I'm a boomer who doesn't agree with the US government funding of genocide in Gaza either. Having lived during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, 9/11, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and followed turmoil in the region of the our present shame since I learned to read, I see that war is the human industry that satisfies our lust for power and wealth. If we don't have to wield the weapons we make ourselves, all the better for the powers that be and those who look the other way while staying out of the bloody fight. Students who protest peacefully have my admiration, as do writers who enlighten as you do.
I have never agreed with someone so much as I have you. This took guts to write. I silently protested the Vietnam war because I was in high school in a small town and it wasn't cool to be down on the military. The misguided US foreign policy, the police brutality still sickens me. Not much has changed. Another great article. I love you for your voice, compassion and courage to speak the truth.
I had to sit and read this a couple of times. I found myself very moved, very emotional. I remember Kent State all too well. And while I think these politicians and some in the media demanding the National Guard be called out, know very well what happened at Kent State, I am doubtful they really grasp the shock and horror of students being killed for exercising their right protest then and what might happen now. But then I don’t think they really care.
Bill, what sickens me is how many Americans would celebrate the killing of these students by the police or Guard. They feel visceral rage at the demonstrators - perhaps because deep down, they sense the dynamics that Sarah describes here, and are desperate to keep them at bay.
Maia, in my opinion they are egged on by politicians who see this as a way to look "tough" and know how to play to the 60 second sound bite. I grew up in the 60's and early 70's. 1968 was horrible. Then we had Kent State in 1970. For those wanting the National Guard called out today, it's cheap seat rhetoric. Someone is going to get killed, and then it will be spun to become the protestors' fault. The reason for the protests will get lost in the rush to score political points.
Undoubtedly, this will end with a body count. A friend at Columbia is sharing the emails from the university president, and I am shocked that she and her advisors don't feel any need to even pretend even-handedness. The discourse is only about "Jewish student safety," as if Arab and Muslim students weren't being harassed and surveilled, and as if Jewish students were not leading the protests. The universities are emboldening fanaticism. At Yale, a friend witnessed protestors being approached by police for violating a ban on amplified speech -- even as Zionist counterprotestors shouted abuse, using a bullhorn. The counterprotestors are being told that only their comfort matters, and that their rights are inviolable. They've already sprayed toxins on protestors at Columbia, with impunity. What's next?
It is definitely one sided. The protestors are the scapegoats now and in the future for whatever violence erupts. University administrators are being cowed and bullied by politicians to support suppressing the protests. Fanaticism intertwined with fascism. What next indeed?
An old friend of mine loves to quote the verse that says "Perfect love casts out fear." As a parent who sees and understands the burgeoning of horrors all around us, you must feel some fear at least occasionally, but you never let it keep you from speaking with absolute, unstinting moral clarity on behalf of those who are being targeted with violence. That's what makes your writing such a generous gift, such a needful expression of clear-eyed love. Thank you again, Sarah.
Anti-war protests were nation-wide, and police reacted with violence against peaceful protests.
I wonder how many University officials were students (like me) during those times?
I wonder how many of those remember that, by definition, a protest must be very visible, creates inconvenience, goes against established rules of behavior, and is a vehicle to highlight a political position.
To "win", the opposition has to abandon a position of moral authority.
As of today, it seems that very few University Admins. in the USA or Canada remember or have learned lessons from events from their youth. #LeSigh
Good God, this article should speak to anyone who REALLY values all of humanity over these never ending tribal wars instigated by the world's sadistic psychopaths. Murdering civilians, especially children is NEVER ok, whether done by a so called "democracy" or by an autocracy or by a theocracy. The future of humanity would be bright, if only the so called best and brightest would expend their energy on working for it's betterment instead of hoarding money & power and destroying anything in their way!
