“A society consisting of the sum of its vanity and greed is not a society at all but a state of war.” — Mark Twain
This has not been the best few months for college presidents. Many leaders responded to protests about a disproportionate response in Gaza with a disproportionate reaction on their own campuses. It only fueled the fires. The months ahead could be even worse. I would think that the last thing the American educational system needs at this point in time is to join the chorus of world leaders who are trying to silence dissent through any and all means available to them.
Even though there are dozens of columns describing the recent protests through different sets of lenses, I decided to share my perspective because I was involved in the seeds of this movement 56 years ago in Vietnam. Also, I thought it was important to take a look at the historical roots and cultural implications of this movement. As a reader of this blog, you are among the 200 or so people who are kind enough to ponder these weekly missives. I thank you for taking the time and for engaging with me in these conversations. Let’s start with the historical roots, and then I will share my personal involvement.
According to Wikipedia, the student protest movement called the Free Speech Movement was born at UC Berkeley in 1964, when students involved in civil rights activism reacted negatively to the university’s sudden attempt to prevent them from organizing politically on campus.
The Free Speech Movement arose to challenge restrictions on political speech and assembly. Soon, other groups were springing up across the nation with similar demands.
Sound familiar? The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) formed at the University of Michigan and issued the Port Huron Statement, which criticized US foreign policy and attacked the Cold War assumptions underlying it. Even though I was a college student from 1963 to 1967, I didn’t get personally involved until I was conscripted into the war.
I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that these student protests actually began in Greensboro in 1960 by Black students protesting for civil rights. Further, that the Great March on Washington in 1963, organized by Black leaders, demonstrated the energy behind this movement. One could also say that Jackie Robinson played a major role in 1944 in instigating the fight for equal rights.
My protest against the Vietnam War was to write anti-war poetry while I was stationed in Saigon in 1968, and then to post the poems on the community bulletin board in the middle of the night, so I would not be detected.
It didn’t take long for seasoned intelligence officers to figure out who was posting the provocative prose.
There were consequences for my actions.
When I returned from Vietnam and was stationed in Washington, DC as a liaison to the Pentagon for Army intelligence, I participated in the November 15 march on the Capitol in 1969 with 500,000 other protesters wearing my military uniform.
When I was discharged from the Army in 1970, I joined the Vietnam Veterans against the War to protest our direct involvement there.
I had lost friends in Vietnam. I had skin in the game.
Fast forward to 2024. Now I have a Jewish daughter and two Jewish grandchildren. I have heart in this morass. I share these stories because I want to establish my credentials as someone who believes in the right to free speech, in the right to protest, in the right to question authority, in the right to engage in disruptive protests as long as they don’t advocate lawlessness or call for murder, and in the need to protect the 16 million Jews (0.2% of the world population) who still remain on our planet.
Gaza is not Vietnam. As many as 2 million civilians on both sides, and over 1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters, were killed between 1964 and 1975. About 200,000 Vietnamese soldiers and over 50,000 American soldiers died in the war. The American war in Vietnam was initiated on the overblown pretense of stopping the domino effect of communism in Southeast Asia. In November, 1963, before the war really geared up, the US was complicit in the overthrow of the South Vietnamese government led by Diem, who was executed and replaced by General Minh. The resulting chaos provided an incentive for the North to take over the country, which they did in 1975.
Let’s remember that the war in Gaza was initiated by a massacre by Hamas in Israel, and that Hamas is not inspired by unification. And let’s also remember that Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Arabs and Jews live side-by-side, both as citizens, getting welfare support and free education. In Israel, both Arabs and Jews have representatives in a democratically elected government. Israel is unique in that constellation. There can never be a two-state solution as long as Hamas is in charge of Gaza.
Hamas is not the Vietcong. The North Vietnamese Army and the Vietcong attacked South Vietnam because they wanted to unify the country under one leader, Ho Chi Minh. Hamas invaded Israel because it wanted to destroy the state of Israel and kill Jews. The Vietcong were not princes. They engaged in heinous acts against American and Vietnamese soldiers. They were also being bombed daily and sprayed with Napalm when they tried to move. Hamas, on the other hand, was living peacefully and comfortably in Gaza and was being supported indirectly by Israel, which was allowing Iran and Qatar to fund their operations.
We must remember that Hamas consists of declared terrorists who raise their children to kill Jews. And let’s not forget, they still refuse to release the hostages they brutally abducted on October 7. Contrary to the campus banners and chants and the growing consensus around the world, targeting Hamas for rape, murder, and kidnapping is not genocide. It seems to me that the Vietcong had a far stronger case for justifying their actions than Hamas, and that Israel has a far stronger case for retaliation than the United States had in Vietnam.
