Protests at Universities across the fruited plain

[Flatpoint High]

At the rate they are banning teachers, some of these universities won't have any Jewish studies left.
https://x.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/1786128312609157497

Breaking: Annelise Orleck, Head of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth, has been banned from Campus for six months after protecting Jewish students protesting for Palestine from police attacks

https://www.jta.org/2024/05/02/united-s ... 7-response

► Show Spoiler

@dartmouth calls in riot cops to forcibly arrest my colleague and friend @AnneliseOrleck1, knocking her to ground

Police officers arresting an elderly demonstrator @WMUR9

Those cops were brutal to me. I promise I did absolutely nothing wrong. I was standing with a line of women faculty in the their 60s to 80s trying to protect our students. I have now been banned from the campus where I have taught for 34 years.

I think that's the idea. make campuses Judenfrei!!!!

[Rolodex]

Ole Miss Free Palestine rally co-opted by (reportedly) frat boy Trumpers.

There will be pro-Palestine protests today on Ole Miss’ campus calling on the university to boycott Israel. Organizers are using the same language from other campus protests. Will be interesting to see how many people show & if more frat bros answer the call.

Can’t even see the protest it was so deep

My son is a frat boy at Ole Miss. He better not have been out there. I think he has finals this week, though. The gov said he'd have the cops ready to go, but looks like no need.

What does turmp have to do with Gaza/Palestine/protests? What a bunch of jerks.

[p0rtia]

Political grifters racing to become part of the problem as fast as they can.

Sort of a tell.

[Suranis]

I'm assuming these are student protesters.

cdrsalamander@cdrsalamander
When you don’t study the classics, you don’t study war. You don’t study war, you don’t understand the dynamics & tactical application of a shield wall, or how heavy infantry advances across open terrain.

Add that to lack of discipline or training…and here you go.

But it looked great in that movie! You know the one!

Those were perfectly good trash bins they chopped up for that stupid attack on the police for (I assume) the glory of Palestine. Oh they only had shields so it was defence on the Police? I dunno, there's probably a single IQ between them all.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Not a SCAdian in the bunch.

[keith]

I reckon they are just making content for one of the 'best fails' channels.

[andersweinstein]

With some background music:

[Ben-Prime]

Not a SCAdian in the bunch.

or even a history or archaeology major, apparently.

Off Topic

ETA: During my first stab at graduate work at UF in the early 90s, after doing my undergrad degree in history at NYU with the famed Dr. Norman Cantor as my main influence, I had a huge bookshelf of history and anthropology/archeaology books which all the local SCAdians would raid, though I was not one of them. I was at the time too haughty about it, though I adored most of the individuals involved. Half of those books I never got back, but based on who borrowed them, I am sure they got put to good use and so I never minded. One of them was a high schooler who would later go on to study renaissance history citing me as her inspiration, did her master's degree on
a Fulbright scholarship overseas, writing about the Dutch-Turkish tulip trade, and died tragically young at the age of 40 with her Ph.D. never completed but still doing her best to continue passing down a love of historical learning. And to drag this back on topic she totally would have made a better shield wall and would have been leading the charge. RIP, Barbara.

[bill_g]

Not a SCAdian in the bunch.

I had a client, an engineer at Tektronics back when it still occupied the Beaverton campus, that was a SCA member. Huge dude. Six foot plus, well over 300lbs, had to drive a Dodge Powerwagon because it was the only thing that fit him. He said in his local club any three knights measured over 18 ft tall and a 1000lbs. They all carried a broadsword.

[keith]

Not a SCAdian in the bunch.

I had a client, an engineer at Tektronics back when it still occupied the Beaverton campus, that was a SCA member. Huge dude. Six foot plus, well over 300lbs, had to drive a Dodge Powerwagon because it was the only thing that fit him. He said in his local club any three knights measured over 18 ft tall and a 1000lbs. They all carried a broadsword.

Thanks for that, Bill. I knew I should know what SCA was but my addled brain just couldn't put it together. You fixed it for me.

[bill_g]

Not a SCAdian in the bunch.

I had a client, an engineer at Tektronics back when it still occupied the Beaverton campus, that was a SCA member. Huge dude. Six foot plus, well over 300lbs, had to drive a Dodge Powerwagon because it was the only thing that fit him. He said in his local club any three knights measured over 18 ft tall and a 1000lbs. They all carried a broadsword.

Thanks for that, Bill. I knew I should know what SCA was but my addled brain just couldn't put it together. You fixed it for me.

De nada. It took me a minute to realize what he said. My brain was running with Scandanavian, and then going "nope".

[andersweinstein]

NYT has an excellent breakdown with video of the violent counter-protestor attack on the UCLA encampment. (Gift link)

LA Times describes the instant efforts to ID the thuggish perpetrators
online-sleuths-rush-to-identify-the-men-who-attacked-ucla-camp
But to my knowledge it remains mysterious who they were, at least by public information.

[raison de arizona]

They seem like a fine group of boys.

The face of racism. Here is one of the guys from the Ole Miss video making monkey sounds towards a black woman.

No child is born with hate. Hate is taught.

► Show Spoiler

He’s at 0:08. What’s worse than him doing that is all the approving boys around him.

Mississippi is dead last in every category that denotes intelligence and decency. Is anyone really surprised at this display of disgusting racism?

[keith]

[Rolodex]

My son is a frat member at Ole Miss. I haven't yet talked to him about this; he has finals this week and next week is graduation (finally; I found the perfect graduation card for him - it says "Snailed It!" . He's managed to squeeze 4 years into 6).

NAACP has requested that 3 of these kids get expelled. Two of them (not the monkey hooter) are in Kappa Alpha Order, a frat dedicated to all things Old South. I told my son don't you dare look at them (3 boys from that frat went down and shot up the Emmitt Till memorial sign a few years ago, which is where I started my discussion with him when he decided to go to Ole Miss).

I have to say when I saw that video, I felt physically sick. While expelling those boys would be good, I'd really like to see a discussion with them about why they thought their behavior was acceptable. Ask them to explain what the protesters were protesting about and what their views on the situation in Gaza is and how they feel about UM divesting from weapons manufacturers, etc. I'm sure they have no clue about any of that, but I see it as a teachable moment.

Not that it would do any good. They'll continue to party and drift through school, get a degree in business and then go home and take over their daddy's businesses, never having earned anything in their lives - or ever needed to.

[Estiveo]

J.P. Staples, the idiot who made the monkey noises, has been kicked out of his frat.

GM10EthW4AE5xm-.jpeg (208.16 KiB) Viewed 380 times

The university has also said it has opened a student conduct investigation.

[Flatpoint High]

now, the UC system is having to deal with pro-hamas protesters trying to get Hillel kicked off campus.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/ ... r-BB1lRc6Q

[p0rtia]

now, the UC system is having to deal with pro-hamas protesters trying to get Hillel kicked off campus.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/ ... r-BB1lRc6Q

A loving analysis:

I read the article and did a search, but I couldn't find the word Hamas in this article. They say they are members of Students for Justice in Palestine. I couldn't find the flyer mentioned. It may be true that some or all of them are militant anti-semites (meaning hating all Jews), but my point is you can't tell from the article, which mostly quotes the outrage of others.

The only comment by the author of the article is: "If calling to boycott Jewish charities, organizations, and student groups that have no affiliation with the Israeli government is not antisemitism, then what is?"

The objection seems to be a call from the protestors for UC to end its relationships with Jewish various community organizations, some of which seem to be involved with education (?). I'm not saying this is okay; I'm saying you can't tell what the protestors say they want (or what the flyer says), or why they want it, by reading this article.

There's a picture of the SJP members walking past a school. I'm just not seeing support for the quoted invective in the article from people responding: "terrorist recruitment festival" "drive Jews out of/end Jewish life at universities" and "attacking Jewish institutions."

Again, the above may be true (and yes, I doubt that 3/4 of it is true), but this is an irresponsible article, in that the ONE THING we must do at this time is to avoid drawing conclusions about events we know nothing of, or painting with a broad brush. Okay that's two things.

[Rolodex]

Good for Phi Delta Theta. I don't know exactly what the other 2 kids were doing to be the ones named, but maybe KA will kick them out, too. The ones who were pictured with the shot up Emmett Till memorial all got kicked out of KA. It would be interesting to hear what each boy has to say individually - when they don't have a mob around them to back them up.

[andersweinstein]

now, the UC system is having to deal with pro-hamas protesters trying to get Hillel kicked off campus.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/ ... r-BB1lRc6Q

The objection seems to be a call from the protestors for UC to end its relationships with Jewish various community organizations, some of which seem to be involved with education (?). I'm not saying this is okay; I'm saying you can't tell what the protestors say they want (or what the flyer says), or why they want it, by reading this article.

