Angry, Young America

Campus protests against the Gaza war continue to linger as students demand a realignment of US ties with Israel

- LAVINA MELWANI

More than 35,000 people have lost their lives and around 80,000 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since Hamas launched a dreadful attack on Israel last October 7. An entire population of refugees is now stranded in their own territory, starving for food and lacking medical supplies. Yet lightning bolts of weaponry continue to rain on the beleaguered Palestinians. And Israel does not seem to stop its retaliation against Hamas, which killed around 1,200 Israelis and took hundreds hostages.

Events in Gaza have triggered a reaction in many parts of the world, particularly among the youth. The pro-Palestine protests, which have erupted across American campuses, have transfixed the world. The students, forsaking education and regular campus life, have set up encampments on the greens and even barricaded themselves in buildings. Thousands of students have been arrested, their tents torn down, and yet they stand undeterred, insisting on an end to the war in Gaza and for colleges and universities to divest funding of the war, which means eliminating investments in businesses that operate in or otherwise support Israel.

Yet, nothing is simple regarding the protests or the cause. It is a complex, many-layered conflict which has come to a head through many, many generations. Nothing is black or white—it is a grey area where there is right on both sides, a complex morality play.

Today’s youth have no idea of Israel’s past, of how it was birthed from the inhumane injustices to the Jewish community through the ages and how it struggled for selfhood and survival, after the Nazi pogroms. The Palestinians also have their own stories of loss, struggle for their lives and homeland.