Unpacking Complexity: Navigating the Pro-Palestine Student Protests with Nuance
Guest Commentary by Janine Warrington
On April 17, students at Columbia University in New York established an encampment on campus in support of Palestine. The news cycle since then has been full of stories about pro-Palestine student protests on college campuses across the country. These stories are growing increasingly complex with moving parts that can be difficult to follow. In a world that is so politically divisive, this provides us with a great opportunity to practice nuance. It may be tempting to automatically side with students or with police, but I encourage you to use this as an opportunity to consider multiple perspectives and to practice unraveling nuanced stories.
Below is a beginner’s guide to unpacking these complicated, ongoing protests.
Freedom of Speech vs. Free Palestine
One of the most confusing aspects of this ongoing news event is the conflation of the right to protest with the protestors’ cause. While some may disagree with the pro-Palestinian message, they might still support the students’ right to assemble and protest.
Ask yourself: Are you upset that students are protesting? Or do you disagree with their cause? And even if you disagree with the cause, can you still support their right to assemble?
Antisemitism vs. Anti-Zionism
Many of the voices speaking against these student protests have cited antisemitic chants and statements at the encampments, such as chants reported at Northeastern University in Boston. Antisemitism, or hostility and prejudice against Jewish people, is all too common in the United States, and we are right to stand against it.
However, the idea that these gatherings are inherently antisemitic is flawed. As the organization Jewish Voice for Peace explains, Judaism is not the same as Zionism, “a settler-colonial movement, establishing an apartheid state where Jews have more rights than others.” Standing against the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state is different from standing against the rights of all Jewish people.
Ask yourself: Are the chants and signs I am hearing and seeing antisemitic or anti-Zionist? What do I think about Zionism? How do a few antisemitic protestors affect the message of the protest?
Peaceful Gathering vs. Trespassing
The first amendment of the United States Constitution grants people the right to peacefully assemble, so why are protestors being arrested? Most arrests are being made on the grounds of trespassing. Police and campus administrators argue that individuals from outside of the university are trespassing on the campus and should move to the city sidewalk if they wish to assemble. Meanwhile, reports indicate that students and faculty are being arrested, sometimes even after moving to the sidewalk as requested.
Some have also expressed concern that the student encampments have made public spaces inaccessible. Organized protests are not legally allowed to block access to public spaces. Students in an encampment at Emerson College were reportedly warned to move their protest because their tents were “in an area that exists as a public right-of-way.”
Ask yourself: Can a student trespass on their own campus? What, if anything, do I consider unlawful about these encampments?
Students vs. Outside Agitators
School administrators have largely denounced the protests, claiming that they are the work of people outside of the school. The “outside agitator” trope is not new, and has been used to undermine many protests throughout U.S. history, including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. This also draws a false line between schools and their communities.
Ask yourself: How are schools and their wider community connected? If students are joined by others outside of the school, how does it affect their message? Their legitimacy?
Free Speech vs. Inciting Violence
But what about inflammatory remarks or inciting violence? While the Constitution protects speech on college campuses and forbids college administrators from discriminating against speech based on the speaker’s viewpoint, there are a couple of limitations to those protections. Inflammatory speech can be punished if it “intentionally and effectively provokes a crowd to immediately carry out violent and unlawful action” with protections for political advocacy. “Fighting words” are also not protected by the First Amendment, which refers to “intimidating speech directed at a specific individual in a face-to-face confrontation that is likely to provoke a violent reaction.” So, for example, if a protestor yelled slurs and threats at a Jewish student, that would not be protected free speech.
Ask yourself: Are these protests peaceful? Do they incite violence? How does violent action taken by one person or on once campus affect the way I perceive the movement as a whole?
Keeping the Peace vs. Escalating the Conflict
What should we expect from police sent in to clear out trespassers or groups prohibiting access to public spaces? The goal, I think we can all agree, is to keep the peace. We want our officers to keep us safe, whether we are peacefully protesting or trying to get past the protestors. While arrests have reportedly been made without incident at some protests, such as one at the University of Southern California, many reports and social media videos have also shown that police responders have escalated the conflict.
On the Emerson College campus mentioned above, when police arrived in helmets and sticks and forcibly removed students. At the University of Texas at Austin, police arrived with batons on horseback. At Emory University, video was captured of a restrained protestor being tased by police and students report being sprayed with tear gas. And Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested that the National Guard may be sent to Columbia University.
Ask yourself: What is the appropriate way to respond to trespassing and blocking public spaces? Whether you agree with the protestors’ cause or their tactics, ask yourself if you agree with these police tactics. In what situations should violence be used in response to protests?
What Are Students Demanding?
So, what is all of this about? What are students trying to achieve with these encampments? The primary goal of most of these protests is to pressure university administration to divest from Israel’s economy. What this looks like varies from institution to institution. As the Washington Post reports, students at Yale are asking the university to stop supporting weapons manufacturers. At Columbia they want the school to cut ties with Google, which has a cloud computing deal with Israel’s government.
Students are also making other demands from their institutions. In an open letter from alumni from my own alma mater, Candler School of Theology at Emory University, alumni list demands such as public support for the Candler students and faculty active in the protests, denouncing the University president’s association of anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and incorporating more Palestinian scholarship and perspectives into the school curriculum.
Now What?
I hope you will continue to follow this protest movement and to dig deeper when you hear stories of what is happening. Reports from police and school administrators differ from reports from students and faculty. Many different issues are at play, with many voices weighing in. Listen to different voices. Ask questions. Pray. Reflect. And then, with great kindness and sensitivity, make your voice heard.
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.
