Pro-Hamas protests: A sinister national campaign
The Western Roman Empire had a long reign. Its death spiral began in 200 B.C. and by the early Middle Ages had been completed – the result of barbarian invasions and the movements of Germanic peoples. Sadly for the Romans, by the time they realized the barbarians were at their gate, it was too late to prevent the empire's fall.
With the continuing spread of anti-Israel protests on college campuses across the nation, it is time for us to recognize that the barbarians have already gained access through our gate. Lest readers object to describing the protesters as "barbarians," the term is most appropriate as they threaten Jewish students with their actions and outrageous shouts of "Kill the Jews."
America is in need of some soul-searching to understand just how these barbarians got in and how they have managed since then to attract legions of naive student lemmings to join their cause. Such soul-searching will bring into the light of day the dark reality that we have met the enemy, and it is us!
As these protests have spread like the COVID virus, a question arises whether they are the result of one university providing a spark for others or whether they are part of a coordinated sinister national campaign.
In answering this, three common threads exist in support of the latter. While the first two are easily verifiable, the third is visible to the naked eye and provides a most telling connection.
- The first thread is the influence exerted by countries having a strong interest in Israel's destruction – countries like Qatar that host senior Hamas leaders. Such influence over these universities is effectively "bought" by foreign governments making large donations.
Between 2014 and 2019, three Arab countries – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – donated approximately $4.4 billion to numerous U.S. colleges. During this time frame, there was no legal requirement for the university recipients to record them. However, coming to realize $4.4 billion was probably on the low end of reality, the Department of Education (DOE) implemented tighter reporting controls. Thereafter, a tremendous uptick in actual donations "mysteriously" occurred.
In April 2023, DOE reported that American colleges and universities had received $47 billion in foreign government donations. Six months later, it had grown to $51 billion with more than half coming from authoritarian and antidemocratic Middle East governments. The biggest single donor among them was Qatar.
We should not kid ourselves that such donors, due to their monetary largesse, are unable to influence these institutions by encouraging them to hire certain pro-Islamist professors and implement an anti-Israel agenda. One such professor employed by Columbia University, which has maintained a prominent profile in the protests, is Joseph Massad. He described Israelis as "cruel and bloodthirsty colonizers" – a description which obviously motivates his students to embrace the pro-Hamas side of the protests.
These universities have compromised their academic integrity by turning a blind eye to the Islamist agenda fed to students while their officials deposit Qatar's donations in their bank accounts.
- A second thread linking many of these universities is the presence of a group known as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Making its first appearance at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1993, it became the leading pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel voice on that campus before going national. It is now active in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand, boasting over 200 chapters by 2019 in the first two countries. These chapters have so negatively impacted rational thinking among our students that today, at Harvard University, we see them haul down the American flag, replacing it with the Palestinian flag.
Columbia University became a catalyst in assisting SJP in its effort to expand across America. Taking the wolf in sheep's clothing approach, while SJP chapters agreed to guard against "homophobia, sexism, racism, bigotry, classism, colonialism and discrimination of any form" – ironically these are all areas sanctioned for attack by the Islamic religion they promote. Fearing the chaos SJP chapters can create and whose interests they really represent, some European democracies, such as Germany, have wisely chosen to ban them.
- A third thread providing circumstantial evidence of a coordinated national anti-Israel campaign is based on an interesting observation made of the encampments established on the campuses. Despite protests all around the country, the tentage found at these encampments appears to be identical.
This, along with the similar organizational structure protesters have adopted and recent student training sessions, have led some experts to suggest "foreign assistance" involvement. Additionally, even some of the rhetoric used by foreign anti-Israel activists actors is the same voiced by U.S. protesters, including their anti-American chants. Another accusation is that the mastermind might well be much closer to home – Hungarian American billionaire George Soros.
Many of the universities hosting student protests not only receive money from Middle East autocracies but also from U.S. federal grants and contracts. Between 2018-2022, Columbia University alone received $5.8 billion. As governor of California when anti-Vietnam protests peppered the state, Ronald Reagan refused to meet protesters' "neurotic vulgarities with vacillation and weakness" – cutting off funding. Similar action is necessary today. These universities are already learning the consequences of inaction as several high-rolling alumni donors have bailed out on making future donations.
Everything should be done to condemn these universities. However, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was arrested for foolishly joining pro-Palestinian protesters at Washington University in St. Louis.
It will be interesting to see if prosecutors who have aggressively pursued former President Donald Trump will aggressively take legal action against the SJP chapters and universities. While RICO statues can be used against SJP, interestingly, an 1871 law – the Anti-Klan Act – could be used to prosecute university participants. That law mandates those knowledgeable about the planning of activities designed to illegally infringe upon the rights of others who fail to report same are criminally liable.
We will have no one to blame but ourselves should we fail to hold those involved in these protests accountable.
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