TWW Protests Over Gazan Tragedy Unsettles Campuses

The Wired Word for the Week of May 15, 2024

Protests Over Gazan Tragedy Unsettles Campuses

In the News

Since Hamas' October 7 attacks killed 1,200 Israelis last year, Israel's military response has resulted in the deaths of more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, and displaced two million survivors in Gaza, where lack of access to food, water and health care is putting the population in further jeopardy.

The actual number of deaths in Gaza and how many are targeted Hamas terrorists and how many are collateral civilian deaths or "human shield" deaths is not known, but Hamas has been known in the past to greatly exaggerate the total number of casualties as well as the proportion who were non-Hamas operatives.

Demonstrations in support of a permanent ceasefire, an end to U.S. military assistance for Israel and increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, have sprung up on many campuses across the United States and around the world. Some of the activists are non-students. Various viewpoints and demands can be heard. Some are asking for transparency regarding university investments, divestment from arms suppliers and war profiteers, actions to fight antisemitism, and amnesty from all criminal and disciplinary punishment for students and faculty members who have engaged in peaceful protests. In addition, some call for the return of hostages taken in the Hamas raid.

University authorities have responded to protests in a variety of ways. Some have called on local law enforcement to suppress demonstrations, dismantle and clear encampments. More than 2,300 people have been arrested throughout the country. At Columbia University, the university president, Nemat Shafik, called in police on April 30 to remove protesters from Hamilton Hall and a large tent encampment. In the process, more than 200 people were arrested.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, police in riot gear were seen in online video allegedly firing rubber bullets at protesters, who said that multiple people had been shot in the head. Some university faculty members were reportedly arrested. Steve Tamari, 65, a Middle East historian at Southern Illinois University, described being "body-slammed and crushed by the weight of several St. Louis county police officers, then dragged across campus by the police." The encounter left him with a broken hand and fractured ribs, he said.

Some expressed concern that sending officers in riot gear with chemical spray onto campuses is a heavy-handed and repressive response that erodes our constitutional rights to free speech and free assembly. Some students have also faced suspensions and threats of expulsion, while faculty members who participate in demonstrations risk demotion or possible termination in some places.

Now Columbia, The University of Southern California, and other institutions of higher education are canceling or altering commencement plans due to security concerns.

At the University of Michigan's commencement, some graduates held Palestinian flags and shouted pro-Palestinian slogans, as police officers watched. There were no arrests during the ceremony. U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, who administered an oath to graduates in the armed forces, remarked that they would "protect the freedoms that we so cherish," including the "right to protest peacefully." The university had permitted protesters from more than 80 organizations, including the university chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, to set up a camp in the heart of the campus. Some protesters held signs, reading, "No universities left in Gaza" or "Apartheid isn't kosher! Jews demand divestment!"

According to the United Nations, Israel's offensive into Gaza has left at least 5,479 students, 261 teachers and 95 university professors dead.

Some universities have taken a different approach to demonstrations. Administrators at Northwestern, Brown, Rutgers and the University of Minnesota have negotiated successfully with demonstrators, thereby de-escalating tensions at their respective campuses. While not agreeing to immediately divest from companies that do business in Israel, they all agreed to other actions, such as providing greater transparency regarding their endowments, holding a vote on a divestment proposal, reviewing protester demands, and allowing protesters to address the board of trustees.

Activists also won other concessions, such as some level of amnesty for demonstrators, aid for Palestinian students, commitment to build relationships with Palestinian educators, and the creation of space for students from the Middle East to celebrate their culture.

Following Brown's negotiations with demonstrators, students voluntarily dismantled their encampment.

After Hamas' October 7 attack, 61 students from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, were arrested during protests. At the time, some expressed antisemitic sentiments. But last November, Jewish students, who make up 25% of the student body and a significant portion of pro-Palestinian activists at the institution, organized the first sit-in for divestment and issued a statement in the student newspaper mourning the October 7 Hamas massacre of Israelis while repudiating Zionist ideology.

Catherine Porter reported in "Cheers, Fears and 'Le Wokisme': How the World Sees U.S. Campus Protests," that Pierre Fuller organized a professors' petition calling on the Sciences Po University in Paris, where he teaches Chinese history, to condemn both Israeli policy in Gaza and Hamas' attack.

Jewish student Ma'ayan Stutman-Shaw, a first-year student at Brown, is not part of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and describes herself as "pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy." At the same time, she believes it is possible to "both condemn Israel's actions in Gaza, and support the existence of the state."

This spring, the level of hostility at Brown seems to have lowered significantly, thanks to the efforts of student activists to engage in conversations across ideological divisions.

