View Full Version : Keffiyeh Kids
So at a couple of dozen campuses we are seeing an outbreak of “occupation” campouts. Maybe in the belief that university administrations are critical contributors to the Israeli defense establishment; maybe as a capstone project for antisemitism majors. The schools’ responses have ranged from riot cops at UT to Harvard turning on the lawn sprinklers. They folded the tents at Princeton after five minutes of finger wagging. There seem to have been somewhat more suspensions than the norm for spontaneous rage festivals. Are we turning some kind of corner on performative wokeness?
Some have profited. Amazon has sold a lot of Keffiyehs and camping gear. Enterprising schools like Brandeis and Franciscan are streamlining their transfer processes for students who prefer a pogrom-free educational experience. Politicians of various stripes have put their oars in the troubled waters.
But what will happen if the school year ends before the war does?
iris lilies
4-30-24, 10:56am
Here in St. Louis rioting has taken place in the past 48 hours at Washington University. Wash U administrators came out with a strongly worded policy statement, saying they will not tolerate camping out on their campus, but they support their students making their voices known in peaceful protest. But setting up camps – nope.
Cops were called in and fisticuffs ensued and three cops were injured yesterday. Apparently much of the blame goes to outside influencers not students or faculty getting things going here.
catherine
4-30-24, 11:25am
Well, those darn peace activists actually changed the course of my life back in 1970, when I was accepted at both St. Joseph College and Boston College. At the time I got my acceptance letters, my mother was gobbling up the news about the students overtaking the administration building at Boston College in protest of the War, and she so she wangled me into going to her choice of college--the convent-like St. Joe's, which she was certain would keep me free from the taint of controversy.
This is nothing new or different. I still have some lingering regret about not going to Boston College, and so I hope that anyone who has received acceptance letters to go to Columbia, or UCLA, or Princeton or Harvard won't be dissuaded by a few tents with signage on the quad.
iris lilies
4-30-24, 12:03pm
Well, those darn peace activists actually changed the course of my life back in 1970, when I was accepted at both St. Joseph College and Boston College. At the time I got my acceptance letters, my mother was gobbling up the news about the students overtaking the administration building at Boston College in protest of the War, and she so she wangled me into going to her choice of college--the convent-like St. Joe's, which she was certain would keep me free from the taint of controversy.
This is nothing new or different. I still have some lingering regret about not going to Boston College, and so I hope that anyone who has received acceptance letters to go to Columbia, or UCLA, or Princeton or Harvard won't be dissuaded by a few tents with signage on the quad.
yes yesterday I spent some time really thinking about the protesters at Wash U.
. Anti-war protesting, sure, that’s familiar. I’m sympathetic. Railing against the war machine and their own university’s cozy relationship with Boeing is OK with me. There were the usual Hamas supporters, though, and that is very irritating.
there is nothing about Hamas that is anti-war. Hamas wants to kill Jews, period. Their war will be over when all the Jews are dead worldwide.
Jill Stein ( perennial Libertarian Presidential candidate) was in St. Louis and participated in these protests. I have voted for Jill Stein. I didn’t know she was a terrorist supporter. Or maybe she was there for the Boeing arm of the protest.
catherine
4-30-24, 12:11pm
yes yesterday I spent some time really thinking about the protesters at Wash U.
. Anti-war protesting, sure, that’s familiar. I’m sympathetic. Railing against the war machine and their own university’s cozy relationship with Boeing is OK with me. There were the usual Hamas supporters, though, and that is very irritating.
there is nothing about Hamas that is anti-war. Hamas wants to kill Jews, period. there war will be over when all the Jews are dead worldwide.
Jill Stein ( perennial Libertarian Presidential candidate) was in St. Louis and participated in these protests. I have voted for Jill Stein. I didn’t know she was a terrorist supporter. Or maybe she was there for the Boeing arm of the protest.
I ALMOST got into a "discussion" with DH just now. He told me he sent away for an "I Stand With Israel" pin to wear on his lapel. Of course, that's fine with me... I stand with Israel, too, but I also stand with the dead Gazan children. This is a very difficult situation we are in. I wish the Israeli hostages would all be released--it is horrific what they are going through. But for Hamas to sacrifice its own citizenry is also appalling.
