40 Killed In Hamas Attacks In Israel

[JamesWales]

I'm sure there are plenty of extreme comments coming from all sides.

But the overwhelming impression I get from the US college camps is a mainly peaceful and orderly demand for ceasefire, disinvestment, and not arming Israel to carry out genocide.

I have also seen a lot of Jewish students and academics taking part in the protests - although it is presented as intimidated Jewish students on one side and a mob of Hamas groupies on the other. The lies and misinformation from large parts of the press, from the US Republicans, the Biden loyalist Democrats, and that exemplar of truth and integrity (not), Netanyahu, are stinking out the story.

The protests are spreading - now over 40 campuses.

Good.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...llege-campuses

The woman who organised the pro Palestinian sit in at Columbia University said Zionists don't deserve to live and we should "Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”

Honestly, it's not hard to see why the Police have moved in on these extremists or why many don't feel safe is it?

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/26/n...t-zionism.html

[jon1959]

The woman who organised the pro Palestinian sit in at Columbia University said Zionists don't deserve to live and we should "Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”

Honestly, it's not hard to see why the Police have moved in on these extremists or why many don't feel safe is it?

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/26/n...t-zionism.html

The woman is a man according to the article you linked - who has since retracted his comments:

Early Friday morning, Mr. James posted a statement on social media addressing his comments. “What I said was wrong,” he wrote. “Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without qualification.” He noted that he made these comments in January before he become involved with the protest movement and added that the leaders of the student protests did not condone the comments. “I agree with their assessment,” he wrote.

The comments made online and in the hearing are outrageous - although his extreme hostile references to Zionism are yet again by the NYT translated into 'anti semitism'.

That is a continuous problem of intent and definition. Anti Zionism is not anti semitism. Many hundreds of thousands of Jewish people are anti Zionist - they are not anti semitic. Many hundreds of thousands of people are supporters of Zionism whilst at the same time being very anti semitic! False claims of anti semitism are almost never challenged or interrogated by the western media - and the liberal media has been as bad as the right until the last few months.

But whilst neither of us are experts here I have watched a lot of online social media coverage of the college protests, and a lot of broadcast media coverage (especially interviews). My strong impression is as I said above. It is mainly a peaceful protest focussed on a Gaza ceasefire, ending the arms supply to the Israeli Occupation Forces, and calling on universities to cut their ties to institutions and companies that promote or profit from genocide.

This example you have highlighted seems to be an extreme outlier - the exception that proves the rule.

It is good news that the clumsy (and often racist) attempts to suppress the protests are so far backfiring - leading to more colleges and universities starting their own protests, and to mounting electoral threat to Genocide Joe. The republicans and the Netanyahu fan club are doing what they always do.