College Protests Run Amok

For John, BLUF:  I am probably slow, but when in college I didn't have time to take off for protests.  I needed to be cracking the books, as we used to say.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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“This is an openly anti-American movement, which is using Israel as the scapegoat”

Here is the sub-headline:

“Academia, particularly at the level of Columbia and the Ivy League, is completely broken. I don’t think it can be repaired internally. They have created over 20 to 30 years a unified monoculture which is hostile to western values, which is hostile to capitalism, and which exploits and singles out Israel as the object of their ire as a mobilizing tactic…. People need to understand that there is no internal opposition left.”

From Legal Insurrection, by Professor William A. Jacobson, Tuesday, 23 April 2024 at 08:30pm.

Here is the lede plus three:

There is a plus-side to the vile anti-Israel and antisemitic encampments at Columbia and several other universities – the anti-American side of the movement is on full display.  As I’ve been saying for years, the racialized and radicalized campuses are a threat to our nation, now they have shown their hand for all to see.

When they burn American flags, and when they chant for the destruction of the U.S., they are showing us who they really are.

It’s going to get worse.

After spending months screaming for an Intifada (the suicide bombing campaign against Israel), don’t be surprised when some of them try to fulfill their sick fantasies.

I know a former Professor from Columbia and have had numberous conversations with him about various issues in the Middle East (his area of expertise).  I have never thought of him as radical or anti-semetic.  I learned, and at the same time I felt my views were respected.  But, he retired a decade ago.  There are, or at least, have been, intelligent, thinking adults in academia.  But, they seem absent today, and that is bad for our Republic.

The current state of the Ivy League and other elite schools makes me think the smart, informed, parent of a high school senior would consider two years at a community college and then a state university.  Or a known non-radical school, such as Franciscan University of Steubenville.

There is also the view of opinionnater Stephen Kruiser, "Let the Protesters Stay Until Academia Burns to the Ground."  As Professor Glenn Reynolds says from time to time, "what can't go on won't."

I defend the right of the college campus protesters to protest.  I do not condone their intimidating fellow college students, such that those students do not feel safe going to class.  I defend the right of the college campus protesters to be ignorant slobs.  I don't have to accept their uninformed views.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff