Palestine college student protest megathread

[T'Chenka]

I've demonstrated that they're true.  You would not admit the obvious. 

No, you absolutely have not. You generally avoid explaining the finer details of your positions, and when you do engage in debates, the result is usually you resorting to whataboutism, or you being proven wrong and either disappearing or refusing to engage further.

I've been alive longer than you and I've NEVER seen the Palestinians willing to be reasonable.  Each and every faction of Arab Palestinians are Arab Nationalists and (to varying degrees) Islamic Jihadists.  If this is up for debate, you haven't been paying attention. 

You're talking about the governments of Palestine. I do not like or respect or defend those governments. My support is for the civilians and their civil rights. As I have stated multiple times.

Public support for "Palestine" depends on creating new narratives of how the "Palestinians" have been displaced, etc.  Yet no Arab state has opened their doors to them.  Why is that?  They are making an "indigenous" claim to "Palestine", but the Jews have a far more valid "indigenous" claim (if we're going that route).  And there's a bottom line here.  The bottom line is that if Hamas surrenders and disarms, there will be peace, but if Israel surrenders and disarms, it will be crushed.  I see no reason not to believe that you secretly wish for the latter outcome, and you're not alone on this forum, sad to say.

I support peace, non-violence, and (theoretically) either a two-state solution or a one-state secular solution. I do not secretly wish for any sort of violence in any country on the planet. I have also never called for Israel to disarm.

[lfromnj]

I wonder what the grad/undergrad split is.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/financially-hobbled-for-life-the-elite-masters-degrees-that-dont-pay-off-11625752773
For Columbia a lot of the grad students are just cash cows but at this point they probably cost more money than they bring in due to donors being mad so it makes perfect sense to expel them.

[Sir Mohamed]

The protestors want Trump to win. You don't have to take my word for it; take theirs. I hate that I have to root for the protests to end, because what's happening in Gaza is not okay.

There's barely anything happening in Gaza right now, and this has been frustratingly true for well over a month now.  Fewer than 1,000 people died in the last month.  Everything is on pause (some might even call it a "cease fire") because most of Hamas is holed up in Rafah and Israel isn't ready to go in yet.  Now is possibly the least urgent time of concern for Gaza.

The children of Gaza are watching you, college students.  They are listening as casualties are still occurring in Gaza.

How are the children of Gaza watching these protests when I was told one of Israel's main genocidal acts was cutting power and internet access for the Gazans?  The same people doing these protests assured me that Israel was going to block everyone in Gaza from the internet so they couldn't broadcast evidence and testimony of Israel's brutal acts of ethnic cleansing.

I think these protests are increasingly a movement "against the system". Aid for Israel and their war effort may just have been the trigger. We saw a similar pattern with anti-Covid protests, that later on were no longer about the pandemic policies.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I wonder what the grad/undergrad split is.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/financially-hobbled-for-life-the-elite-masters-degrees-that-dont-pay-off-11625752773
For Columbia a lot of the grad students are just cash cows but at this point they probably cost more money than they bring in due to donors being mad so it makes perfect sense to expel them.

Average libertarian

[Illiniwek]

I can’t even…

https://x.com/gsdeutch/status/1786179085812552115?s=46

[T'Chenka]

I can’t even…
https://x.com/gsdeutch/status/1786179085812552115?s=46

If they don't have the ability to shower, then I won't lie, the demand for dental dams is... surprising.

[lfromnj]

I wonder what the grad/undergrad split is.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/financially-hobbled-for-life-the-elite-masters-degrees-that-dont-pay-off-11625752773
For Columbia a lot of the grad students are just cash cows but at this point they probably cost more money than they bring in due to donors being mad so it makes perfect sense to expel them.

Average libertarian

I mean it really is a question of economics. The undergrad students are going places in the corporate or political world. Meanwhile a large portion of the grad programs are borderline scams that get the students to take out large loans . If the grad programs are no longer bringing in the money it doesn't make sense to keep them. The students in the above article certainly aren't bringing up the academic prestiage of Columbia so if any were found in the protests they would be the first to be expelled.

[lfromnj]

I can’t even…

https://x.com/gsdeutch/status/1786179085812552115?s=46

As I said

Nice weather, its basically a large social gathering for half the people.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The protestors want Trump to win. You don't have to take my word for it; take theirs. I hate that I have to root for the protests to end, because what's happening in Gaza is not okay.

There's barely anything happening in Gaza right now, and this has been frustratingly true for well over a month now.  Fewer than 1,000 people died in the last month.  Everything is on pause (some might even call it a "cease fire") because most of Hamas is holed up in Rafah and Israel isn't ready to go in yet.  Now is possibly the least urgent time of concern for Gaza.

