I've visited with faculty at Columbia. I've spoken by phone with young people and professors at many other universities.
My conclusion: while protest movements attract an assortment of people with a range of motives, this one is centred on one thing - moral outrage at the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent people in Gaza. To interpret these protests as anything else - as antisemitic or anti-Zionist or anti-American or pro-Palestinian - is to miss the essence of what's going on and why.
Most of the students and faculty I've spoken with found Hamas's attack on 7 October odious. They also find Israel's current government morally bankrupt, in that its response has been disproportionate.
Esta historia es de la edición May 10, 2024 de The Guardian Weekly.
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Esta historia es de la edición May 10, 2024 de The Guardian Weekly.
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