Pro-Palestinian protests across the United States have attracted people from different faith traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other beliefs. Students at Princeton and Brown have gone on hunger strikes to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Teddy Horowitz, a Jewish senior at Brown who aligns himself with Zionism, said he also wants a ceasefire and an end to Israel's occupation of Gaza, but wishes demonstrators would acknowledge the pain of Jews who have suffered deeply.

"Today, what we see happening on American campuses is a view classifying Israel as the oppressor and Palestine as the oppressed," said Chloé Morin, a French political analyst. "As a result, they can't accept antisemitism exists and that Jews can also be victims."

"I love the outpouring of empathy for Palestinians -- they need it!" Horowitz said. "I just wish some of the empathy was directed our way as well."

Applying the News Story

Because different news sources present different interpretations of the situation in the Middle East, people of faith may reach different conclusions about the reality on the ground, and have varied opinions about appropriate ways to respond to events there. TWW does not take a position on these matters, but encourages conversations with people across the ideological spectrum with the goal of better understanding and care for ourselves and all members of the human community.

Protesting has been a part of the human condition since the fall.

It is even a part of Christianity.

We are not Roman Catholics we are PROTESTants.

Our nation was birthed in protests such as the Boston Tea party.

A change in horrible attitudes about skin color occured in large part due to many protests.

Attitudes about abortion have been affected by protests on both sides.

The Vietnam war was protested, actual and perceived police brutality has been and continues to be protested.

To name just a few.

What does the Bible tell us about how to deal with things we believe are wrong?

BUT: Romans 12:14–21 (NLT) Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD. 20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Mark 9:50 (LSB) “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Matthew 5:9 (LSB) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

1 Timothy 2:1–4 (NLT) I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

Hebrews 12:14 (LSB) Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord,

AND YET…

Acts 4:18–20 (LSB) And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, you be the judge; 20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

The Big Questions

1. Have you ever participated in a demonstration or protest?

Many times.

If not, why haven't you?

If so, why did you get involved?

Iowa - attending a town meeting to protest allowing alcohol sales on Sundays (we lost)

driving a van full of people by a bar in our town praying God would shut it down (He did)

Obergefell - old Courthouse declaration signing

Abortion - Life Chain

2. How would you know whether a demonstration was successful?

Did the desired action take place?

Were people’s thought processes changed?

3. Though ancient Israel and ancient Rome certainly weren't democracies, did anything akin to such protests ever happen? Explain.

4. How should we respond to things we think are wrong?

We should get involved — at least at some level — more if God directs and opens a door

What strategies, besides protests, might be options worth trying?

Prayer events/gatherings

How should we respond to demonstrators who break the law (such as by trespassing) while advocating for something we think is right?

... for something we think is wrong?

5. Should and how should Christians advocate for what they believe is right and important?

Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Exodus 1:15–22 (NLT) Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: 16 “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to live?” 19 “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women,” the midwives replied. “They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time.” 20 So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.”

Eighty years before Moses confronted Pharaoh, demanding that he let the Israelites go, women refused to obey the Egyptian ruler's cruel command that they commit infanticide. When he demanded an explanation for why they disobeyed, they even replied with barely hidden insolence, insulting Egyptian women to Pharaoh's face. Yet they apparently escaped punishment, for the Bible tells us that God blessed them with families of their own (vv. 20-21).

Questions: What does the experience of these midwives tell us about how protest against injustice works?

While demonstrations may happen in public and involve large groups of people, how might protest also be conducted by individuals behind closed doors?

How might knowing this shape the way you think about the different ways people can participate in collective action to work for the common good?

2 Samuel 21:1–14 (NLT) There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted for three years, so David asked the LORD about it. And the LORD said, “The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites.” 2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were all that was left of the nation of the Amorites. The people of Israel had sworn not to kill them, but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had tried to wipe them out. 3 David asked them, “What can I do for you? How can I make amends so that you will bless the LORD’s people again?” 4 “Well, money can’t settle this matter between us and the family of Saul,” the Gibeonites replied. “Neither can we demand the life of anyone in Israel.” “What can I do then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.” 5 Then they replied, “It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in the territory of Israel. 6 So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the LORD at Gibeon, on the mountain of the LORD.” “All right,” the king said, “I will do it.” 7 The king spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the LORD. 8 But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel son of Barzillai from Meholah. 9 The men of Gibeon executed them on the mountain before the LORD. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest. 10 Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of the men, spread burlap on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night. 11 When David learned what Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he went to the people of Jabesh-gilead and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. (When the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa, the people of Jabesh-gilead stole their bodies from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them.) 13 So David obtained the bones of Saul and Jonathan, as well as the bones of the men the Gibeonites had executed. 14 Then the king ordered that they bury the bones in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father, at the town of Zela in the land of Benjamin. After that, God ended the famine in the land.

