Why did pro-Palestinian protests fail?

Despite weeks of pro-Palestinian protests, the university has not withdrawn from Israel. President Biden is still sending weapons to the Israel Defense Forces. No matter how many commencement ceremonies are canceled, it seems unlikely that all will change.

The mistake of the pro-Palestinian movement was choosing the “Hamilton Hall” protest model over the “Parkland” protest model.

The Hamilton Hall model is based on the 1968 tactics of Columbia University students to protest the Vietnam War and the university’s expansion plans into Harlem. The students occupied five buildings on campus, including Hamilton Hall, and held the dean hostage overnight. The result was a disaster, with 700 students arrested, 100 injured, and the New York City Police Department rightly accused of using excessive force.

“Parkland” refers to the reaction of students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, to the 2018 school shooting that killed 17 of their classmates. Traumatized students testified before Congress that they started a peaceful March for Our Lives movement with 300 chapters across the country. And he lobbied state legislators. They succeeded in passing important gun control laws in places like conservative Florida.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators enthusiastically embraced the tragic legacy of Hamilton Hall, which they invaded and occupied, with destructive tent encampments, occupation of academic facilities, and often aggressive rhetoric. It did not embrace the most confrontational tactic, the sustained but respectful Parkland protests. Nationwide, he was given a 17-minute classroom outing (one minute per victim).

The university offers courses on settler colonialism, teaching students how colonial states, including Israel, displace and exploit original populations such as Palestinians. The theory behind settler colonialism was the communism of the 1920s and his 1930s by presenting a simplistic “good and evil” belief system that bisected the world into oppressors and oppressors. is reflected. While it fuels student outrage, settler colonialism theory does not teach how change in America actually works.

The most successful protest movements in American history had consistent goals, such as the recognition of specific legal rights, and displayed dignity. The suffragettes who proudly marched in white dresses despite physical and verbal abuse from men, and who risked, and sometimes died, their lives in the segregated South. Think back to the civil rights activists of the 1960s. These were noble and inspiring movements that accomplished some of the most far-reaching changes in American history.

The Parkland teenager had a sense of dignity that helped him garner widespread support. (Taylor Swift, who was apolitical at the time, donated to March for Our Lives.)

Pro-Palestinian protests lack dignity. Slogans such as “From the rivers to the sea, Palestine will be free” can, at best, be interpreted as calling for an end to Israel’s Jewish identity, and not only to Israel but also to millions of American Jews and It is an insult to non-Jews. Jew. The heartfelt anguish of so many students over Gaza is the anti-Semitism of many protesters, including overt support for Hamas, such as Students for Palestine Justice posting paragliding graphics on Instagram. It was blurred by his words and actions. The Parkland movement’s most divisive post may have been, “What would happen if our politicians weren’t NRA bitches?” A parody of an NRA ad.

Pro-Palestinian protests may still have an impact, but not in the way protesters would like. In 1968, student protests like Hamilton Hall arose across the country and served as a foil for the Republican Party, which took control of the White House with its law-and-order campaign. President Trump’s campaign has similarly capitalized on the protests by claiming, “This is chaos on Biden’s campus.”

The most lasting legacy of pro-Palestinian protesters may be electing as president a man who called them “raging lunatics” and said disbanding the police during the Hamilton Hall occupation was “a beautiful thing to see.” unknown.

Gregory J. Wallance He was a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations and a member of the ABSCAM prosecution team that convicted a U.S. senator and six members of Congress on bribery charges. He is the author of Into Siberia: George Kennan’s Epic Journey Through Russia’s Brutal and Frozen Heartland.. ”