Pars Today

Pars Today - American universities have become the scene of student protests against Israel's genocide in the Gaza Strip. Despite facing threats, including suspension, arrest, and loss of job opportunities, American students have started these protests.

Student gatherings in support of Palestine have started at Columbia University in New York and have now spread to 32 other major universities in the US.

American students, who are demanding that US universities cut financial and moral ties with Zionist supporters, have declared that they are standing on the right side of history with these protests.

They say they are proud of themselves and these protest movements, a pride that is no longer limited to American universities, but is now shared by the entire world.

An important point to note about the university gatherings, especially at Columbia University, is that the students involved are not representative of the average American middle class. These students are often the children of American senators, wealthy individuals, and high-society families; people who can be said to have connections with powerful Zionist lobbies in the US and receive support from them to maintain their influence in US politics.

American senators have labeled the protesting students as "anti-Israeli thugs" and are demanding that the US government take action against them and restore order to the universities as soon as possible. This is why the protesting students are being threatened with suspension or arrest.

On the other hand, wealthy Jewish businessmen have threatened to cut funding to universities if the pro-Palestine protesters are not suppressed.

What are American students saying?

The demands of protesting students regarding the crimes of the Zionist regime and US support for it vary from university to university.

The main and primary demands of the students can be summarized as follows:

Stop trading with military weapons manufacturers that supply arms to Zionists.

Refuse to accept research funding from Zionists for projects that aid the military efforts of this regime.

Refrain from investing in university endowments with managers who profit from Zionist companies or contractors.

Be more transparent about the money received from Zionists and how it is used."

1- Increased awareness among young Americans

Young Americans are much more aware of global crises and issues compared to older Americans. Generation Z students, who grew up during collective actions like the "Black Lives Matter" campaigns, climate change activism, and gun safety movements, are now forming broad coalitions in support of Palestinian freedom, which has become a challenge for American policymakers. As a result, they are trying to prevent the continuation and spread of this movement by passing new laws, suppressing, and arresting students.

2- Heavy crackdown 

For decades, Zionists have been massacring Palestinians without justification. However, the Gaza war has showcased the unprecedented brutality of Zionists. The images of burned bodies of young children, wailing mothers, and hungry people being martyred by Zionist gunfire while waiting to receive food aid have stirred emotions around the world.

The cries to stop the war, which human rights lawyers and activists call "genocide", have mobilized university students in the US against Zionists. However, university administrators are now heavily suppressing the students. They have asked the police to arrest students and have themselves suspended dozens of them.

3- Faculty members join students

It seems that the decision to suspend students has had a reverse effect, as hundreds of faculty members at American universities have gone on strike, holding banners that read "We won't suspend students". Last week, the American Association of University Professors issued a statement condemning the suspension and arrest of students.

The statement read, "We have lost trust in the president and the government, and we are committed to taking back our university."

4- Politicians take the side of Zionists

US President Joe Biden and other American officials are supporters of Zionists. Biden, who has faced criticism for not taking any action to stop the brutal Zionist war against Palestinians, issued a statement warning about the rise of anti-Semitism.

The White House, ignoring the concerns of protesting students who are seeking to support the 2.3 million besieged Palestinians in Gaza, has accused universities of promoting anti-Semitism.

Meanwhile, several Muslim members of the House of Representatives, including Rashida Tlaib from Michigan and Ilhan Omar from Minnesota, have criticized the punishments imposed on protesting students. Isra Hirsi, Ilhan Omar's daughter, is one of the suspended students from university during these protests.

5- Zionist lobbying continues

While hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters have faced legal actions and threats from authorities, it has been reported that a small number of pro-Zionist protesters have entered university campuses, chanting "Israel wins" and holding the flag of the "Kfir" unit, an Israeli army unit. 

In a bizarre move, Shirion Collective, a pro-Israel organization, has offered money to individuals willing to wear a keffiyeh and infiltrate student protests at American universities.

In a post published online, they stated that they are specifically looking for individuals with Arabic names and West Asian appearance to infiltrate deeper into the protesting students and label the protests with false tags.

6- Demands from universities

While American officials are trying to portray protesting students as a group of angry young people without clear goals, the reality is that protesters at American universities have clearly stated their demands.

Students are seeking accountability from their university administrators, whom they consider complicit in Israel's war crimes. This is because these administrators have not stopped university investments in companies supporting the war. Several American university retirement funds have also invested their money in Zionist companies that, according to the United Nations, are involved in the Gaza war.

Students are also demanding that their universities cancel agreements they have made with Zionist institutions in the Occupied Territories.

MG/UR