Just why are the schools that these students attend investing in companies at all, of any kind, much less companies producing weapons and providing aid for Israel’s war crimes and apartheid policies? Does this obsession with money help them provide a better service to the society as educational institutions? No, it doesn't. These schools are nearly tipping over with cash and profits since the adoption of operating under the neoliberal framework that anything that does not make the rich richer is not worth having. With that philosophy came the advent of having far more business administrators than professors, destroying tenured professorship in favor of lightly payed adjuncts, steeply increasing tuition, and playing the markets with the boodle. The university of today is a profit center which more resembles a corporate business entity than anything else. Money comes first, providing education second - or maybe third, after athletics. What do they do with the piles of cash from these investments? Provide a better education for students? Pay increased taxes to the communities in which they exist? Lower tuition? (Sorry I almost choked with laughter at those last two). Well... not at all. They build giant gleaming rec centers and dorms that look like the Four Seasons. They build cafeterias that serve better food. Expensive food. They build up in real estate holdings and increase the salaries of the administrators and school officials, and maybe have some better balls and galas, and of course fundraising events - why pass that up? I'm no expert on this, but I can feel the wind blow and I can see that educational institutions or systems, public or private, should not be about money for money's sake and effected on the basis of pure profit. The protesters oppose the Gaza atrocities and the US government's supportive position, but instead of doing this directly, they have to first ask their schools to stop investing in the manufacture of munitions? This fact alone is utterly insane?
Beautifully said, thank you for taking the time to share your observations. My wife, a former prof, says American universities are private banks with a sideline in education.
I just wanted to circle back to thank this community - are we Kendzians? - for being thoughtful, gentle, and emotionally present. These unfolding events are taking a huge psychological toll on me, and there is great solace in knowing others out there also are grappling with how to coexist with so much gratuitous violence and cynical propaganda. Maybe this is what Twitter felt like at the very beginning. I don’t lack for support at home and among friends, but the rest of the world can look pretty fucking dismal right now, so shine on you crazy diamonds.
I have been really happy and impressed by the commentators here too. It does feel like the internet of old. I’ve been glad that when people disagree, the disagreements are backed up with evidence and opinions and not with personal insults. I’ve been able to leave the comments section open to everyone as a result and I plan to keep it that way. There is definitely solace in community — for me, too. But no should ever name any community after me, no one can spell Kendzior lol
Whether through covid, climate change, or the loss of hard-won rights: we are all targets, we are all disposable. This sentence captures a thought that we are just cattle. We drive around the country, seeing cattle grazing in fields of corn stubble. And 6 months later, we see cattle there once again. But they are not the same cattle. Those earlier cattle are now on our dinner plate. And I wondered if that is how governments and the wealthy see us? We are just cattle, replaceable as a light bulb that burns out. Just screw in a new one.
Anyone else notice all this hell on Earth via Fascism is occurring after the "greatest generation" is gone? The folks that helped defeat Hitler and Company are about 99% gone. And to add insult to injury, it is their children that is becoming fascist and their grandchildren.
Aung San Suu Kyi said: "It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."
A town hall with Sen. Grassley of Iowa had his attendees complaining about the protests...they should be in class! How dare they have loans forgiven and behave like this! I was the loan Democrat in the room. As the saying goes, felt like a long tailed cat in a room for of rocking chairs. Also learned I hate America.
And I hear "your" Sen. Hawley wants Biden to send in the National Guard. Thought of Kent State. Only this time,, I fear, it would be 100 times worse.
Sarah, thanks for speaking up and reminding us of the plight of our fellow humans in Gaza.
One last thing....Gov. Noem is being scorched for killing a 14 month old dog. Had to do it because he killed a chicken or two. Along with a smelly goat. And some old horses. Dead Eye Noem shot them dead. Made me think the GOP needs to change their slogan to "Cruel to be Kind", with apologies to Nick Lowe.
