The April 25, 2024 edition of “The Morning” from the NYT included a piece about campus protests in the US over the Hamas/Israeli war. In a nutshell, the piece describes the conflict as one between keeping students safe on campus vrs freedom to protest a war that verges on genocide. The NYT heading was entitled, “Chaos and Oppression.” Please note that the title of this blog post is, “Oppression, Bad Decisions, and Chaos.”
In an earlier blog post entitled, “Catch-22: Into the Crucible,” I wrote:
The current heinous Hamas/Israeli War is a result of decades of hatred. Genocide is being advocated/implemented by both sides. Students should be allowed (as should all of us) to voice strong opinions about genocide without retribution. Throwing university officials into a political cauldron does very little to calm the unrest, but stopping US military aid to the conflict could perhaps be a catalyst for peace rather than a genocidal instrument.
But did our US leaders choose to withhold military aid to Israel, NO! Instead, last week they appropriated another $14 billion in unconditional military aid to Israel. I strongly agree with Bernie Sanders who voted against the bill and said, “We are now in the absurd situation where Israel is using U.S. military assistance to block the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid to Palestinians. If that is not crazy, I don’t know what is. But it is also a clear violation of U.S. law. Given that reality, we should not today even be having this debate. It is illegal to continue current military aid to Israel, let alone send another $9 billion with no strings attached.”
In an article dated 2/27/24, Thomas Friedman warned:
I don’t think Israelis or the Biden administration fully appreciate the rage that is bubbling up around the world, fueled by social media and TV footage, over the deaths of so many thousands of Palestinian civilians, particularly children, with U.S.-supplied weapons in Israel’s war in Gaza. Hamas has much to answer for in triggering this human tragedy, but Israel and the U.S. are seen as driving events now and getting most of the blame.
Still so traumatized by Oct. 7, Israelis, in my view, are failing to see that at least making an effort to move slowly toward a Palestinian state led by a transformed Palestinian Authority and conditioned on demilitarization and hitting certain institutional governance goals is not a gift to Palestinians or a reward for Hamas.
It is instead the most hard-nosed, selfish thing Israelis could now do for themselves — because Israel is losing on three fronts at once today.
It is losing the global narrative that it is fighting a just war. It has no plan to ever get out of Gaza, so it will eventually sink into the sands there with a permanent occupation that will surely complicate relations with all its Arab allies and friends across the globe. And it is losing regionally to Iran and its anti-Israel proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, who are pressuring Israel’s northern, southern and eastern borders.
There is one fix that would help on all three fronts: an Israeli government prepared to begin the process of building two nation-states for two peoples, with a Palestinian Authority that is truly ready and willing to transform itself. That changes the narrative. It gives cover for Israel’s Arab allies to partner with Israel in rebuilding Gaza, and it provides the glue for the regional alliance Israel needs to confront Iran and its proxies.
In failing to see that, I believe Israel is imperiling decades of diplomacy to get the world to recognize the right of the Jewish people to national self-determination and self-defense in their historic homeland. It is also relieving Palestinians of the burden and depriving them of the opportunity of recognizing two nation-states for two people and building the necessary institutions and compromises to make that happen. And, I repeat, it is going to put the Biden administration in an increasingly untenable position.
Now on college campuses students, and others, have had enough and are letting their voices be heard. Bad decisions by Israeli and US leaders have continued the oppression of the Palestinian people creating further chaos in the Middle East and at home. The crucible has now been stirred and factions across a spectrum of dissent and hate are raising passionate voices. The war machine has opened Pandora’s Box and civic order will be difficult to sustain.
CPW