Hamas has launched a major attack on Israel

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I don't disagree that college tuitions are too high. But, if an institution wants to grow its endowment, equity investments are one way to do it.

Corporations donating to colleges should be a financial one way street. What the corporation gets out of it is graduates who would make good employees.

The reason so many heads of colleges are flailing around with these protests is because like most everything in this country they are corporate captured and are little more than fundraising machines. There’s a complete lack of leadership and all they know how to do (poorly) is defend capitalism.

 

[Herdfan]

Colleges invest in companies through their endowments. This money is used for large capital improvements and to provide ongoing financial support. Most endowment funds come from donations and not tuition etc.

The thing I don't understand about the Hamas protests is that a majority of student ssupport LGBT+ causes, but at the same time they are protesting in support of a group that is about as anti-LGBT+ as you can get. Saw a sign at a protest that said "Queers for Palestine" and was wondering who was going to tell them. SMH.

 

[rdrr]

Colleges invest in companies through their endowments. This money is used for large capital improvements and to provide ongoing financial support. Most endowment funds come from donations and not tuition etc.

The thing I don't understand about the Hamas protests is that a majority of student ssupport LGBT+ causes, but at the same time they are protesting in support of a group that is about as anti-LGBT+ as you can get. Saw a sign at a protest that said "Queers for Palestine" and was wondering who was going to tell them. SMH.

Kinda like how the right is pro-life and pro death penalty? Sometimes the causes people get behind don't necessarily align with one another.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Just heard Mitch McConnell trash Tucker Carlson and support Ukraine.

Yeah, that's great, deal with the tail of the snake and not the head. He's endorsing Trump, what's the difference? Mitch, please retire and just go away.

 

[Herdfan]

Columbia University has shut down in-person classes for the rest of the semester due to the on-going anti-Israel protests.

And USC has cancelled their main graduation ceremony. As of now smaller school specific graduations will still take place.

 

[Eric]

It would really help things in Gaza if Hamas would give an inch here.

Blinken urges Hamas to accept ‘extraordinarily generous’ ceasefire deal - Washington Examiner

Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept the latest ceasefire proposal, which he described as "extraordinarily generous" for them.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

 

[Alli]

Me on Mastodon regarding the protests:

No, no, no. Comparing the campus protests in the 60’s and the campus protests today is like comparing apples and hedgehogs.

We protested the war in Vietnam because our country was boots on the ground. We lost friends, fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons.

The US is not involved in the war in Gaza. We have no vested interest. It is not our war. The students, particularly at #Columbia, are being incredibly selfish.

They are denying freedom to their fellow students. Why? Do they really have a clue what they’re protesting? I think not.

Meanwhile, they are doing the exact same thing as the settlers in the West Bank - camping where they are not wanted and don’t belong.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Me on Mastodon regarding the protests:

No, no, no. Comparing the campus protests in the 60’s and the campus protests today is like comparing apples and hedgehogs.

We protested the war in Vietnam because our country was boots on the ground. We lost friends, fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons.

The US is not involved in the war in Gaza. We have no vested interest. It is not our war. The students, particularly at #Columbia, are being incredibly selfish.

They are denying freedom to their fellow students. Why? Do they really have a clue what they’re protesting? I think not.

Meanwhile, they are doing the exact same thing as the settlers in the West Bank - camping where they are not wanted and don’t belong.

I’m fairly positive they are protesting all the death and destruction in the open air prison that is Gaza and the fact that it wasn’t exactly Disneyland before the Hamas attacks. What do you think they are protesting about?

One thing I really get tired of is “the west” getting attacked and then “the west” responds with 1000 times the death and destruction of the original attack and then has the balls to go “What? Why you mad?”

 

[GermanSuplex]

Dumb and misguided college liberals joining forces with racist conservatives to form a bipartisan anti-semetic coalition.

Sorry young folks, I'm as liberal as they come and you're not winning me over. Being pro-Palestinian is not the same as being ant-Israel, which also is not the same as being a racist/religious bigot towards your Jewish peers. Some of these people are any or all of these things masquerading as anti-war demonstrators.