I would substitute “Military Industrial Complex” with “Corporate America”. I mean, really. It’s been trending that way for decades now. We could see it coming, we thought it harmless (more or less) we did nothing to stop it and now it’s too late. (Ok, there’s always hope, but I severely doubt it.) Speaking of decades, I was in Junior High when Kent State happened. I clearly remember all the war protests, the civil rights movement and the Women’s liberation movement. At that young age it was both exhilarating and scary. So, how is today different? Why are protests being so demonized? What is the obsession from main stream media? To me, today’s protests are small peanuts compared to the Sixties and Seventies. (Not to discount their import, just a different scale.). So, what is it? Corporate America! These protests are a threat. College campuses have always been a fertile breeding ground for free thinking and liberal ideas. Can’t have that! Corporate America backed by “Today’s Conservatism” has to nip this in the bud. Antifa, Black Lives Matter, Free the Hostages! Zowee Batman what do we do? (Another Sixties reference.) God, it makes me ill. So very ill.
Deep breath. I appreciate the space Sarah. I ranted a bit. Keep up the good work. (I’ll take a nap.) ✌️
I think one of the biggest differences between the 1960s and now is media. 1960s mainstream outlets demonized protesters too; people forget this when they romanticize the era. But there were also popular magazines and other outlets where anti-war and progressive views were common and even encouraged. The nighttime news also aired frank portrayals of the toll of war. We’ve got nothing like that now: our television news does not report actual news, but simply amplifies party lines — though their alleged rancorous opposition vanishes when it comes to Israel, on which all opinion must be uniform. Whether it’s Trump or Biden, FOX or MSNBC, it’s just pundits castigating the protests and attacking anyone who critiques Israel. And yes, as you said, this is caused by corporate culture and in particular media consolidation over the past four decades or so.
The flip side of this is that social media allows anyone to report and share their videos and thoughts. But with the takeover of those outlets by the right wing (Musk and Twitter etc), they are endlessly battling an algorithm designed to amplify the most hateful views…
This is the Sarah I love the best: the one whose knowledge of authoritarian governments helps us to understand the over-reactions by police to student protests like this.
''Many protest clips are devoid of context. Some show people harassing students for being Jewish or Muslim: bigotry that should never be excused. Some show violent attacks by police: professors being tackled, tear gas, rubber bullets. Some show pro-Israel counter-protesters screaming that the kids deserve it for having the audacity to sit in tents with signs.''
1. One of my biggest concerns has been video clips taken out of context by news outlets. A few out-of-context videos are all it takes to cause the unknowledgeable and unreflective to mistake a part for the whole.
2. Apropos of the pro-Israel counter-protesters screaming that the students deserve it: Here is internationally known scholar of the Shoah, Omer Bartov, who is Jewish, sitting with and discussing the dangers of the weaponization of antisemitism by both Israel and the supporters of Israel's barbarisms, with Palestinian and other students at UPenn. https://twitter.com/bartov_omer/status/1784572453806620887 This is a man who has spent decades of his life in the archives of eastern Europe and, when asked once how he copes with knowing everything he knows, brushed it off by saying, ''*they* are the ones who were tortured and murdered, not me.'' The other Holocaust scholar sitting next to him is Raz Segal. I'm not familiar with him. ''Two leading *Israeli* Holocaust scholars who know the history sides with Palestinians.'' https://twitter.com/GozukaraFurkan/status/1784639570950131889 Oh, and I just found this. Raz Segal explaining why what is happening in Gaza fits the legal definition of genocide. He says that in a genocide trial at the ICC, intent would be easy to establish in this case. https://twitter.com/PetraSchur/status/1784580939907031404
And guess who is one of the politicians demanding the National Guard? Josh Hawley, Missouri’s very own Eddie Haskell, giving his constituents the business.
Sarah, this is a brilliant, powerful, touching essay. Thank you.
Thank you! Hard one to write so I appreciate that
I can tell it must have been.
I'm a boomer who doesn't agree with the US government funding of genocide in Gaza either. Having lived during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, 9/11, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and followed turmoil in the region of the our present shame since I learned to read, I see that war is the human industry that satisfies our lust for power and wealth. If we don't have to wield the weapons we make ourselves, all the better for the powers that be and those who look the other way while staying out of the bloody fight. Students who protest peacefully have my admiration, as do writers who enlighten as you do.