This tweet has a representation of the list of demands in question, which comes from SJP, the leading organizer of the campus protests, at UC Santa Cruz. This story is mostly being pushed by pro-Israel sources who regard the idea of banning Hillel, which functions as a campus cultural center for Jewish students, to be particularly outrageous.

[andersweinstein]

To follow up: while most people think of Hillel as simply a Jewish affinity group center, and it is pretty inclusive, encompassing all branches of Judaism and welcoming LGBT students, it has a definite political position on Israel. From the Wikipedia article

Hillel describes themselves as "steadfastedly committed to the support of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure and recognized borders."[45] Their Standards of Partnership forbid campus Hillels to "partner with, house or host organizations, groups or speakers" that adopt an anti-Zionist orientation or express support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.[46]

The article goes on to describe a few chapters that have declared themselves "open Hillels" and accepted anti-Zionist Jewish speakers or events, putting them in tension with the national Hillel.

So there is no question that Hillel is institutionally supportive of the evil Zionism (hisss). Sure it houses a lot of liberal Jews who hate Netanyahu, oppose settlement expansion, and would like to see a two-state solution come to pass. But that is still a form of Zionism in the eyes of SJP.

[sugar magnolia]

My son spent 1 semester at Ole Miss after having that as a goal since he was in middle school. His best friend since kindergarten went off to State (arch rival) and my son invited him over to meet his friends and see the frat house (Sig Ep) at some open house thing they had. After his friend left. the fraternity brothers told my son they would have to "fumigate" his room. My sweet son thought they meant it was because he came over from State, but no, it was because his friend is half Black. My son lost his shit over that and was actually surprised they were that racist. We tried to warn him, but the school had the degree path he wanted at the time.

My son transferred to Southern the next semester and lived happily ever after.

[Volkonski]

I was in college and grad school in Boston/Cambridge from mid 1969 thru mid 1974. That was the time of student activism opposing the war in Vietnam including the student strike following the Kent State shootings. Looking back I think that the MIT administration handled those as well as possible.

For those that may be interested I just received this email from my alma mater regarding the current protests.

Dear members of the MIT community,

At my direction, very early this morning, the encampment on Kresge lawn was cleared. The individuals present in the encampment at the time were given four separate warnings, in person, that they should depart or face arrest. The 10 who remained did not resist arrest and were peacefully escorted from the encampment by MIT police officers and taken off campus for booking.

I write now because this is an unprecedented situation for our community, and you deserve a clear explanation of how we arrived at this moment.

But let me start by emphasizing that, as president, my responsibility is to the whole community: to make sure that the campus is physically safe and functioning for everyone, that our shared spaces and resources are available for everyone, and that everyone feels free to express their views and do the work they came here to do. As you will see, in numerous ways, the presence of the encampment increasingly made it impossible to meet all these obligations.

A timeline of key events

Here’s a quick timeline, familiar from my past notes to you:

• The encampment began on Sunday, April 21, in violation of clear Institute guidelines well known to the student organizers. It slowly grew. Though it was peaceful, its presence generated controversy, including persistent calls from some of you that we shut it down. While we asked the students repeatedly to leave the site, we chose for a time not to interfere, in part out of respect for the Institute’s foundational principles of free expression.

• Last Friday, May 3, we were able to contain a significant rally and counter demonstration through a very extensive coordinated effort, including with the City of Cambridge, which shut down Mass. Avenue. Among other measures, we set up high temporary fencing around the encampment to help maintain separation between the groups. This event drew several hundred people from outside MIT in support of each side.

• On Monday, May 6, judging that we could not sustain the extraordinary level of effort required to keep the encampment and the campus community safe, we directed the encamped students to leave the site voluntarily or face clear disciplinary consequences. Some left. Some stayed inside, while others chose to step just outside the camp and protest. Some chose to invite to the encampment large numbers of individuals from outside MIT, including dozens of minors, who arrived in response to social media posts.

Late that afternoon, aided by people from outside MIT, many of the encampment students breached and forcibly knocked down the safety fencing and demolished most of it, on their way to reestablishing the camp. In that moment, the peaceful nature of the encampment shifted. Disciplinary measures were not sufficient to end it nor to deter students from quickly reestablishing it.

• Wednesday, May 8, was marked by a series of escalating provocations. In the morning, pro-Palestinian supporters physically blocked the entrance and exit to the Stata Center garage though they eventually dispersed. Later, after taking down Israeli and American flags that had been hung by counter protestors, some individuals defaced Israeli flags with red handprints, in the presence of Israeli students and faculty. Several pro-Israel supporters then entered the camp to confront and shout at the protestors. Throughout, the opposing groups grew in numbers. With so many opposing individuals in close quarters, tensions ran very high. The day ended with more suspensions – and a rally by the pro-Palestinian students.