 

[Eric]

Dumb and misguided college liberals joining forces with racist conservatives to form a bipartisan anti-semetic coalition.

Sorry young folks, I'm as liberal as they come and you're not winning me over. Being pro-Palestinian is not the same as being ant-Israel, which also is not the same as being a racist/religious bigot towards your Jewish peers. Some of these people are any or all of these things masquerading as anti-war demonstrators.

Biden will lose votes as a result but it won't matter what he does, either way he goes will be a shitstorm, he just happens to be the one in office during the whole thing. Those "Liberals" will either vote for Trump or abstain entirely, if they get Trump he'll double down against Palestine but they're too young and stupid to see that.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Biden will lose votes as a result but it won't matter what he does, either way he goes will be a shitstorm, he just happens to be the one in office during the whole thing. Those "Liberals" will either vote for Trump or abstain entirely, if they get Trump he'll double down against Palestine but they're too young and stupid to see that.

Trump called the protesters disgraceful, but I guess that doesn’t matter since he isn’t currently in power. I’m sure a good percentage of them will do their part to put him back in power a second time so they can find out exactly what his plans are for disgraceful people.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I’m sure the news media would still have this woman on to talk about how she was accosted by protesters.

 

[AG_PhamD]

This really should not be a complicated issue. The way Columbia for example have handled this is atrocious.

- If students or faculty are peacefully protesting, they should be allowed to do that.
- People who are not affiliated with the private institution have no right to be there and should be asked to leave or arrested for trespassing
- Students who inhibit the school from functioning ie preventing students from getting to class, graduate, etc or are breaking school rules by setting up encampments, etc should be given progressive consequences like an ultimatum, suspension, and/or arrest if they do no leave.
- Students who break into buildings or damage school property or commit other violent crimes should be arrested and expelled.

The people who allegedly make disparaging statements against Jews have every right to do so under free speech, but that doesn’t mean the school doesn’t have the right to impose consequences? I don’t think these institutions should be tolerating “F the Jews” anymore than “F Black People”.

The most egregious messaging I’ve heard of are the alleged “We are Hamas” chants and signs pointing to pro-Israeli students saying “Al Quassim’s next target”… this kinda stuff is getting into terrorism and inciting violence and is a very blurry line.

I’m not sure why these students feel protesting their university’s endowment fund, which to my understanding may not even be controlled by the university, think that this is the most effective way of instituting change. There seems to be in my mind far more effective places to be protesting.

If you believe a genocide is occurring and want to protest Israel, do it at their embassy or consulates. Or protest the Us politicians you think you think you can flip on Israel aid. Or perhaps one of the most effective protests practically and symbolically was the blocking of the ships supplying Israeli military aid.

It just seems stupid this is the hill people are willing to sacrifice their future on- protesting one’s school’s endowment investments which A. Is unlikely to change for a number of reasons and B. Even if successful unlikely to influence the war.

The leadership of some of these colleges is Columbia is pretty disgraceful. In protecting Jewish students, allowing the school to operate normally and provide the education people are paying for and setting clear boundaries and expectations for protester conduct and consequences.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

This may or may not matter to some, but it is being reported by some that the violence on the UCLA campus was started by outsiders who clearly weren’t students.

This is starting to remind me of the skirmishes in Portland that happened during the BLM protests. The major news media wanted you to believe they just organically happened in that moment. That’s not what happened. Right-wing militias had been building on the wilderness outskirts of Portland for years because they thought it would be a good testing ground for their violent revolution against liberals and the left. They just needed a reason to attack. BLM gave them a reason.

I have no doubt a big percentage of the violence and extreme rhetoric at these protests are being done by outsider provocateurs with this exact agenda, but the major news media is going to give little to no mention of this.

 

[Herdfan]

I have no doubt a big percentage of the violence and extreme rhetoric at these protests are being done by outsider provocateurs with this exact agenda, but the major news media is going to give little to no mention of this.

No they aren't because some of the agitators can be traced to Soros funded organizations.

 

[Herdfan]

No, no, no. Comparing the campus protests in the 60’s and the campus protests today is like comparing apples and hedgehogs.

We protested the war in Vietnam because our country was boots on the ground. We lost friends, fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons.