This text tells the story of a woman's lone protest against the atrocities perpetrated by David, supposedly in the name of justice.

David tried to solve the problem of a three-year famine, which God attributed to Saul's massacre of Gibeonites, even though the Israelites had a peace treaty with them. Once David understood that Saul, who had preceded him as king, had tried to exterminate the Gibeonites, he met with survivors to ask what justice would look like for them. They asked David to hand over seven sons of Saul so they could take out their anger on them for the wrongs Saul had perpetrated against them.

So David selected the two sons of Saul by Rizpah, a concubine, and five of Saul's grandsons, by Saul's daughter Merab. The Gibeonites murdered them and impaled them on the mountain before the Lord.

Rizpah was not only the widow of a defeated king, effectively a single mother raising two orphaned boys, but she couldn't protect herself from becoming a political pawn, a rape victim (Abner), a sexual object to be used and discarded (2 Samuel 3:1, 6-8). Add to that humiliation the trauma of the brutal slaying of her sons!

Even though Rizpah was severely traumatized, and perhaps the weakest and most marginalized person in this narrative, she is the one who transforms this horror story into one of healing and restoration. Rizpah refuses to be silent. Although she could not prevent the murder of her sons and nephews, she will not allow their bodies to be further desecrated. For months, she stands vigil as the sun beats down on their broken bodies, fighting off scavenger birds and wild beasts.

When David hears about Rizpah's brave act, he is moved to take action himself. He goes to Jabesh-gilead, to retrieve the bones of Rizpah's husband Saul and those of Saul's sons, including those of Jonathan, David's best friend, who had been killed in battle with the Philistines. After they died, the Philistines had nailed their bodies to the wall of Beth-shan. The men of Jabesh-gilead risked their lives to recover and cremate the bodies, placing them in a temporary grave until they could receive a proper burial (1 Samuel 31:8-13).

For more on this passage, we recommend: Daughters of Rizpah: Nonviolence and the Transformation of Trauma, by Daniel L. Buttry and Sharon A. Buttry

Questions: Why did Rizpah do what she did?

In what sense was her response an act of protest?

What was the result of her actions?

What gave Rizpah the strength she needed to resist injustice even though she could not bring her sons back from the dead?

Why were the bones David brought to Rizpah an appropriate gift and effective peace offering? Why was it important that David and Rizpah perform this memorial act together?

How might the story of Rizpah be applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today? What are some ways a traumatized community may grieve together, potentially leading to some measure of catharsis and healing?

Luke 19:45–48 (LSB) And Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” 47 And He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, 48 and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people hung upon every word He said. (For context, read Luke 19:29-48.)

This passage comes on the heels of the Triumphal Entry, when crowds hailed Jesus as the Son of David, code for Messiah. The Roman authorities likely would have been concerned that such a display of affection for a charismatic figure could easily morph into a threat to their rule, especially when emotions ran high among the Jews as they celebrated the Passover, when they remembered another occasion when the Hebrews escaped the domination of another oppressive regime.

But Jesus took his message, not to Pilate, but to the temple, where he conducted what might be described as a one-man protest against the corrupt practices of the moneylenders and sellers of sacrificial animals doing business there. He was willing to put his life in danger for what he believed was right. A few days later, he would pay the ultimate price for his actions.

Questions: Have you ever stood up for a principle, even though no one else joined you?

What does it take to risk everything for what you believe?

Acts 23:9-10 (For context, read Acts 23:1-10.)

Acts 23:6–10 (NLT) Paul realized that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!” 7 This divided the council—the Pharisees against the Sadducees—8 for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these. 9 So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees jumped up and began to argue forcefully. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or an angel spoke to him.” 10 As the conflict grew more violent, the commander was afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered his soldiers to go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress.

This passage is part of a longer narrative that begins in Acts 21:27-40, which describes how a few people accused Paul of violating their holy temple, which turned the people of the city into a violent mob. The authorities, alarmed, rushed in, arrested Paul, and conducted an investigation to get to the bottom of the unrest.

Paul testified before the people that he had imprisoned and beat people who believed in Jesus, until he met the risen Lord on the road to Damascus (Acts 22:1-30). Paul's words only inflamed the crowd further. When Paul argued that he was on trial because he had hope of the resurrection of the dead, the people were divided between those who also believed that, and those who did not (vv. 6-8).