The children of Gaza are watching you, college students.  They are listening as casualties are still occurring in Gaza.

How are the children of Gaza watching these protests when I was told one of Israel's main genocidal acts was cutting power and internet access for the Gazans?  The same people doing these protests assured me that Israel was going to block everyone in Gaza from the internet so they couldn't broadcast evidence and testimony of Israel's brutal acts of ethnic cleansing.

I think these protests are increasingly a movement "against the system". Aid for Israel and their war effort may just have been the trigger. We saw a similar pattern with anti-Covid protests, that later on were no longer about the pandemic policies.

Israel has become synonymous with "establishment." I really think that's increasingly the root of all this more than anything. The conflict isn't being looked at as the complex, decades long conflict it is with a lot of grey area to it.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I can’t even…
https://x.com/gsdeutch/status/1786179085812552115?s=46

If they don't have the ability to shower, then I won't lie, the demand for dental dams is... surprising.

Not to mention, uh, where do you find privacy at a mass protest?

Each day these students find a new way to discredit themselves and their objectives.

[Brittain33]

Maybe they’re anticipating emergency dental work (and it just happens to be listed along with HIV tests and Plan B). At least no one requested lube

[GeneralMacArthur]

For those not in the Discord, I visited the UW encampment yesterday and it was basically what I expected based on my previous description that "this is just like the early days of CHAZ."

When I was at college we had an event every September for the freshmen where you would get six of your friends together and set up tents on the main student green, and you'd sleep over in the tents.  Everyone would decorate their tents so it kind of had this Halloween feel, and different student organizations and Greek houses would have their new freshman recruits turn their tents into an organization tent so it also served as kind of an orientation event.  You'd go to different tents to meet people and see what they were about.  And then there was also this kind of sexual aspect to it because the tents were coed so you were putting together a group of six friends you'd known for maybe a couple weeks, and maybe you wanted to know the girls better and hoped that by sleeping together in a small tent it would lead to some cuddling or some emotional intimacy or at least something to build on for the future.  It was also very socially stressful because "pick your top 6 friends" meant you would find out who considered you a top friend and who was going to exclude you.  Interesting phenomenon in general.

Anyway, that was what this reminded me of.  Every tent had its own "thing" going on and it was all playacting like they were either a warzone, or a music festival, or a mini-school.  So one tent was making s'mores, one tent was doing finger painting, one tent was offering to teach you about the time in 1475 the Jews kidnapped a toddler for ritual sacrifice and cannibalism.  There was some Arabic music being played over a speaker that I'm sure 95% of the students couldn't understand.  There were also tents for different organizations -- including one hilarious one for the evangelical christians on campus that said "Ask me why you will burn in hell" and was actually attracting the most attention as students wanted to intellectually defeat the guy trying to tell them why Jesus Christ was the truth.

It's very similar vibes to the early days of CHAZ, which people thought was just going to be a block party.  You had various pop-up canopies for different activities and organizations that you could browse, and there was food and drink and live music and most people were just treating it as a way to have fun.  But of course there were also lots of "ACAB" and "Defund the Police" and "Piggies go Home" and "Murderers!" and those kinds of signs and sidewalk chalk and posters and paintings and things like that, and plenty of people who wanted to tell you all about their ideology.  I really can't overstate just how much "From the river to the sea" and "Intifada!" are the two most popular slogans after the generic "Free Palestine" -- I thought "end the genocide" would be more popular but nope there was "intifada" plastered on everything in sight.

idk, kids in their 20s like doing this kind of thing, street festivals are one of the few ways left to have a proper third-space where people will actually want to talk to each other and socialize.  The problem is twofold.

First, they're doing it in service of a bad cause -- the Palestinian cause is bad, the intifada and 10/7 were blood-soaked terror events that are bad to celebrate or defend, and in particular the genocidal and racist anti-Zionist slogans like "from the river to the sea" are bad, and by and large they only support this because they are woefully misinformed, mostly by social media.  The sorts of signs and artwork that I saw of progressive paradise Palestine was reflective of this, you know, Gaza with the LGBTQIAP++ flag and things like that.

The second is that these sorts of things are often going to end up hijacked by the radicals and opportunists who will veer it off in a direction of violence and extremism and lawlessness.  That was what happened with CHAZ, that happened at Columbia and UCLA, I'm hoping it won't happen at UW because it will make my commute annoying to have streets shut down.

