Crescent International
Peaceful student protests at American campuses have exposed the ugly reality of elite policies: deep links between universities and weapons manufacturers in the US and Israel.
Zionist domination of university administrations and their eagerness to do research to produce lethal weapons for the US and Israeli militaries have aroused great concern amid Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.
It is the scale of zionist penetration of every facet of life in America that has been a revelation for many.
And the violent manner in which completely peaceful protesters have been attacked and dispersed has proved that the police forces protect only elite interests.
They do not serve or protect the people.
The American elite are shocked that people no longer believe their propaganda mouthpieces, whether Fox News,CNN, New York Times, Washington Post etc.
Nor are people, especially students, taken in by the allegation of anti-semitism.
The presence of large numbers of Jewish students at these protests has debunked the vile anti-semitism canard.
This, however, has not deterred the zionists from hurling them at peaceful protesters.
They have even instigated such racist chants.
At Northeastern University in Illinois, a student shouted “Kill the Jews” and asked others to join him in the chant.
The person turned out to be a pro-Israel agitator.
Other students refused to chant after him and asked the agitator to leave.
Protesting peacefully and exercising their constitutional right to free speech and assembly, students and faculty have been violently assaulted.
Nearly 2500 students and faculty have been arrested across campuses in the US.
At least 120 universities in 46 states are involved in such protests.
Hundreds of students have also been expelled from university jeopardizing their careers.
What have they done to deserve such punishment?
Students have called on the universities to reveal their investments in weapons industries in the US and Israel.
They also want universities to cut links with Israel’s ministry of defence.
And they have pressed for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza where Israel has killed nearly 35,000 people and injured 78,000 others.
Is calling for a ceasefire a crime?
America’s Nation magazine published reports from students about their university’s involvement in Israel’s war on Gaza.
Richard Solomon of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) described how MIT laboratories have received since 2008 “millions of dollars in funding from the Israeli Ministry of Defense to conduct research in ballistics targeting, surveillance, cyberwarfare, and drone technology”.
He also wrote that the university “hosts events to connect students and faculty to weapon manufacturers… who supply the Israeli military with its drones, D9 bulldozers, fighter jets, and artillery”.
In other words, US universities like MIT happen to be directly complicit in the slaughter of Palestinians.
Other universities are just as complicit.
The much-touted bastion of liberalism, University of California at Berkeley, has more than $2 billion invested in BlackRock.
The company has substantial holdings in weapons manufacturers that arm the Israeli war-machine.
Universities have not only refused to divest from Israeli companies, they also refuse to provide information about the level of their investments despite calls from students and faculty.
When student encampments sprang up at Columbia University on April 17, the university president called in the police.
The heavily-armed New York police force (NYPD) swung into action.
With guns drawn and using an armoured vehicle, they attacked students occupying Hamilton Hall, that they renamed “Hind’s Hall”.
It was named after six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was murdered alongside her family by the Israeli army in Gaza.
For hours, Hind was left to bleed as Israeli forces fired on ambulances trying to reach her.
The NYPD had already honed their murderous skills by attacking peaceful protesters of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The movement emerged after the strangling death of Floyd George under the knee of the racist white cop Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020.
Using clubs, the heavily-armed New York police attacked students and faculty alike.
While US media has accused students of being violent, the NYPD after dismantling the encampment at Columbia, released a statement admitting that the protesters were peaceful and hadn’t resisted arrest.
Police attacks have occurred at Emory in Georgia, the University of Texas in Austin and Dallas, New York University, City College of New York, Michigan State University, Northeastern University in Illinois, Arizona State University, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) as well as Berkeley.
The most violent attacks occurred at the University of Texas in Austin.
On April 24, the right-wing extremist Texas governor Greg Abbott unleashed Texas state troopers on pro-Palestinian protesters at the university.
While he accused students of ‘anti-semitism’ because they condemned Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza, it was the Texas state troopers that unleashed the violence.
Quoting students at the demonstration, the Dallas Morning News report said “… the events were peaceful until law enforcement officers entered the campus with riot gear, some on horseback and others carrying zip ties and pepper spray”.
They surrounded peaceful student protesters and prevented them from leaving.
In one video, a woman waving an Israeli flag is seen shouting at students: “Go to Palestine. I hope they rape you.”
Masked zionist vigilantes from outside campus also attempted to tear down the students’ encampment.
Many have served in the Israeli army.
They beat students with bats, threw bricks, sprayed mace, and shot fireworks at protesters, while the LA police (LAPD) stood by and watched.
Instead, the LAPD were extremely violent against pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA.
Snipers were placed on rooftops, fired rubber bullets and used flash-bang devices to clear out the camps.
These are tactics used by the Israeli regime against protesters in Palestine.
Police forces in the US, and indeed many other western countries, hold regular exercises with their Israeli counterparts.
It comes as no surprise that they would use similar tactics.
So, the question that must be asked is: do such protests matter?
The simple answer is, yes. Silence is not an option.
Students at Olympia College, Washington state, were able to force their administration to divest from Israel.
In Montreal, a superior court judge on May 1 rejected an injunction calling on students to not gather within 100 feet of McGill University.
These may be small victories but could easily grow if similar victories are achieved elsewhere.
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