather than affirming them. Income inequality is suffocating the working class.  The gradual boiling of the Earth is treated like a minor inconvenience which should never be allowed to inhibit the smoking engine of materialism.  In this respect, the current protests are a necessary but insufficient reaction to systemic injustice.  

It is nearly always instructive to examine the motives behind a person’s or group’s actions. The corporate interests and their beneficiaries in educational leadership have much to gain in maintaining the status quo. 

It is difficult to discern any self-interest for the student activists or their outside “agitator” allies. They have little to gain, but much to lose, either by expulsions, suspensions or criminal records.

I know which side I’m on.