"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace"
Easy to imagine, maybe, but that's it.
iris lilies
4-30-24, 12:15pm
I ALMOST got into a "discussion" with DH just now. He told me he sent away for an "I Stand With Israel" pin to wear on his lapel. Of course, that's fine with me... I stand with Israel, too, but I also stand with the dead Gazan children. This is a very difficult situation we are in. I wish the Israeli hostages would all be released--it is horrific what they are going through. But for Hamas to sacrifice its own citizenry is also appalling.
"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace"
Easy to imagine, maybe, but that's it.
Hamas will always sacrifice their own citizens for the higher good which is killing the Jews.
Hamas will not always have hostages and protect them, because if Israeli military is strong enough Hamas will not get hostages.
But always and forever, Hamas puts killing Jews above the life and liberty of their own citizens. And for those who think Palestine citizens are distinctly separate from Hamas, there’s a whole lot of blending and Palestinian citizens are pretty much OK with killing the Jews.
Well, those darn peace activists actually changed the course of my life back in 1970, when I was accepted at both St. Joseph College and Boston College. At the time I got my acceptance letters, my mother was gobbling up the news about the students overtaking the administration building at Boston College in protest of the War, and she so she wangled me into going to her choice of college--the convent-like St. Joe's, which she was certain would keep me free from the taint of controversy.
This is nothing new or different. I still have some lingering regret about not going to Boston College, and so I hope that anyone who has received acceptance letters to go to Columbia, or UCLA, or Princeton or Harvard won't be dissuaded by a few tents with signage on the quad.
I started at U of Illinois in 1976, and participated in the AFROTC program there. There was a certain amount of jeering and sneering and threats aimed at people in uniform then. It seemed to mainly come from superannuated grad students rather than undergraduates. I wonder what proportion of today’s revolutionary cosplayers are members of the professional student class.
This is nothing new or different. I still have some lingering regret about not going to Boston College, and so I hope that anyone who has received acceptance letters to go to Columbia, or UCLA, or Princeton or Harvard won't be dissuaded by a few tents with signage on the quad.
I'm still paying off my daughter's student loans from Princeton, and she graduated in 2018. I'm down to about $25k from the original ~$260k. She received a fine education there, though there were some serious issues with misogyny and sexual predation by some of faculty within her department, Classics. And since she had her sights set on a profession in that very small field, her ability to speak out then, and even now, was a bit hampered. (The situation was finally resolved by the University, but it took years, and during that time quite a few women were impaired in their ability to enter or proceed in the field.)
Fees/tuition/room/board at Columbia run about $90k/year now. I'd sure be miffed as a parent if my kid couldn't attend classes, exams, or graduation ceremonies because of protests on campus. Or if my kid's professors tried to have sex with her in exchange for grades/recommendations/mentoring.
Two interesting articles I came across yesterday:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/29/opinions/campus-protests-university-of-texas-israel-gaza-suri/index.html
https://malcolmnance.substack.com/p/will-the-free-palestine-college-protests
Apparently the cops in DC actually know what the first amendment is:
https://wapo.st/3JGJ2Tw
I theorize that these protests are increasing the likelihood of a Trump victory in the coming election.
I theorize that these protests are increasing the likelihood of a Trump victory in the coming election.
I think you may be right. Some people who see another four years of Trump as “An existential threat to our democracy” and Biden as “Complicit in genocide” will need to decide which hyperbolic statement to act on.
iris lilies
4-30-24, 3:30pm
Apparently the cops in DC actually know what the first amendment is:
https://wapo.st/3JGJ2Tw
I will have to spend more time with that Washington Post article but it is interesting how the protesting at the Washington universities, GW and Wash U , seem to be similar.
But I will ask you JP, about the item reference to Northwestern University where “kill the Jews “ was shouted and shouters arrested.
Do you think that that is an arrest-able offense? I mean, you personally JP.
Does the First Amendment apply to pitching a tent on private property? If you camp on my lawn and present me with a list of demands, I’d be setting the cops on you.