Thanks! I see all us generations as in the same boat, which is unfortunately sailing back to the violence of 1968...
I have never agreed with someone so much as I have you. This took guts to write. I silently protested the Vietnam war because I was in high school in a small town and it wasn't cool to be down on the military. The misguided US foreign policy, the police brutality still sickens me. Not much has changed. Another great article. I love you for your voice, compassion and courage to speak the truth.
Thank you very much!
I had to sit and read this a couple of times. I found myself very moved, very emotional. I remember Kent State all too well. And while I think these politicians and some in the media demanding the National Guard be called out, know very well what happened at Kent State, I am doubtful they really grasp the shock and horror of students being killed for exercising their right protest then and what might happen now. But then I don’t think they really care.
Bill, what sickens me is how many Americans would celebrate the killing of these students by the police or Guard. They feel visceral rage at the demonstrators - perhaps because deep down, they sense the dynamics that Sarah describes here, and are desperate to keep them at bay.
Maia, in my opinion they are egged on by politicians who see this as a way to look "tough" and know how to play to the 60 second sound bite. I grew up in the 60's and early 70's. 1968 was horrible. Then we had Kent State in 1970. For those wanting the National Guard called out today, it's cheap seat rhetoric. Someone is going to get killed, and then it will be spun to become the protestors' fault. The reason for the protests will get lost in the rush to score political points.
Undoubtedly, this will end with a body count. A friend at Columbia is sharing the emails from the university president, and I am shocked that she and her advisors don't feel any need to even pretend even-handedness. The discourse is only about "Jewish student safety," as if Arab and Muslim students weren't being harassed and surveilled, and as if Jewish students were not leading the protests. The universities are emboldening fanaticism. At Yale, a friend witnessed protestors being approached by police for violating a ban on amplified speech -- even as Zionist counterprotestors shouted abuse, using a bullhorn. The counterprotestors are being told that only their comfort matters, and that their rights are inviolable. They've already sprayed toxins on protestors at Columbia, with impunity. What's next?
It is definitely one sided. The protestors are the scapegoats now and in the future for whatever violence erupts. University administrators are being cowed and bullied by politicians to support suppressing the protests. Fanaticism intertwined with fascism. What next indeed?
An old friend of mine loves to quote the verse that says "Perfect love casts out fear." As a parent who sees and understands the burgeoning of horrors all around us, you must feel some fear at least occasionally, but you never let it keep you from speaking with absolute, unstinting moral clarity on behalf of those who are being targeted with violence. That's what makes your writing such a generous gift, such a needful expression of clear-eyed love. Thank you again, Sarah.
Thank you very much Brian!
Welcome to the late 1960's.
Anti-war protests were nation-wide, and police reacted with violence against peaceful protests.
I wonder how many University officials were students (like me) during those times?
I wonder how many of those remember that, by definition, a protest must be very visible, creates inconvenience, goes against established rules of behavior, and is a vehicle to highlight a political position.
To "win", the opposition has to abandon a position of moral authority.
As of today, it seems that very few University Admins. in the USA or Canada remember or have learned lessons from events from their youth. #LeSigh
Thank you (always) for finding the words.
Thank you for reading!
Good God, this article should speak to anyone who REALLY values all of humanity over these never ending tribal wars instigated by the world's sadistic psychopaths. Murdering civilians, especially children is NEVER ok, whether done by a so called "democracy" or by an autocracy or by a theocracy. The future of humanity would be bright, if only the so called best and brightest would expend their energy on working for it's betterment instead of hoarding money & power and destroying anything in their way!