• Thursday, May 9, pro-Palestinian students again blocked the mouth of the Stata garage, preventing community members from entering and exiting to go about their business, and requiring that Vassar Street be shut down. This time, they refused directions from the police to leave and allow passage of cars. Their action therefore resulted in nine arrests.
Sustained effort to reach a resolution through dialogue

As we all, know, the current conflict on campus stretches far beyond MIT. From the beginning, we have watched with great concern what has happened on other campuses. We have been determined to avoid violence, and I have been strongly opposed to using the threat of arrest to resolve a situation that should be mediated by discourse.

We tried every path we could to find a way out through dialogue. In various combinations, senior administrative leaders and faculty officers met with the protesters many times over almost two weeks. This sustained team effort benefited from the involvement of at least a dozen faculty members and alumni who have been supporting and advising the protestors, and, in the final stages, a professional mediator who was meeting with the students.

Reaching a solution hinged on our ability to meet the students’ primary demand, which we could not do in a well-principled way that respected the academic freedom of our faculty. Yet though all of us working with the students were hopeful, the students would not yield on their original demand, and negotiation did not succeed.

Irresolvable tensions, and a tipping point

And thus we arrived at this morning’s police action – our last resort.

For members of our community who may remember or even have participated in past protests, at MIT or elsewhere: This situation is fundamentally different. Why? Because this is not one group in conflict with the administration. It is two groups in conflict, in part through us, with each other.

The encampment had become a symbol for both sides. For those supporting the pro-Palestinian cause, it symbolized a moral commitment that trumped all other considerations, because of the immense suffering in Gaza. For the pro-Israel side, the encampment – at the center of the campus where they are trying to receive an education and conduct research – delivered a constant assertion, through its signs and chants, that those who believe that Israel has a right to exist are unwelcome at MIT.

As a result, the encampment became a flashpoint. MIT sits at the center of a major metropolitan area that features a large population of college-aged students. Our campus is easy to reach and wide open.

The escalation of the last few days, involving outside threats from individuals and groups from both sides, has been a tipping point. It was not heading in a direction anyone could call peaceful. And the cost and disruption for the community overall made the situation increasingly untenable. We did not believe we could responsibly allow the encampment to persist.

The actions we've taken, gradually stepped up over time, have been commensurate with the risk we are in a position to see. We did not take this step suddenly. We offered warnings. We telegraphed clearly what was coming. At each point, the students made their own choices. And finally, choosing among several bad options, we chose the path we followed this morning – where each student again had a choice. I do not expect everyone to agree with our reasoning or our decision, but I hope it helps to see how we got there.

Finally: Our actions today had nothing to do with the specific viewpoints of the students in the encampment. We acted in response to their actions. There are countless highly effective ways for all of us to express ourselves that neither disrupt the functioning of the Institute nor create a magnet for external protestors. As the ad hoc Committee on Academic Freedom and Campus Expression recently observed, “while freedom of expression protects the ability of community members to express their views about the current situation in the Middle East, it does not protect the continued use of a shared Institute resource in violation of long-established rules.”

* * *
Our community includes people who lost friends and family to the brutal terror attack of October 7, and people with friends and family currently in mortal danger in Rafah. It includes individuals whose families have struggled for years under the strictures imposed on Gaza, and at least one faculty member – an alumnus who has made his home at MIT for more than 70 years – who lost his whole family to the Holocaust. And of course, MIT includes people who hold a spectrum of views beyond those expressed by the encampment and by its fiercest opponents.

We all have a stake in this community. And we all have an interest in being treated with decency and respect for our humanity. That interest comes with a responsibility to offer each other the same consideration. We must find a way to work through this situation together; I pledge to work on that with anyone who will join me.

I have no illusions that today’s action will bring an end to the conflict here, as the war continues to rage in the Middle East. But I had no choice but to remove such a high-risk flashpoint at the very center of our campus.

Sincerely,

Sally Kornbluth, President

[raison de arizona]

“I urge you all to acknowledge the class of 2024 of Gaza…that no longer exists. Students that will not be walking their stage this year and 14,000 children who will never walk a stage again.”

Looks like these students understand more than Hillary Clinton.

[andersweinstein]