Israel is not innocent. The Netanyahu government has oppressed Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for decades. The right-wing coalition also enabled support for Hamas in order to disempower the PLO and discourage any two-state solution. The government continues to support and expand settlements in the West Bank and militarily defends them. One reason the border was left insecure where Hamas invaded was because troops had been reassigned to the West Bank to support settlement expansion. Netanyahu and his right-wing cabinet have disproportionately reacted to the Hamas invasion by essentially leaving most cities in Gaza in absolute ruin, by destroying hospitals, by limiting humanitarian relief, and by killing about 34,000 Gazans—about 13,000 of whom were Hamas soldiers and 13,000 children. To me, one child for each Hamas operative feels clearly disproportionate AND painfully heartbreaking.
The US is complicit. During the course of the Hamas-Israel War, the United States has made over 100 arms transfers to Israel including over 10,000 tons of bombs, missiles, and mortars. Those transfers have not been nearly as transparent as the shipments sent to Ukraine. There is no denying that children are being brutally killed and cities are being laid to waste with our weapons of destruction. There have also been few consequences from the U.S. for the expansion of settlements by the Netanyahu government.
My point is that all of us, students included, have many legitimate reasons to engage in peaceful, disruptive protests and engage in civil disobedience in support of the Palestinian people, especially its children. On the other hand, there should be no excuse and no tolerance for lawlessness, violence, and supporting the murder of Jews and the destruction of the Jewish state by Hamas and its supporters.
The challenge of universities and colleges at large is to preserve the right to free speech AND to protect any group from harm. The question, as always, is: where do you draw the line. It seems to me that it’s legitimate to denounce oppression, but not to demand elimination. Rape does not equal resistance. Disobedience is not assault. Activism is one thing; anarchy is another. A Palestinian child deserves to live; a Hamas rapist and terrorist does not.
The Israeli government does not represent the views of a vast majority of the Israeli people. Only 15% of the people of Israel want Netanyahu to be Prime Minister after the war. Given that fact, protests calling for the globalization of intifada and chants of “from the river to the sea” reflect a deep misunderstanding and tragic trivialization of the issue, in addition to fueling egregious antisemitism.
But let’s get back to the larger cultural issues. First, let’s look at what has happened to our universities. When I was in college in the 60’s, we didn’t have Tik Tok or social media as news sources. We had to read books or newspapers. (Confession: I was not a deeply informed student. I didn’t start reading extensively until Vietnam. Thank you, Vietnam.) Today, 30% of people under 30 get their news from a variety of social media sites. Most of these sites consist of sensationalized sound bites that may arouse passion but may not elicit deep introspection or reflection. To make it even more challenging for student enlightenment, many colleges have simply turned into big business operations that focus more on trades than truth. They are more interested in turning out athletes than scholars. They cater more to their rich donors than to their seeking students. Dialogue revolves more around sound bites than sound thinking. Finally, when I was a student in the 60s, we had a draft hanging over our heads. Any one of us could be conscripted into the war machine. Government decisions translated directly into consequences for all of us. There is no longer a draft impacting student decisions on how they protest.
To be fair, I believe most students protesting the Hamas-Israel war are doing so with the best of intentions and most have done the work to understand the complexities of this situation. I also believe that college administrators have struggled mightily with the best way to respond to campus protests and to preserve the rights to free speech while protecting the safety of all students. I just think that the culture shifts that both students and administrators are dealing with have made it doubly difficult to draw the line responsibly between speech and lawlessness. Administrators are caught between running their universities as businesses and creating an environment that promotes deep thinking and learning. Students are caught between the addictive appeals of social media, the lucrative attractions of cash-rich corporations, and the real work required to define a meaningful purpose in life.
Having said that. Lines need to be drawn. Choices need to be made. Consequences need to be applied to students and others who cross the line and break the law. Free speech needs to be preserved – silencing dissent is always a bad option. Safety for all students needs to be protected. That’s what leadership is.
I’m hoping as we move forward in this chaotic and complex world, that students will be able to overcome the addictions of social media and the attractions of corporate cash. I’m hoping college administrators will be able to overcome the pressures of big business and rich donors to engage more fully in dialogue before taking draconian measures. I’m hoping that being liberal does not get distorted into being weak. Most importantly, I’m hoping that the 16 million Jews, especially my grandkids, can finally be welcomed into the human society for the contributions they bring to all of us. Lastly, I’m hoping that our culture shifts in a way that sound bites don’t undermine sound scholarship and sound leadership. May it be so.
Also published on Medium.
Wow Ricky! Just wow! Great post❤️
Your posts are always so educational and greatly appreciated Rick! You have such unique first-hand knowledge AND the ability to convey to others of us so we too can relate and better understand. I think it poses a great opportunity to “further” educate all students maybe on both sides who aren’t as familiar with the decades of history and the numerous well-intentioned attempts by some for a peaceful co-existence for all. I know I’m learning every day..thanks Rick!!
Thanks Kathy. This whole situation is so fraught and complicated by nuance and people not understanding the history or the facts. I so appreciate your support.
Thanks Ron. It always give me a boost when I see your responses. And, what’s amazing is that you have responded to over 300 posts over the last 10 years.
Well said, Rick! This really helped to clarify my own thoughts on this complicated and nuanced situation!
Thanks Terrie. I’m so glad you found it helpful. It is indeed complex with multiple narratives.