New York (Special to Informed Comment) – Earlier this week Columbia University started suspending the students who refused to leave the encampment they built to protest Columbia’s support of Israel’s war against Palestinians. The students had responded by occupying Hamilton Hall, mirroring the action that initiated the 1968 protests against the Vietnam War which ended a week later on 30 April when 1000 students were arrested in a bloody confrontation with NY police.
This week, the police moved in again, arresting the student protesters. (They were all students, with no outsiders.)
I was one of the people arrested in the Math Building in 1968. I am cheering on the students who are calling Columbia to account for it’s support of the US/Israeli war machine. Sadly, I’ve heard a lot of people distance themselves from today’s actions by focusing on differences between then and now.
Duh . . . the world is vastly changed. . . and many books and PhD theses will be written to explore and understand those differences . . . but for me, there is something fundamental which connects our actions in 1968 and those of the students today — Taking a Stand Against Injustice, in solidarity with oppressed people on the other side of the world and in our own backyard.
MSNBC Video: “‘Students were crying in despair’: Columbia professor slams school calling NYPD”
The important dividing line isn’t between 1968 and 2024. Rather it’s between those who refuse to “take sides” and those who understand that in times of war, there is no defensible “middle ground.” At the end of the day, the “liberal” position which finds fault with both the Zionist and Palestinian positions is a function of privilege and fundamentally ends up supporting the status quo.
To the students who had been Hamilton Hall at Columbia and to the young people all over the world who are taking action . . . THANK YOU. I promise to do everything I can to marshall support for your courageous efforts on behalf of the Palestinian people
Bob Stein was at Columbia University in 1967 and came down from Harvard in 1968 to be with protesting friends at the Math Building. He was arrested when the police barged in soon thereafter.
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