When the people who shout down speaker or demand speakers be disinvited, because other viewpoints make them feel “unsafe” become champions of free speech, I have to wonder if they’re being entirely sincere b
Apparently the cops in DC actually know what the first amendment is:
https://wapo.st/3JGJ2Tw
I think most rational people know what the first amendment is, just as most people know that most arrests at these Kabuki Theater events are not free speech related.
Does the First Amendment apply to pitching a tent on private property? If you camp on my lawn and present me with a list of demands, I’d be setting the cops on you.
When the people who shout down speaker or demand speakers be disinvited, because other viewpoints make them feel “unsafe” become champions of free speech, I have to wonder if they’re being entirely sincere b
It seems to me that virtually everyone lamenting the "end of democracy" confuses free speech with favored speech and are more than willing to promote the latter while punishing the former.
littlebittybobby
4-30-24, 5:09pm
okay----who cares? the only thing we/you should do is steer clear of the whole never-ending mess. "they" love to fight, so let 'em---as long as "they" stay on their own turf. Yup. hope that helps you some. thankk mee.
iris lilies
4-30-24, 5:13pm
I think most rational people know what the first amendment is, just as most people know that most arrests at these Kabuki Theater events are not free speech related.
And, there are plenty of police officers who would broadly consider themselves anti-war and sympathetic to that general message. Also, A measurable percentage probably would rally Pro-Palestine, and in the city of St. Louis I wouldn’t be surprised if that is 50% of the police force.
I will have to spend more time with that Washington Post article but it is interesting how the protesting at the Washington universities, GW and Wash U , seem to be similar.
But I will ask you JP, about the item reference to Northwestern University where “kill the Jews “ was shouted and shouters arrested.
Do you think that that is an arrest-able offense? I mean, you personally JP.
I think that's advocating violence, so yes, they should be arrested if that's what actually happened. But that seems to have been an isolated event from what I can tell. University administrators wanting nonviolent protestors arrested for tresspassing or other BS is just that. BS that shouldn't be happening. If universities aren't the place for first amendment freedom what the hell are we actually trying to teach university students? To be good little doobies that meekly become cogs in the wheels of capitalism who know how to keep their mouths shut instead of saying inconvenient things?
I think most rational people know what the first amendment is, just as most people know that most arrests at these Kabuki Theater events are not free speech related.
Of course these arrests are kibuki. They aren't about "trespass". They are about shutting down inconvenient opinions.
Trespassing, free speech, time/place/manner restrictions and the 1st Amendment. Can be tricky determining how things work in not-quite-public spaces.
Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U.S. 74 (1980) is a good start.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruneyard_Shopping_Center_v._Robins
iris lilies
4-30-24, 10:28pm
I think that's advocating violence, so yes, they should be arrested if that's what actually happened. But that seems to have been an isolated event from what I can tell. University administrators wanting nonviolent protestors arrested for tresspassing or other BS is just that. BS that shouldn't be happening. If universities aren't the place for first amendment freedom what the hell are we actually trying to teach university students? To be good little doobies that meekly become cogs in the wheels of capitalism who know how to keep their mouths shut instead of saying inconvenient things?
Protesters who don’t deface property, who don’t interfere with the free flow of traffic or movement of their fellow citizens, protesters who make their opinions known through signs and chanting and then go home at night without rioting, those protestors are fine with me.
As I stated above Washington University administrators said their students were welcome to Exercise their free speech on campus but they were not welcome to set up camping gear and stay out overnight.
Protesters who don’t deface property, who don’t interfere with the free flow of traffic or movement of their fellow citizens, protesters who make their opinions known through signs and chanting and then go home at night without rioting, those protestors are fine with me.
As I stated above Washington University administrators said their students were welcome to Exercise their free speech on campus but they were not welcome to set up camping gear and stay out overnight.
So first amendment rights are not a 24/7 thing? Sounds kind of similar to the idea that homeless people need to figure out how to not need to sleep in public spaces.
So first amendment rights are not a 24/7 thing? Sounds kind of similar to the idea that homeless people need to figure out how to not need to sleep in public spaces.
