Israel/Gaza Protests

College protests have come to New York City in spades. Columbia University is not the only place. For instance, Fordham University at Lincoln Center had some news too. But, Columbia was the highlight.

NYPD officers in riot gear moved into Columbia University’s storied campus Tuesday night, arresting dozens of protesters and clearing an occupied university building and tent encampment.

I provide my .02 on many things. I realize that it is often a good idea just to read and listen. People know about many things. Some things they know less about. For instance, economic policy is not really my thing. Money rarely has been.

Israel is a hot-button topic with many complexities. The level of passion makes it a good policy to not say too much. People will respond and will you know all the details? I am fairly sure the leadership now is horrible. At least, the president who has poisoned the well for decades now. But, Hamas is no great bet either.

We had some news locally. The campus radio station had excellent live coverage. Some on the left strongly opposed the NYPD action. It does seem to me an excessive approach, even if you believe the students are in the wrong.

Laurence O’Donnell on MSNBC made a comment about how it was handled well. Martin Austermühle, a former D.C.-based reporter who appears to be liberal-leaning, made this interesting comment on Twitter:

MPD is by no means perfect, but it sets a relatively high bar for police departments when it comes to managing protests. And that largely came from the years-long lawsuits and expensive settlements after the mass arrests at the World Bank protests back in the early 2000s.

As he says, things are relative here. See, here, e.g., about a report of an accidental discharge of a firearm. 

Also, please, when you see videos on Twitter, do not just latch on to the sentence summary that might not tell the whole story.

A reporter who goes to journalism school there said a lot more than a comment about her own graduation being affected. A spokeswoman did not want Columbia itself to feed the protesters. She emphasized later on that she was concerned about food and water coming in. Plus, a minute video only says so much. A shorter video even less.

One person I respect opposes the protests as counterproductive. “Protests almost never work.” One fear is that the protests will help Trump, showing evidence of unrest and President Biden’s inability to control things.

Plus, they heat up opposition from important marginal voters in swing states. I will toss in that the House of Representatives has now repeatedly gone after academic freedom. Having House leaders out there supporting college presidents being fired is distasteful. Not their role. Neither are resolutions opposing specific slogans.

A few responses. First, college students are going to protest. It is sort of what they do. Young people (okay Grandpa) speak out and oppose things. We can be upset about it but it’s going to happen. I understand being worried about the blowback but it works both ways.

I think President Biden’s response has not been as horrible as some think. Still am wary about it. He has responded to pushback in the past. Plus, protest provides a safety valve. We need to trust voters will balance out in the end.

And, no matter how peaceful, people are going to oppose them. As Chris Hayes has said, the main focus should be what is going on in Gaza. Instead, there is so much focus on a relatively small group of protesters. Do you think it wouldn’t be there if the protests were more restrained? Certain excesses will always be part of protests.

I can be “ambivalent” about these protests without opposing them as a whole. Also, how do we quantify what “works” here? Do Black Lives Matter protests change anything? How can we tell? Success and failure are based on a mixture of things.

Erik Loomis in a later entry notes white people oppose protests historically. To be fair there, not just white people. One NYT commentary I recently saw flagged Hispanic support for Republicans. There is an “establishment’ conservative faction across the board here.

Plus, there are various “points” to protests, including self-expression and organizing. This is a basic part of true democracy, not just voting at the polls. Which is quite important. Hey, I work at the polls. Come on in.

[And, nothing should be taken for granted. I live in the Bronx but a Republican won my district in the city council last election.]

Hamas has a lot to answer for. They sacrificed Palestinians when attacking Israel in October. They knew this blowback would come. They hoped for it. Their horrible calculus believes that net it will benefit them. This doesn’t take the Israeli government off the hook. The nihilistic back/forth is so depressing.

The idea of a two-state solution sounds nice. Nonetheless, the Biden administration can repeat it as a mantra all they want. It seems hopeless, especially with all the settlements. I also think elections — last held over a decade ago — must be held in Gaza. Not that it is possible in the current situation.

While looking at grand events — think of criminal justice or fascism among us — it is hard to see how any individual person can do much. They can vote and they can speak out. They can try to find some personal way to do good in the world. Sometimes, it will be — for certain people — protesting.

And, yes, it can be messy.