As many of you know students across the United States are setting up protest encampments on college campuses with a clear demand: their universities should sever ties with Israel and any companies that support its military actions in Gaza. This wave of protests is part of a broader movement known as Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), which opposes Israel’s policies toward Palestinians. The BDS movement has gained momentum as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, now past the six-month mark.
Which is going to be interesting because some of the largest donors (including billionaires like Robert Kraft) to these schools support Israel.
Over 100 students were arrested lat Columbia University, boosting protests from Massachusetts to California. Protesters are using tent camps as a form of visible, persistent demonstration, vowing to remain until their demands are addressed.
Columbia protest leader Mahmoud Khalil expressed the protesters’ perspective: “The university should do something about what we’re asking for, about the genocide that’s happening in Gaza. They should stop investing in this genocide.” This sentiment is echoed at various campuses, where students are advocating for their schools to disassociate from any business relationships that support Israeli military efforts in Gaza.
The demands of the wackystudent protesters vary from campus to campus but commonly include stopping business with military weapons manufacturers that supply arms to Israel, rejecting research funding from Israeli sources that support military efforts, and ceasing investment of college funds in Israeli companies. Protesters are also calling for greater transparency regarding the financial interactions their institutions have with Israeli entities.
Most of these protestors really have no idea what they are protesting.
For example, in the video below, an NYU protestor had no clear idea why they were protesting.
NEW: Pro-Palestine protester has no clue why she is protesting and then asks a friend why they are protesting who also has no clue.
Remarkable.
Reporter: “Why are you protesting?”
Protester: “Demanding that NYU stops! I honestly don’t know what NYU is doing… Do you know what… pic.twitter.com/cI46n6YNht
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 24, 2024
Several people were arrested who were at NYU including a Mone Makkawi, who is a Ph D. candidate. Who was very upset when she got a life lesson. Makkawi goes by the social media name “Girl Boss Gulag” but she didn’t sound so tough during her online rant.
“After abducting me & hundred of other nyu students + faculty yesterday, NYPD female officers in holding cells stole my possessions, then talked about it in front of others that were detained after I was released, bragging about how they were teaching me a lesson for protesting,” she wrote on social media. “These people have no interest in protecting or serving anyone but capital, most of them are white supremacists even if they are black/brown. the way they move and operate reflects a deep disdain for the black/brown people they target, harass, surveil, police. They train with the iof, learn their logics, exchange tactics, and so on. Palestine is never far.”
We linked to her posts in case she deletes them but you can view them below.
these people have no interest in protecting or serving anyone but capital, most of them are white supremacists even if they are black/brown. the way they move and operate reflects a deep disdain for the black/brown people they target, harass, surveil, police.
— Girl Boss Gulag (@monemakkawi) April 23, 2024
I’m so disgusted and saddened by the brutality the nyu Gaza student encampment was met with yesterday. many of the organizers and participants were undergrads. For many, their first experience with mobilizing was this reprehensible & violent crackdown by nyu x NYPD
— Girl Boss Gulag (@monemakkawi) April 23, 2024
Can you say, “coddled much?”