No.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_v._Community_for_Creative_Non-Violence
No.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_v._Community_for_Creative_Non-Violence
So are the courts going to decide that the ‘condition of college campuses’ outweigh the first amendment?
iris lilies
4-30-24, 10:58pm
So first amendment rights are not a 24/7 thing? Sounds kind of similar to the idea that homeless people need to figure out how to not need to sleep in public spaces.
Well, in these cases that I’m looking at it is private property. Washington University here in St. Louis is not a public university. My guess is that if protesters were keeping a silent vigil at night with no camping gear administrators would not shoo them away.
as for protesting on public streets at night, law enforcement does have the authority to disburse crowds and impose curfews. During the Ferguson race I did wonder about the legality of curfews.
Well, in these cases that I’m looking at it is private property. Washington University here in St. Louis is not a public university. My guess is that if protesters were keeping a silent vigil at night with no camping gear administrators would not shoo them away.
as for protesting on public streets at night, law enforcement does have the authority to disburse crowds and impose curfews. During the Ferguson race I did wonder about the legality of curfews.
And this is a good example of why the decrease of public spaces is a bad thing. There’s been a big effort to turn perceived public spaces into private spaces over the years. That’s unfortunate. And has significant real life impacts on the reality of the first amendment. People that expound on how they support the first amendment but also support support the increase in not legally public spaces aren’t actually supporting the first amendment.
iris lilies
4-30-24, 11:12pm
https://www.jns.org/ucla-allows-anti-israel-protesters-to-block-jewish-students/
what the heck is going on at UCLA? Can this be true? Jewish students who support Zionism are denied access to campus library? University administrators are supporting this? How can this possibly be true?
… paving the way for a Donald Trump victory this is..
I would like to see our current President of the United States address this.
The ACLU:
https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/open-letter-to-college-and-university-presidents-on-student-protests
iris lilies
5-1-24, 12:18am
The ACLU:
https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/open-letter-to-college-and-university-presidents-on-student-protests
That is a decent message to colleges.
That is a decent message to colleges.
I agree
iris lilies
5-1-24, 8:55am
And our current President DID address the protesting and rioting, so good for him.
Modern day dirty hippies. I have no use for them. Notice it’s all students at expensive universities who are doing this. Don’t they have anything better and more useful to do?
The ACLU:
https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/open-letter-to-college-and-university-presidents-on-student-protests
These seem to be sentiments they’ve honored more with words than deeds in recent years.
I see the cops have cleared that building at Columbia the Hamas sympathizers broke into. They issued demands for global Intifada and free food, but got zip ties instead. Jamaal Bowman decried the removal of these peaceful protesters. He should know, having cleared buildings single-handedly himself via fire alarm.
There’s a difference between Palestinian sympathizers and Hamas sympathizers. Kind of the same as acknowledging that not all republicans are loser trump sympathizers.
iris lilies
5-2-24, 8:30am
There’s a difference between Palestinian sympathizers and Hamas sympathizers. Kind of the same as acknowledging that not all republicans are loser trump sympathizers.
firstly, I am surprised you recognize there’s a difference between Republicans in any way since I’ve not seen that in your posts.
Secondly, of course there are those who espouse general ideas of anti-war and support for Palestinian citizens who are experiencing horrific stuff right now. That would be most people in America.
But details matter. If you shout ” from the river to the sea “what does that really mean? When one drapes a keffiyah to show solidarity, who are you really siding with? Symbols and slogans can be interpreted many ways. Keffiyah Is a handsome and immediately recognizable pattern on cloth but also is associated with years of terrorist activity, amoung other associations.
It’s important to know that some 70% of Palestinians support the activities of Hamas on October 7. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/poll-shows-palestinians-back-oct-7-attack-israel-support-hamas-rises-2023-12-14/#:~:text=Fifty%2Dtwo%20percent%20of%20Gazans,of%20 Hamas%20in%20the%20war.