Just why are the schools that these students attend investing in companies at all, of any kind, much less companies producing weapons and providing aid for Israel’s war crimes and apartheid policies? Does this obsession with money help them provide a better service to the society as educational institutions? No, it doesn't. These schools are nearly tipping over with cash and profits since the adoption of operating under the neoliberal framework that anything that does not make the rich richer is not worth having. With that philosophy came the advent of having far more business administrators than professors, destroying tenured professorship in favor of lightly payed adjuncts, steeply increasing tuition, and playing the markets with the boodle. The university of today is a profit center which more resembles a corporate business entity than anything else. Money comes first, providing education second - or maybe third, after athletics. What do they do with the piles of cash from these investments? Provide a better education for students? Pay increased taxes to the communities in which they exist? Lower tuition? (Sorry I almost choked with laughter at those last two). Well... not at all. They build giant gleaming rec centers and dorms that look like the Four Seasons. They build cafeterias that serve better food. Expensive food. They build up in real estate holdings and increase the salaries of the administrators and school officials, and maybe have some better balls and galas, and of course fundraising events - why pass that up? I'm no expert on this, but I can feel the wind blow and I can see that educational institutions or systems, public or private, should not be about money for money's sake and effected on the basis of pure profit. The protesters oppose the Gaza atrocities and the US government's supportive position, but instead of doing this directly, they have to first ask their schools to stop investing in the manufacture of munitions? This fact alone is utterly insane?
Beautifully said, thank you for taking the time to share your observations. My wife, a former prof, says American universities are private banks with a sideline in education.
Sarah, thank you for being the brave and clear-eyed analyst that is sorely missing from US media outlets.
Thanks for reading!
I just wanted to circle back to thank this community - are we Kendzians? - for being thoughtful, gentle, and emotionally present. These unfolding events are taking a huge psychological toll on me, and there is great solace in knowing others out there also are grappling with how to coexist with so much gratuitous violence and cynical propaganda. Maybe this is what Twitter felt like at the very beginning. I don’t lack for support at home and among friends, but the rest of the world can look pretty fucking dismal right now, so shine on you crazy diamonds.
I have been really happy and impressed by the commentators here too. It does feel like the internet of old. I’ve been glad that when people disagree, the disagreements are backed up with evidence and opinions and not with personal insults. I’ve been able to leave the comments section open to everyone as a result and I plan to keep it that way. There is definitely solace in community — for me, too. But no should ever name any community after me, no one can spell Kendzior lol
Whether through covid, climate change, or the loss of hard-won rights: we are all targets, we are all disposable. This sentence captures a thought that we are just cattle. We drive around the country, seeing cattle grazing in fields of corn stubble. And 6 months later, we see cattle there once again. But they are not the same cattle. Those earlier cattle are now on our dinner plate. And I wondered if that is how governments and the wealthy see us? We are just cattle, replaceable as a light bulb that burns out. Just screw in a new one.
Anyone else notice all this hell on Earth via Fascism is occurring after the "greatest generation" is gone? The folks that helped defeat Hitler and Company are about 99% gone. And to add insult to injury, it is their children that is becoming fascist and their grandchildren.
Aung San Suu Kyi said: "It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."
A town hall with Sen. Grassley of Iowa had his attendees complaining about the protests...they should be in class! How dare they have loans forgiven and behave like this! I was the loan Democrat in the room. As the saying goes, felt like a long tailed cat in a room for of rocking chairs. Also learned I hate America.
And I hear "your" Sen. Hawley wants Biden to send in the National Guard. Thought of Kent State. Only this time,, I fear, it would be 100 times worse.
Sarah, thanks for speaking up and reminding us of the plight of our fellow humans in Gaza.
One last thing....Gov. Noem is being scorched for killing a 14 month old dog. Had to do it because he killed a chicken or two. Along with a smelly goat. And some old horses. Dead Eye Noem shot them dead. Made me think the GOP needs to change their slogan to "Cruel to be Kind", with apologies to Nick Lowe.