[Agafin]

I can’t even…
https://x.com/gsdeutch/status/1786179085812552115?s=46

If they don't have the ability to shower, then I won't lie, the demand for dental dams is... surprising.

I had to google what a dental dam is. So they intend to have oral sex? With all the muslims around?

[Lief 🗽]

Palestinians are not bad but the Palestinian cause obviously is, at least as it currently exists. Is it possible that a Palestinian cause will exist one day that supports peace, rejects antisemitism, condemns terrorism, and recognizes that the only path forward is co-existence with an Israeli state? Yes but the Palestinian cause today has nothing to do with any of that.

[Morning in Atlas]

#BlowjobsForPalestine

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Anyway, that was what this reminded me of.  Every tent had its own "thing" going on and it was all playacting like they were either a warzone, or a music festival, or a mini-school.  So one tent was making s'mores, one tent was doing finger painting, one tent was offering to teach you about the time in 1475 the Jews kidnapped a toddler for ritual sacrifice and cannibalism.

Genuine question: Is this for dramatic effect or did you literally have someone offering in person to regale you with an old blood libel story?

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

For those not in the Discord, I visited the UW encampment yesterday and it was basically what I expected based on my previous description that "this is just like the early days of CHAZ."

When I was at college we had an event every September for the freshmen where you would get six of your friends together and set up tents on the main student green, and you'd sleep over in the tents.  Everyone would decorate their tents so it kind of had this Halloween feel, and different student organizations and Greek houses would have their new freshman recruits turn their tents into an organization tent so it also served as kind of an orientation event.  You'd go to different tents to meet people and see what they were about.  And then there was also this kind of sexual aspect to it because the tents were coed so you were putting together a group of six friends you'd known for maybe a couple weeks, and maybe you wanted to know the girls better and hoped that by sleeping together in a small tent it would lead to some cuddling or some emotional intimacy or at least something to build on for the future.  It was also very socially stressful because "pick your top 6 friends" meant you would find out who considered you a top friend and who was going to exclude you.  Interesting phenomenon in general.

Anyway, that was what this reminded me of.  Every tent had its own "thing" going on and it was all playacting like they were either a warzone, or a music festival, or a mini-school.  So one tent was making s'mores, one tent was doing finger painting, one tent was offering to teach you about the time in 1475 the Jews kidnapped a toddler for ritual sacrifice and cannibalism.  There was some Arabic music being played over a speaker that I'm sure 95% of the students couldn't understand.  There were also tents for different organizations -- including one hilarious one for the evangelical christians on campus that said "Ask me why you will burn in hell" and was actually attracting the most attention as students wanted to intellectually defeat the guy trying to tell them why Jesus Christ was the truth.

It's very similar vibes to the early days of CHAZ, which people thought was just going to be a block party.  You had various pop-up canopies for different activities and organizations that you could browse, and there was food and drink and live music and most people were just treating it as a way to have fun.  But of course there were also lots of "ACAB" and "Defund the Police" and "Piggies go Home" and "Murderers!" and those kinds of signs and sidewalk chalk and posters and paintings and things like that, and plenty of people who wanted to tell you all about their ideology.  I really can't overstate just how much "From the river to the sea" and "Intifada!" are the two most popular slogans after the generic "Free Palestine" -- I thought "end the genocide" would be more popular but nope there was "intifada" plastered on everything in sight.

idk, kids in their 20s like doing this kind of thing, street festivals are one of the few ways left to have a proper third-space where people will actually want to talk to each other and socialize.  The problem is twofold.

First, they're doing it in service of a bad cause -- the Palestinian cause is bad, the intifada and 10/7 were blood-soaked terror events that are bad to celebrate or defend, and in particular the genocidal and racist anti-Zionist slogans like "from the river to the sea" are bad, and by and large they only support this because they are woefully misinformed, mostly by social media.  The sorts of signs and artwork that I saw of progressive paradise Palestine was reflective of this, you know, Gaza with the LGBTQIAP++ flag and things like that.

The second is that these sorts of things are often going to end up hijacked by the radicals and opportunists who will veer it off in a direction of violence and extremism and lawlessness.  That was what happened with CHAZ, that happened at Columbia and UCLA, I'm hoping it won't happen at UW because it will make my commute annoying to have streets shut down.

I really think you should stop engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as much as possible for the time being. We saw what you posted before you were infracted, and it’s clear that this is leading you down a very dark path. To put it bluntly, you are being - or have already been - radicalized into racism.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Anyway, that was what this reminded me of.  Every tent had its own "thing" going on and it was all playacting like they were either a warzone, or a music festival, or a mini-school.  So one tent was making s'mores, one tent was doing finger painting, one tent was offering to teach you about the time in 1475 the Jews kidnapped a toddler for ritual sacrifice and cannibalism.