It’s important to know that some 70% of Palestinians support the activities of Hamas on October 7. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/poll-shows-palestinians-back-oct-7-attack-israel-support-hamas-rises-2023-12-14/#:~:text=Fifty%2Dtwo%20percent%20of%20Gazans,of%20 Hamas%20in%20the%20war.
I don't know much about their elections, but that's a good point that I think gets overlooked by the news we get. Hamas seems to be the authority of choice to represent the people for much of their populations. I could wonder how closely connected at the hip they are, but they are certainly not two distinct groups to say the least.
iris lilies
5-2-24, 3:23pm
I don't know much about their elections, but that's a good point that I think gets overlooked by the news we get. Hamas seems to be the authority of choice to represent the people for much of their populations. I could wonder how closely connected at the hip they are, but they are certainly not two distinct groups to say the least.
but then it can be argued about the brutality of Hamas to their citizen Palestinians. Young Palestinians won’t know much of life outside of Hamas rule so they might not recognize their hardships are very much put into place by their rulers.
As usual I had to look it up. Humas was apparently elected in a free election in 2006, but that was the last free election and Palestine is basically a one party state now. So I guess I have no idea if the general population supports Humus and their aggressions and it does not seem to come up in the news features. I suspect the majority don't recognize Israel's right to exist.
I suspect the majority don't recognize Israel's right to exist.
I think Israel's "right to exist" was established in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, when there was a concerted attempt to drive the Jewish people into the sea. Israel has re-asserted that right when defending itself during multiple wars over the years since, as periodically their neighbors band together and try to crush them.
I'm not sure where a nation's "right to exist" comes from.
I'm not sure where a nation's "right to exist" comes from.
I can imagine in context it recognizes the legitimacy of a territory and it's peoples as a sovereign state. But it is a rather abstract concept with no real international agreement?
The Humus randomly lobbing of many thousands of rockets into Israel over the last couple of decades might be an expression of Israel's perceived legitimacy or lack of.
It’s interesting to juxtapose a country confronting an exterminationist culture with privileged students demanding that Sabra hummus be banned on campus.
Modern day dirty hippies. I have no use for them. Notice it’s all students at expensive universities who are doing this. Don’t they have anything better and more useful to do?
Tradd, this is happening on state campuses now. Over one hundred students were given ten-minutes notice to vacate an encampment at SUNY (New York) New Paltz yesterday. This is not an exclusive university, not a place for wealthy people.
Something has been lighted here and the fire is catching. I think it's a moral crisis for many people, and particularly for Americans. It is for me. If I were a kid again, a lapsed Catholic kid, I know I would be among the encamped students, trying to sit with the Jewish kids for peace. Being old, I'd like to be on a team with other elders insisting on entering that library with that Jewish kid among us, protected.
This is all very hard.
iris lilies
5-3-24, 9:35pm
I kinda like that the students at Washington University here in St. Louis have a specific goal that is within their realm to influence, and that is the relationship Boeing has with Washington University. Boeing sponsors all kinds of scholarships, leadership conferences, professorships, departmental research, etc.
Of course the irony is that current students who are protesting have reaped the benefits of Boeing money going to the university and to students, and they want to take that away from future students. And that might be OK the future students, who knows.
Something has been lighted here and the fire is catching. .
Is it? A small minority of students at a small minority of schools (plus the usual non-student hangers-on) have managed to inconvenience everyone else at their campuses. That doesn’t strike me as a groundswell. More like a fad.
iris lilies
5-4-24, 11:26am
Is it? A small minority of students at a small minority of schools (plus the usual non-student hangers-on) have managed to inconvenience everyone else at their campuses. That doesn’t strike me as a groundswell. More like a fad.
Remember all the good that the Occupy movement did?
yeah
Remember all the good that the Occupy movement did?
yeah
Will Zuccotti Park go down in history along with Valley Forge?
Tradd, this is happening on state campuses now. Over one hundred students were given ten-minutes notice to vacate an encampment at SUNY (New York) New Paltz yesterday. This is not an exclusive university, not a place for wealthy people.