I would substitute “Military Industrial Complex” with “Corporate America”. I mean, really. It’s been trending that way for decades now. We could see it coming, we thought it harmless (more or less) we did nothing to stop it and now it’s too late. (Ok, there’s always hope, but I severely doubt it.) Speaking of decades, I was in Junior High when Kent State happened. I clearly remember all the war protests, the civil rights movement and the Women’s liberation movement. At that young age it was both exhilarating and scary. So, how is today different? Why are protests being so demonized? What is the obsession from main stream media? To me, today’s protests are small peanuts compared to the Sixties and Seventies. (Not to discount their import, just a different scale.). So, what is it? Corporate America! These protests are a threat. College campuses have always been a fertile breeding ground for free thinking and liberal ideas. Can’t have that! Corporate America backed by “Today’s Conservatism” has to nip this in the bud. Antifa, Black Lives Matter, Free the Hostages! Zowee Batman what do we do? (Another Sixties reference.) God, it makes me ill. So very ill.
Deep breath. I appreciate the space Sarah. I ranted a bit. Keep up the good work. (I’ll take a nap.) ✌️
I think one of the biggest differences between the 1960s and now is media. 1960s mainstream outlets demonized protesters too; people forget this when they romanticize the era. But there were also popular magazines and other outlets where anti-war and progressive views were common and even encouraged. The nighttime news also aired frank portrayals of the toll of war. We’ve got nothing like that now: our television news does not report actual news, but simply amplifies party lines — though their alleged rancorous opposition vanishes when it comes to Israel, on which all opinion must be uniform. Whether it’s Trump or Biden, FOX or MSNBC, it’s just pundits castigating the protests and attacking anyone who critiques Israel. And yes, as you said, this is caused by corporate culture and in particular media consolidation over the past four decades or so.
The flip side of this is that social media allows anyone to report and share their videos and thoughts. But with the takeover of those outlets by the right wing (Musk and Twitter etc), they are endlessly battling an algorithm designed to amplify the most hateful views…
I appreciate the reply Sarah. As for the “flip side” I agree. So, there is hope! ☮️
This is the Sarah I love the best: the one whose knowledge of authoritarian governments helps us to understand the over-reactions by police to student protests like this.
''Many protest clips are devoid of context. Some show people harassing students for being Jewish or Muslim: bigotry that should never be excused. Some show violent attacks by police: professors being tackled, tear gas, rubber bullets. Some show pro-Israel counter-protesters screaming that the kids deserve it for having the audacity to sit in tents with signs.''
1. One of my biggest concerns has been video clips taken out of context by news outlets. A few out-of-context videos are all it takes to cause the unknowledgeable and unreflective to mistake a part for the whole.
2. Apropos of the pro-Israel counter-protesters screaming that the students deserve it: Here is internationally known scholar of the Shoah, Omer Bartov, who is Jewish, sitting with and discussing the dangers of the weaponization of antisemitism by both Israel and the supporters of Israel's barbarisms, with Palestinian and other students at UPenn. https://twitter.com/bartov_omer/status/1784572453806620887 This is a man who has spent decades of his life in the archives of eastern Europe and, when asked once how he copes with knowing everything he knows, brushed it off by saying, ''*they* are the ones who were tortured and murdered, not me.'' The other Holocaust scholar sitting next to him is Raz Segal. I'm not familiar with him. ''Two leading *Israeli* Holocaust scholars who know the history sides with Palestinians.'' https://twitter.com/GozukaraFurkan/status/1784639570950131889 Oh, and I just found this. Raz Segal explaining why what is happening in Gaza fits the legal definition of genocide. He says that in a genocide trial at the ICC, intent would be easy to establish in this case. https://twitter.com/PetraSchur/status/1784580939907031404
No one does it better than Sarah. This is excellent work, searing and true. The dots and the connections you make are so solid. Thank you.
Thanks for reading!
And guess who is one of the politicians demanding the National Guard? Josh Hawley, Missouri’s very own Eddie Haskell, giving his constituents the business.
This is possibly the least surprising news I have ever heard