The Spire

Ashwin Prabaharan ’26

Chief Opinions Editor

It has been nearly three weeks since the horrific attacks committed by Hamas upon Israel renewed armed conflict in the Levant area. Reports indicate nearly 2,000 Israeli civilians and military personnel have died, with more than 7,000 Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip. Countless thousands more have been displaced within the Strip as Israeli military convoys begin their ground offensive to root out Hamas terrorists hiding within the territory. Israeli intelligence indicates that more than 200 hostages remain in the captivity of Hamas with no end in sight pertaining to their release, or with any attempt at negotiation. The Gaza Strip is effectively cut off from resources including medical aid and food after Israel instituted a military blockade on all convoys entering the Strip, fearing further attacks from Hamas as it regains access to weapons and lethal aid. The United Nations approved a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire from both parties and implored for a truce to be settled upon to avoid further conflict and the escalation of the present one. President Joe Biden announced the shipment of missile defense systems to protect Israel against rocket launches from Hamas, a tactic commonly employed by Palestinian terrorist groups in previous conflicts. President Biden also ordered the evacuation of embassy and military base officials in nearby nations after reports emerged of targeted attacks upon U.S. military installations in the Middle East. In his second national address from the Oval Office, the President affirmed American support for the Israeli government and its people against Hamas, calling for fast tracked congressional approval of military aid to Israel, while reiterating the need for a ceasefire in the region to limit casualties and avoid a greater conflict that pulls regional enemies into battle.

Across the nation, streets are filled with clamoring protesters on behalf of either the Palestinian cause or the Israeli people. Pro-Palestinian protesters are demanding an immediate cessation of Israeli incursions upon the Gaza Strip and the removal of all military personnel in the area. Many of these protesters are calling the current Israeli ground offensive into Gaza a genocide, a one-sided slaughtering of an entire people defenseless against Israeli might. They chant calls for an “intifada” or the “shaking off” of the Israeli state and its government in the region, seeking a permanent revolution for the Palestinian people. They condemn Israel as a terrorist and apartheid state, identifying it as the prime cause of a “Nazi-style genocide” against Palestinians in the region. Furthermore, they call for the “decolonization” of the region by Israel, claiming that they are guilty of settler colonialism by displacing the native population of the area. 

Videos and photos depict the plethora of protests by campus Palestinian, cultural, or political groups loudly chanting the aforementioned epithets on school property, amassing in huge numbers across the country. Columbia, Harvard, and New York Universities came under fire from pundits and their donors after statements by students and faculty turned the conflict’s blame onto the Jewish and Israeli state. The president of NYU’s Student Bar Association defended her assertion that Israel was to blame for Hamas’ brutal attacks without considering the death toll in Israel, and was soon removed from her position and lost a prestigious job offer. 

Pointing out that most of these protesters happen to be college students organizing on college campuses in major metropolitan areas is the first step I take in addressing the subject of my piece here. As students, we have a duty to ourselves and the fields of study we are in to engage in topics and questions of importance with an open mind that seeks to learn the whole truth. We are surely entitled to our own opinions and perspectives, but that does not cancel out the continued search for knowledge we are tasked with while at college. We are meant to grow and learn intellectually, morally, and philosophically, seeking to shape ourselves in a well-rounded manner for the obstacles we will face as adults. Without this search, we are bound to expose the worst elements of ourselves, elevate the power of dangerous and greedy demagogues, and live in a state of self-estimated righteousness. 

Listening to the clarion calls of these student protesters mentioned previously emphasizes just how uninformed and unwilling we appear to be to learn the truth of anything. During a conversation with The Spire’s Opinions Editor Sean Rego this past week, I mentioned the phrase “From the River to Sea, the Palestinians will be Free.” I didn’t understand it completely, assuming it called for the liberation of the Palestinian people across the Levant region. It’s a popular chant of Hamas supporters, and it’s been co-opted by protesters here in the United States. Sean explained its true definition, wherein it calls for the eradication of the Jewish people and state and the establishment of Palestinian control across the region. I saw videos of people chanting this near my home, in my home city of New York, home to nearly 1.6 million people. They were students proudly calling for the extermination of the Jewish people and their homes, outside of their homes. If you are reading this, I expect you feel the same way I did when learning that this is being called for only 75 years after the Jewish diaspora was nearly wiped off of the face of the known world. 

Yet students boldly chant it. They throw around the words “genocide” and “apartheid” with no one calling them out on it. Genocide is the cleansing of an entire people of a certain race, religion, or culture. What protesters don’t realize is that nearly 1.5 million Muslims in Israel have full access to civil liberties, political participation, and freedoms. What students don’t realize is that Muslims serve in government and public office, with the United Arab List party having been a crucial component of the previous Israeli government. I’d like to ask protesters calling Israel an apartheid state if they know of prominent Jews serving in positions of power in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, Palestine, or other prominent Muslim nations. I cannot explain this tendency of rejecting information or refusing to be properly informed among students who claim a cause without presenting two answers: they are either being misinformed or they do not care for being properly informed. 

Carl Sagan said, “Those at too great a distance may, I am well are, mistake ignorance for perspective.” We need to address how to hold students accountable for their words and actions without invalidating their opinions and relegating them socially and politically. It is the duty of a campus community and other crucial community components to educate and enhance the worldview of students as they seek to shape the views of others. Holy Cross and other campuses around the country must do better in addressing controversial, yet important questions of politics and society respectfully as they engage and educate students. 

Featured image courtesy of College of the Holy Cross.