Something has been lighted here and the fire is catching. I think it's a moral crisis for many people, and particularly for Americans. It is for me. If I were a kid again, a lapsed Catholic kid, I know I would be among the encamped students, trying to sit with the Jewish kids for peace. Being old, I'd like to be on a team with other elders insisting on entering that library with that Jewish kid among us, protected.
This is all very hard.
Even if it’s happening at state schools - still modern day dirty hippies. I have no use for any of them. Go do something useful rather than blocking campus, preventing people from going to class or work.
Notice how they’re all concerned about something half a world away but don’t give a sh*t about gang violence or whatever else is tearing up their cities.
I see that Columbia’s president (she’s a Baroness back home in the UK) has decided to cancel the university’s commencement into several smaller ceremonies in response to potential disruptions like Michigan saw.
President Biden, perhaps inspired by the courage of the protesters, made up a story about being jailed for standing up for a black family during a desegregation protest. Snopes spoiled the moment by rating his story “false”.
I also see Gaza camps are springing up in Oxbridge now. Sort of puts me in mind of those protesters shouting “hands up don’t shoot” at unarmed British cops a few years ago.
I also see Gaza camps are springing up in Oxbridge now. Sort of puts me in mind of those protesters shouting “hands up don’t shoot” at unarmed British cops a few years ago.
I think I mentioned, and perhaps shared a photo, of a protest that shut down several blocks of the middle of Cambridge last October when I was over there. The energy put off by the crowd, and the things being shouted, were off-putting.
My daughter lives in the building behind the crowd there.
https://i.imgur.com/eflPuK4.png
A solid letter from Jewish students at Columbia:
https://tinyurl.com/mudd6nsj
A solid letter from Jewish students at Columbia:
https://tinyurl.com/mudd6nsj
Good.
iris lilies
5-8-24, 9:21pm
A solid letter from Jewish students at Columbia:
https://tinyurl.com/mudd6nsj
Nice!
An excellent article in the NYT today:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/opinion/campus-protests-gaza.html
An excellent article in the NYT today:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/opinion/campus-protests-gaza.html
Typical Friedman. You need to wade through the preening and portentous stating of the obvious to get to the core of solid common sense.
In this case, I think he’s right. The protesters know not what they do.
iris lilies
5-9-24, 10:48am
Typical Friedman. You need to wade through the preening and portentous stating of the obvious to get to the core of solid common sense.
In this case, I think he’s right. The protesters know not what they do.
My friend, sometimes readers of the New York Times need the obvious stated.
My friend, sometimes readers of the New York Times need the obvious stated.
How’s that old joke go? The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country. The New York Times is read by the people who think they should run the country due to their intellectual superiority.
How’s that old joke go? The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country. The New York Times is read by the people who think they should run the country due to their intellectual superiority.
The NY Times has far better recipes.
Well, here's what I consider a really good op-ed by Ross Douthat of the NYT. It offers no "solutions," no judgements--just a clear acknowledgement that life is messy, and most moral judgements come down to shades of grey.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/11/opinion/foreign-policy-israel-gaza.html
I liked what Bill Maher said about choosing between the side that would like to commit genocide but can’t and the side that could commit genocide but won’t.
I see now that Israeli citizens are attacking and destroying humanitarian aid convoys. Can someone remind me again who the ‘good guys’ are in all this?
iris lilies
5-14-24, 2:41pm
I see now that Israeli citizens are attacking and destroying humanitarian aid convoys. Can someone remind me again who the ‘good guys’ are in all this?
In your book, I think it is anyone dwelling in Gaza including Hamas.
Just helpin’ ya out jp ‘cause you asked.
catherine
5-16-24, 12:10pm
If you can bypass a paywall, here is an op ed piece that was written by one of the three Palestinian students who was shot last year walking in downtown Burlington. The incongruence of the event--a hate crime like this executed in progressive, neighborly, small-town Vermont--was embarrassing and surreal.
The article shares his reflections on that incongruity, and the irony of a West Bank Palestinian being shot here.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/opinion/politics/palestinian-american-vermont-shooting.html
They've cleared out protesting campers on the big city campus here. Buildings had been on lockdown for short time. As the news goes, there were about 80 arrests for trespassing, most of whom were not students. The news interviewed Jewish students who felt at risk of harm.