I wonder how those protests would have gone had there not been the draft. It's one thing to have boots on the ground from volunteers who are wanting to serve their country, but a completely different thing for those boots to have been forced to be there.

------------------------------------------

I was in college (early to mid 80's) when there really wasn't much protesting. Sure there were some campus groups protesting this or that, but it was usually just holding signs up in the quad. Nothing violent or even slightly threatening. Mostly these were children of the original peaceful hippies

In the early 80's everyone wanted to be a yuppie so protesting wasn't going to help that.

But these kids today have never had to face consequences for their actions. They will now.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

No they aren't because some of the agitators can be traced to Soros funded organizations.

Wouldn’t doubt some are, but not all. The point is these aren’t all students looking to wage war against other students. And even outside protests are infiltrated by extremists on both sides whose agenda goes well beyond the current circumstances. But like most things, people want to believe extremists define the entire view on a side.

 

[AG_PhamD]

This may or may not matter to some, but it is being reported by some that the violence on the UCLA campus was started by outsiders who clearly weren’t students.

This is starting to remind me of the skirmishes in Portland that happened during the BLM protests. The major news media wanted you to believe they just organically happened in that moment. That’s not what happened. Right-wing militias had been building on the wilderness outskirts of Portland for years because they thought it would be a good testing ground for their violent revolution against liberals and the left. They just needed a reason to attack. BLM gave them a reason.

I have no doubt a big percentage of the violence and extreme rhetoric at these protests are being done by outsider provocateurs with this exact agenda, but the major news media is going to give little to no mention of this.

I sounds like a lot of the people arrested at Columbia overnight were outsiders as well. The NYPD have said as much. And looking at UCLA tonight you kind of have to wonder who is buying all these sheets of plywood and bringing in loads of shipping pallets. In either case the problem is not only these agitators, but the fact they are radicalizing students into making very stupid decisions.

I disagree with a lot of the message protesters have been putting forward and certainly how they have disrupted schools from functioning to breaking into buildings and holding hostages. But I’d prefer students, clearly very accomplished students, from screwing up their futures because of stepping over the lien from protest to violence.

As for people from the opposing club coming in and instigating negativity in a false flag fashion- I’m sure there’s some of this. But I don’t think it’s overall very relevant when you clearly have passionate outsiders willing to escalate based on legitimate belief.

For the longest time there have been accusations with this around BLM, but despite all the arrests and photography, I’m not aware of this being substantiated. That’s not to at it hasn’t happened, won’t happen, or can’t happen, in allegedly a pro-Israeli protester pulled this false flag stuff the other day but I’m hesitant to accept anything as fact before it’s confirmed.

But all of this is why these institutions need to to shut down their campuses to students and faculty only for the time being- to minimize the risk of outsider escalation and to above all protect their students both from violence and being incited into violence.

Was it UCLA that had the fight this morning allegedly instigated by outsiders? The fact they had no police on campus or nearby to respond to a clear possibility of clashing is unacceptable… also unacceptable it took them 1.5hrs to respond. Sure the optics of police on campus isn’t good, but everyone’s safety should be far more important- along with helping prevent escalation in the first place.

 

[Alli]

No they aren't because some of the agitators can be traced to Soros funded organizations.

Wouldn’t doubt some are, but not all. The point is these aren’t all students looking to wage war against other students. And even outside protests are infiltrated by extremists on both sides whose agenda goes well beyond the current circumstances. But like most things, people want to believe extremists define the entire view on a side.

And now it’s looking like Proud Boys who came in as counter-protestors. Who’d a thunk.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

And now it’s looking like Proud Boys who came in as counter-protestors. Who’d a thunk.

I think more than being ignorant of the total history of difficulties in the region and some of the language being used, the college students won’t have the interest or stamina beyond the current conflict. Historically most students don’t. Meanwhile you have outside agitators joining their ranks who make it their life mission to take up a cause which can include violence if they see fit.

I heard audio of a campus pro-Palestinian protest where somebody yelled “Kill the Jews!” which quickly got booed by the crowd and they moved on, but the media wants you to believe these protests are all about killing the Jews because of isolated instances like that.