#Abolition#CampusProtests, #Gaza, # BlackMastodon #BlackTwitter Those of you who have followed me for a while know I mostly post about the issue of abolition, information about webinars on community issues, and black cultural music and events. I comment on policing but don’t usually post on it. However, the university protests provide an excellent opportunity to highlight why abolition is needed in this country. 1/7
"Every so often, a cause ignites a sustained fury on college campuses across the nation. In 2020, it was Black Lives Matter. In 2011, it was Occupy Wall Street. In the 1980s, it was apartheid in South Africa.
Today, it’s the Israeli military campaign in Gaza."
Here are five books that shine light on a rich history of campus protests in the US that goes back to the 1960s – compiled by veteran journalist Steve Friess.
Great news: UK university divests from Israel-linked arms companies following pressure
“The University of York has been forced to divest from weapons and arms manufacturers tied to Israel after a series of protests from a student-led coalition.”
Chief of NYPD cops clearing campus protesters: "You're dealing with children, or teenagers slash young adults, that aren't at the mental capacity you are at as professional police officers."
I don't doubt that there's antisemitism in the #CampusProtests but my bet is it's being played up by many to try to shut them down, because people fear they will lessen US support for #Israel. Same reason that reasonable discussion of issues like immigration gets called racist. There will always be bad faith actors, but there's also good faith involved. What's the best journalism you've seen about these actions? #Gaza#uspol
Wow, reading all these letters by NYU faculty to the office of the president is quite something. Do read them all. Highlighting one by History Professor Steven Hahn, as it encapsulates everything (in one screenshot). #Gaza#campusprotests
"In the tented camps and crowded streets of Rafah, the pro-Palestine campus protests in the US have been followed closely.
“We hear a lot of news about students’ demonstrations in American universities … When I saw that, I was very happy that there are still those who stand beside us and in support of us,” said Nevin Abu Shahma, 39, who fled to Rafah from northern Gaza early in the war"
It feels like the #campusprotests and their brutal oppression may really shift things. For one, they highlight so very clearly how militarised state power is always there, and will be used against anyone who dares to challenge the status quo.
So..It’s time for a change…
Raise your voice to the air
It’s time for a change
Revolution is here
This is our song,
our rights now expressed
There’s power in our voice
There’s strength in our words
When the whole world is silent,
Our voice must be heard.
This is our song #Revolution is set
For the festival of the #oppressed https://yt.artemislena.eu/watch?v=9F_coLFmerg
There’s nothing groundbreaking about protesters’ tactics of taking over university buildings or erecting encampments on college lawns.
These students – knowingly or unknowingly – are part of a long history of radical student organizing. There are echoes of both the protests against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s and more recently, of South African apartheid in the 1980s.
The Pulitzer Prize Board has issued a statement recognizing the "tireless efforts" of student journalists covering the campus protests across the U.S., highlighting the "great personal and academic risk" they faced. They mentioned specifically the journalists at Columbia University where the Pulitzer Prizes are housed. “In the spirit of press freedom, these students worked to document a major national news event under difficult and dangerous circumstances and at risk of arrest,” they said. Here's more from The Hill.
"From their campuses, the students are calling out as loudly as they can that western institutions are complicit in arming a genocide, that the emperor is every bit as morally exposed as he appears. It is time to stop listening to those gaslighting us. Now is the time to believe our own eyes"
Jonathan Cook
Prominent Republicans have seized on campus protests to assail what they say is antisemitism on the left. But for years they have mainstreamed anti-Jewish rhetoric.
What started as a peaceful walkout this morning by hundreds of university staff, professors, lecturers in protest against police violence against students last week is now developing and escalating once again.
The riot police are here, hundreds of them are blocking the entrance to the university. After the university staff finished their rally, the students went in and they have built some tents right into the main hall.
The police are now coming in and [the students] are trying to block the police. They managed for a few minutes but now the police car van is driving towards the entrance and everyone here is very much hoping that the same scenario that happened last week is not repeated here.
The protests are against the war in Gaza and they’re also demanding the university to cut ties with Israeli universities but also to protest against police violence and what they say is a violation of their rights to demonstrate.
So far I’ve only seen peaceful protesters and the police is coming in and of course, there’s a lot of trauma after what happened last week so the situation is quite agitated.
Sad but true lesson from #CampusProtests: "#University presidents aren’t leaders anymore. They’re lackeys. They serve the corporations, billionaires, and government leaders on whom they depend. It’s no surprise that, when it comes to the encampments, most administrators have been dutiful subalterns. They don’t lead, they obey." https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/university-presidents-gaza-protests
An #Ontario#university is the first major educational institution in #Canada to reach an #agreement with on-campus protestors and vows not to invest in companies benefitting from the war in #Gaza.
My wife just came with a saying to explain the way so much of the news is distorting the protests and the concerns of Jews:
"Justice vs Jewish"
Reject the false "Justice vs Jewish" narrative.
I'm sad to have to explain this more, but so there's no ambiguity:
Reject the "Justice vs Jewish" narrative means to reject the idea that on one side is justice and the other side are Jews, and so you must choose.
Very importantly, this also means not saying "it's not antisemitic to...", because that is speaking over Jews, rather than listening to them and rejecting the narrative.
It means to listen to Jews and to protest if you want to, in a way that doesn't use antisemitic language, or perpetuate violence against Jews.
It also means to reject media narratives that position these two positions as in opposition.