I pretty much understand a few details, but it's interesting that the attempted Russian occupation and subjugation of Ukraine along with indiscriminate rocket attacks and endangerment of nuclear facilities hasn't had any sort of similar popular objections.
iris lilies
5-23-24, 6:07pm
They've cleared out protesting campers on the big city campus here. Buildings had been on lockdown for short time. As the news goes, there were about 80 arrests for trespassing, most of whom were not students. The news interviewed Jewish students who felt at risk of harm.
I pretty much understand a few details, but it's interesting that the attempted Russian occupation and subjugation of Ukraine along with indiscriminate rocket attacks and endangerment of nuclear facilities hasn't had any sort of similar popular objections.
More than 1/4 of college campuses have Muslim student organizations to sell the victim message. I doubt there are as many Ukrainian student organizations on campus.
https://www.insightintodiversity.com/researchers-find-that-most-colleges-do-not-offer-campus-organizations-for-buddhist-hindu-jewish-or-muslim-students/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/28/opinion/israel-ukraine-war-us.html
iris lilies
6-16-24, 9:32am
Not only Keffiyah wearing Kids, the Keffiyah grownups are showing their stupidity.
There is debate in this conflict about the purity of Hamas in killing Jews on October 7. There are two sides, naturally:
Side1: Hamas did not rape and brutalize women
Side 2: Hamas raped and brutalized women
I can accept:
*War is shit and in it women get raped, children get killed, sometimes both get raped and killed
* It is difficult to determine facts in the “Fog of War”
* people on both sides have sincere convictions about how just is this war and its ongoing action
I absolutely cannot accept the from -outer-space opinion if this Univeristynof Minnesota campus professor Sima Shakhsari. She serves as a rape crises counselor. She says she always will “believe all women.” But she cannot believe the Hamas freedom fighters committed rape, gang rape, and deliberate physical mutilation of women because they were doing good and necessary work for their fellow Palestinians. She will believe it when those women come forward.
Yes, she actually said that.
Umm, sweetie, the women are DEAD.
This woman is currently a professor and is up for a DEI job at her university. What do you want to bet she gets that job? Seems eminently qualified.
excerpts from her speech:
“…In the speech, she volunteered she hadn’t seen any evidence of Hamas’ sexual violence against Israelis — which has been well-documented by testimony from victims, video footage and forensic evidence. “Of course, any person who has been raped, I am a rape crisis counselor, I believe the survivors. I am yet to see Israeli rape survivors of Hamas come and speak,” Shakhsari said.
Shakhsari went on to say that it’s racist to say that Hamas committed rape. “Part of our work and part of my experience… was how men of color in the U.S. have been demonized and have been falsely accused of rape. Exactly because of racism. “
article about her and more of her speech here:
https://jewishinsider.com/2023/12/sima-shakhsari-university-of-minnesota-professor-hamas-oct-7-atrocities-denial/
I am saddened to see this happening in the midwest, at a public university. Seems like more of a California thing.
iris lilies
6-16-24, 9:55am
Sheryl Sandberg, former CEO of Facebook and etc, made a documentary about the brutalization of women during the October 7 attacks and subsequent days.
I wont watch the film because I dont want that stuff in my head, but I think it likely the first hand reports of rape, mutilation, torture, are to be believed, and not just as a rare occurrence. We did see video footage by excited and proud Hamas idiots in real time carrying out executions of children, families, etc.
Apparently Sandber’s film just isn’t very good. The amateur production values cloud the presentation of facts. That is too bad.
And then, there was a New York Times
article that covered war atrocities and that was apparently considered to be debunked by some.
I suppose it is a curiosity that Hamas did not film themselves raping and brutalizing women before they killed them. They were too busy? They think this is somehow shameful? Who knows.
I see they were back in action outside the capital today. Burning flags, tossing smoke bombs, blocking traffic, etc. to protest Bibi’s address to Congress. I understand about half the Democratic members elected not to show up; discretion being the better part of backbone.
I wonder if we’ll be seeing many of them in Chicago next month.
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