Today's campus protests aren't nearly as big or violent as those last century -- at least, not yet
Today's campus protests aren't nearly as big or violent as those last century -- at least, not yet
In a way, the black-and-white Palestinian scarf draped over Hannah Sattler’s shoulders this week and the tie-dyed T-shirts of 1968 are woven from a common thread. Like so many college students across the country protesting the Israel-Hamas war, Sattler feels the historic weight of the anti-Vietnam ...
And yet the police reaction has been out of control. These images are from Indiana University (my alma mater, so I've been taking a special interest):
Meanwhile, this is the exact same location in 1991 when students protested the Gulf War. I was only in middle school, but I was still there, cooking and doing other things around the camp. The camp was there for 45 days. No one took it down.
I love that the pictures I keep seeing come out of these protests are just young nerdy kids. I'd prefer they weren't being manhandled by fucking commandoes, but the imagery really conveys the reality vs. the "outside agitators" narrative.
One of the few times I've seen my dad cry was when we were touring college. We went to his alma mater and when we walked by the administrative building he started talking about how they took it over when Nixon started bombing Cambodia. He trailed off and his eyes filled with tears. And it wasn't sadness. It was anger. He was furious at the people who were needlessly throwing away lives.
Your dad is cool
A report came out today confirming that 99% of pro-Palestine protests at US colleges have been entirely peaceful, despite the hysterical rhetoric from Congress and the corporate news media.
I don't think I've seen a greater disparity between the mainstream dialogue surrounding a current issue and the actual reality of it since the 2003 Iraq War.
That's exactly my feeling as well. This is Iraq War media manipulation/propaganda all over again. Like it's not a coincidence that nearly all the politicians and nearly all the mainstream media just seem to mistakenly imply there's violence going on. Maybe one reporter got mistaken information, but all of them? All at the same time? And no politician had any ability to just talk to a respected person on campus to hear the protesters' view?
They're all willing to briefly mention some platitudes about the right to protest, but studiously avoid talking about why they are. Do we even know where the various political figures stand on university divestment from Israel? That's the main demand. We're hearing a lot about their concerns about antisemitism and violence and the rule of law (usually without examples, just "trust us it's happening"), but no one's willing to address their actual cause. At least during BLM they'd say "Black Lives Matter" before saying the same crap about violence and outside agitators and whatnot.
No one was shot in the head yet, which is positive. (Knock on wood)
And yet...
I keep seeing this, and it does look bad, but these are honestly there to kill anyone who starts shooting protesters. I remember my university held an event every year with some fair rides and stuff, and there were guys with rifles walking around everywhere securing things. There were no protests and no reasonable expectation of violence. The same can not be said here. I suspect it's only a matter of time until some outsider decides to start shooting protesters.
It sucks that's where we're at in the US, but it is. The snipers are not the guys doing harm. The cops with riot shields are. They look less dangerous, but they are far more dangerous.
Not with bullets, but they’ve been shot in the head with rubber bullets.
The for-profit media has no incentive to calm you down.
Makes me wonder... Is there a left-leaning outlet and a right-leaning outlet that are owned by the same parent company? Is anyone playing both sides? 🤔
Washington Post maybe. Thanks to their coverage of Trump most think of them as left-leaning, but I've also seen them run a number of false and misleading editorials taking the GOP point of view. Of course it's owned by Bezos who also plays both sides in his personal politics.