Genuine question: Is this for dramatic effect or did you literally have someone offering in person to regale you with an old blood libel story?

No that was just a joke.  I think it's funny, in general, how they're combining childish activities like finger painting and sidewalk chalk games with a deeply serious and violent cause.  It seems like something out of a South Park episode, Mrs. Streibel's fourth grade pottery lass making coil pots for the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front.

It harkens back to another college event I remember where a campus building had a plaza in front of it with large tiles and we were invited to claim a tile and use chalk to draw artwork to beautify the campus.  A lot of people did art, some people advertised their student groups, but a large block of about 16 tiles were taken over to draw a giant KONY 2012 THE HAGUE logo.  Right there next to the rainbows and talking ducks and glee club tryout announcement, lol.

[GeneralMacArthur]

I really think you should stop engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as much as possible for the time being. We saw what you posted before you were infracted, and it’s clear that this is leading you down a very dark path. To put it bluntly, you are being - or have already been - radicalized into racism.

Nothing about this post is racist and you should apologize for making such an obviously false allegation.

Nothing about my post I got infracted for was racist either.  The mods have done me a disservice by deleting it so that people can just run around telling wild lies about what it said.  If anyone wants the actual original post, DM me on Discord.

[DaleCooper]

I can't stress enough just how much >90% of employed people despise protests like this. The left has completely failed to appeal to working people and there seems to be no interest in fixing that.

[dead0man]

I can't stress enough just how much >90% of employed people despise protests like this. The left has completely failed to appeal to working people and there seems to be no interest in fixing that.

gainfully employed people are the enemy, we support genocide by working for "the man" or something

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I really think you should stop engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as much as possible for the time being. We saw what you posted before you were infracted, and it’s clear that this is leading you down a very dark path. To put it bluntly, you are being - or have already been - radicalized into racism.

Nothing about this post is racist and you should apologize for making such an obviously false allegation.

Nothing about my post I got infracted for was racist either.  The mods have done me a disservice by deleting it so that people can just run around telling wild lies about what it said.  If anyone wants the actual original post, DM me on Discord.

If saying “Palestinians are bad” isn’t racist, what is? Come on, man.

[President Johnson]

The protestors want Trump to win. You don't have to take my word for it; take theirs. I hate that I have to root for the protests to end, because what's happening in Gaza is not okay.

There's barely anything happening in Gaza right now, and this has been frustratingly true for well over a month now.  Fewer than 1,000 people died in the last month.  Everything is on pause (some might even call it a "cease fire") because most of Hamas is holed up in Rafah and Israel isn't ready to go in yet.  Now is possibly the least urgent time of concern for Gaza.

The children of Gaza are watching you, college students.  They are listening as casualties are still occurring in Gaza.

How are the children of Gaza watching these protests when I was told one of Israel's main genocidal acts was cutting power and internet access for the Gazans?  The same people doing these protests assured me that Israel was going to block everyone in Gaza from the internet so they couldn't broadcast evidence and testimony of Israel's brutal acts of ethnic cleansing.

I think these protests are increasingly a movement "against the system". Aid for Israel and their war effort may just have been the trigger. We saw a similar pattern with anti-Covid protests, that later on were no longer about the pandemic policies.

Yeah, that's what I've been saying all along. Plus, unfortunatey society has become so polarized on many issues. The "we vs. them" narrative just plays increasingly strong in a world with a lot of gray between the two poles.

[dead0man]

Maybe they’re anticipating emergency dental work (and it just happens to be listed along with HIV tests and Plan B). At least no one requested lube

petroleum jelly is on the list, not an ideal lube and it has other, better functions, but it is there

[GeneralMacArthur]

I really think you should stop engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as much as possible for the time being. We saw what you posted before you were infracted, and it’s clear that this is leading you down a very dark path. To put it bluntly, you are being - or have already been - radicalized into racism.

Nothing about this post is racist and you should apologize for making such an obviously false allegation.

Nothing about my post I got infracted for was racist either.  The mods have done me a disservice by deleting it so that people can just run around telling wild lies about what it said.  If anyone wants the actual original post, DM me on Discord.

If saying “Palestinians are bad” isn’t racist, what is? Come on, man.

The Palestinians are the bad guys in the Israel/Palestine conflict.

This is not racist, and it is a widely held opinion.  This is no different than saying the Russians are the bad guys in the Russia/Ukraine conflict or that the Americans were good and Germans were bad in WW2.