Academic Protests
This post was originally from August, 2024. I still stand by it. These young men and women are speaking truth to power. Search GWU Gaza or NYU Gaza protest. It’s awesome. Keeping it updated would be a lot of work. Keep it up y’all!
Lately, scrolling through news has become as routine as morning coffee. Finding a decent news app on my Android has been a bit of a mission. (Why do iOS users get all the good stuff?) Last night, it hit me — I’m not even sure what I’m looking for in a news app anymore. As a consumer, I realize that I understand the world according to the author or establishment. So, then what?
As I was reading the news, I came across an article from Axios about professors and students getting arrested across the country. I was overwhelmed with many feelings.
Death for two hundred five days.
Fear in many more ways.
Complacency for two hundred five days.
Patience and calm is what he says.
“What the what?!” is what I say.
And then the students came and they’re not here to play.
After two hundred five days, it’s time to heed what they say.
I have a colleague at work who picked my brain about Gaza experiencing a genocide a few months ago. It has been a while since we spoke about it. He recently expressed that if a person is anti-Israel, then they are absolutely pro-Hamas. My social media feeds and discover pages are filled with Jewish people protesting and camping with others protesting the genocide and my President. Like it was many months ago, my colleague is limited in his scope. In typing this, I recognize my limitations as well. I have a growing family that I dedicate much of my time to. My work does not let me discuss these issues, especially what is going on in Gaza. I do not live in a community that is very diverse either.
How does one acknowledge the nuance politically and not “both sides” a problem in hopes to not paint a broad brush on a people? Part of it is through what standard you will judge by. I mean that will you judge with a Quranic ethics? Relativism? Consequentialism? Might making right? Aristotle? Kant? Or will it be Tucker Carlson or CNN? Another part of it is recognizing your own limitations and blind spots. What are you exposed to in terms of sourcing? Do you know people from the other side of the aisle or from the other side of town?
These academic protests are an inspiration for me. They have been a topic of conversation amongst older people. Wherever a person finds themselves, the fact that the conversation about the relationship between the American government and the Knesset is unprecedented. I asked myself where I would stand on campus. I look at my son and wonder his future stance. I know this: we must question where we stand and what brought us there. What are our limitations and blind spots, not just with the genocide in Gaza but in other matters as well. What a time to be alive. Wherever I land, I hope I am on the right side of history.