6 moments of American student protests in support of Palestine
These days, American universities have become the scene of student protests against Israel's genocide in the Gaza Strip. American students began protesting despite threats against them, including suspension, arrest and loss of job opportunities.
Student rallies in America in support of Palestine began at Columbia University in New York, and have now spread to 32 other large and important universities.
Students who want to end the financial and spiritual relationships of American universities with Israeli universities said they are on the right side of history in these protests.
They say they are proud of themselves and these protest movements. This is an honor that is not limited to American universities and is something that the entire world is proud of.
An important point to note at university meetings, especially at Columbia University, is that the students are not middle class Americans. The students are often the children of US senators, wealthy individuals and members of American high society whose families are connected to and supported by powerful Zionist lobbies in America to remain in American politics.
US senators called students protesting against Zionists “anti-Israel gangs” and called on the government to deal with them and restore order to universities as quickly as possible. This is why protesting students are threatened with suspension or arrest.
On the other hand, wealthy Jewish businessmen have threatened to cut funding to universities if pro-Palestinian demonstrators are not suppressed.
What do American students say?
The student protesters' demands regarding the crimes of the Zionist regime and America's support for it vary from university to university.
The most important and basic requirements of students can be summarized as follows:
“Stop doing business with arms and military equipment manufacturers who supply weapons to the Zionists.
Stop accepting Israeli research grants for projects that aid the Zionist regime's war effort.
Avoid investing in university endowment managers who profit from Israeli companies or contractors.
“Be more transparent about what money is being received from the Zionists and what it is being used for.”
Below are 5 points regarding pro-Palestine demonstrations at American universities:
1- Raising awareness in the classroom of young Americans
Younger Americans are much more aware of global crises and issues than older Americans. Generation Z students, who grew up in an era of collective action campaigns such as Black Lives Matter, climate change and gun safety, are now forming broad coalitions in support of Palestinian freedom, which has become an issue for American statesmen. They try to prevent its continuation and expansion by passing new laws, suppressing and arresting students.
2- Heavy repression
For decades, Zionists have killed Palestinians without justification. But the war in Gaza demonstrated the unprecedented cruelty of the Zionists. Images of the charred bodies of babies, crying mothers and hungry people tortured by Zionist executions while waiting for food aid have stirred emotions around the world.
Calls to stop the war, which lawyers and human rights activists call “genocide,” have mobilized American university students against the Zionists, but university administrators are now cracking down on students. They asked the police to arrest the students, and they themselves suspended dozens of them.
3- Uniting teachers with students
The decision to suspend students appears to have backfired: Hundreds of US university professors came out with banners that read, “We will not suspend students.” Last week, the American Association of University Professors issued a statement condemning the student suspensions and arrests.
The statement said that they had lost confidence in the president and the government and promised to restore lost prestige to the universities.
4. Politicians side with the Zionists
President Joe Biden and other American officials support the Zionists. Biden, who has been criticized for failing to take action to stop the brutal Zionist war against the Palestinians, issued a statement warning of a rise in anti-Semitism.
Ignoring the concerns of student protesters demanding support for the 2.3 million Palestinians besieged in the Gaza Strip, the White House has alleged anti-Semitism on campuses.
At the same time, several mostly Muslim House members, including Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, criticized the punishments meted out to student protesters. Asra Hirsi, daughter of Ilhan Omar, is one of the students suspended from the university during the protests.
5. The Zionist lobby remains strong
While hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters faced legal action and threats from authorities, a handful of pro-Zionist protesters reportedly went to university campuses and chanted “Victory for Israel!” The group also carried the flag of the Kaffir Brigade, a Zionist army branch of the pro-Israel organization Shirion Collective, which has strangely tried to bribe people to wear the keffiyeh and participate in student protests on American campuses.
In a post published online, they said they were specifically looking for people with Arabic names and Middle Eastern appearance to deepen their influence among the protesting students and to attach artificial labels to the protests.
6-Requests from universities
Although American authorities are trying to portray the student protesters as a group of angry young people with no clear goals, the fact remains that the protesters at American universities have made their conditions clear.
Students are demanding accountability from their university administration, which they consider complicit in Israeli war crimes. Because these administrators have not stopped universities investing in companies that support the war. The pension funds of several American universities have also invested in Israeli companies that the UN says are complicit in the Gaza war.
The students also want their universities to end agreements they have made with Zionist institutions in the occupied territories.
