hokiewolf said:
I just feel like saying it's paid agitators is really trying to deflect the real issue going on that a lot of these kids think they will be on the right side of history because they are the protesters, and they get that logic from their professors who also thought that protests were highly successful in the 60s with civil rights protests (yes) and the Vietnam War protests (no). You have the professors and school professionals out here reliving their glory days or the glory days of their boomer parents helping these kids cosplay on college campuses.
Fundamentally this one is so different than other (even less-successful) protests though because this all began when a terror group attacked, tortured, raped, and killed thousands of Israelis and Israel rightfully started defending itself.
Supporting Gazans (civilian citizens) is completely, totally understandable but that has to be done in the context of unequivocally denouncing Hamas.
It's such a weird hill for protesters to die on.
Should we all try to limit civilian casualties in war zones (of course) and should we all support prospective cease-fires that bring armed conflicts to an end (of course) and should Israel be accountable for any intentional or avoidable mistreatment of Gazan civilians (of course).
But Israel gets held to a weird double standard that seemingly no other attacked/invaded country around the world gets held to when they're trying to defend themselves, and things like protesting to pressure universities to divest from defense contractors that sell armaments to Israel seem so nebulous at best and completely idiotic at worst. Israel obviously needs the armaments given they've got countries all around them that want to end them, and that attack them fairly or totally unprovoked.
How about instead of being oddly myopic with your protests, you instead denounce terror in all forms; denounce jihad; denounce the anti-Semitism that leads to attacks on Jews and on Israel; understand Israel's need to defend itself; and be open about the need for a more progressive Middle East?