In some ways, this incident is similar to encounters between demonstrators and counter- protesters. Someone makes a statement, to which others take offense, and suddenly, a full-blown riot is ignited, threatening the peace of the community.

Questions: Who were the interested parties in the narrative, and what motivated them?

What steps did Paul take to try to quell the anger?

How did the tribune use his authority, and to what end?

What might he have done differently, and how might different actions have produced a different outcome?

For Further Discussion

1. React to this: In a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, Calvin approaches his dad, who is sitting in an armchair reading a newspaper. "Dad," Calvin asks, "How do soldiers killing each other solve the world's problems?" Calvin's father stares blankly into space. After waiting for an answer that never comes, Calvin finally walks away, saying as he goes, "I think grown-ups just ACT like they know what they're doing."

2. Discuss this: Eiden Spilker, a senior at Brown University, whose father is a rabbi and whose mother is a cantor, said he had a conversation with a student who only gave his name as Kareem, who asked how to know whether an action constitutes genocide. "I think it is a question of at which stage do you call it a genocide -- is it just at the final stage of mass extermination?" Spilker said. "That's a good point," Kareem replied. "I hadn't heard that before, that it's a process." One TWW consultant applied this to the Hamas attack last October: "Hamas specifically targeted Jewish civilians -- including using rape, torture, and murder of women as a tactic. Their official charter states that they intend for all of Palestine (as they define it) to be an Arab Islamic land. It seems that what Hamas does and intends might well be considered a genocide."

4. Ian Berlin, a member of the senior class at Yale, who is Jewish, wrote in a CNN op-ed that both Jews and non-Jews at Yale have banded together "to demand that Yale divest the portion of its endowment invested in the stocks of military contractors, which make the weapons Israel is currently using in its war with Hamas in Gaza." They also called on Yale to protect free speech on campus after Columbia University banned pro-Palestinian student groups. "To see Yale protests once again swept up in accusations of antisemitism denies this experience and invalidates the Jewishness of those calling for an end to the violence in Gaza," Berlin wrote. "Indeed, Yale Jews for Ceasefire exists because of -- not in spite of -- our Jewish values. On the issue of divestment, for example, the Talmud teaches us that we may not sell weapons to those we suspect of using them criminally. Therefore, we have a duty to disrupt the manufacture and sale of military weapons that kill others, including those killing Palestinians. "On Passover of all holidays, Jews are compelled to feel the suffering of oppressed people," Berlin explained. "We eat bitter herbs to remind ourselves of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt, and we dip parsley in salt water to symbolize the tears of our ancestors. The story of oppression is all too familiar to the Jewish people -- and it is our duty to combat oppression in all its forms, for Jews and non-Jews alike." What, if anything, surprises you about what Berlin wrote?

5. If time allows, discuss this essay by novelist Zadie Smith, "Shibboleth," which appeared in The New Yorker May 5. What point is she making that connects with the narrative in Judges 12:1-6, from which the term "Shibboleth"

… sometimes ethical philosophy reënters the arena, as is happening right now on college campuses all over America. I understand the ethics underpinning the protests to be based on two widely recognized principles:

1. There is an ethical duty to express solidarity with the weak in any situation that involves oppressive power.

2. If the machinery of oppressive power is to be trained on the weak, then there is a duty to stop the gears by any means necessary.

The first principle sometimes takes the “weak” to mean “whoever has the least power,” and sometimes “whoever suffers most,” but most often a combination of both. The second principle, meanwhile, may be used to defend revolutionary violence, although this interpretation has just as often been repudiated by pacifistic radicals, among whom two of the most famous are, of course, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In the pacifist’s interpretation, the body that we must place between the gears is not that of our enemy but our own.

comes?

… To send the police in to arrest young people peacefully insisting upon a ceasefire represents a moral injury to us all. To do it with violence is a scandal. How could they do less than protest, in this moment? They are putting their own bodies into the machine. They deserve our support and praise. As to which postwar political arrangement any of these students may favor, and on what basis they favor it—that is all an argument for the day after a ceasefire.

Responding to the News

This might be a good time to find out what statements, if any, your church or denomination has issued regarding Israeli-Palestinian relations, antisemitism, Islamophobia or related matters. What additional steps, if any, do you think are warranted at this time? To whom or in what venues might your statements be forwarded or published?

Another option would be to craft your own personal statement expressing your views on the current situation in Gaza or on campuses across our own country, which you can disseminate through news outlets, social media, or in communication with political leaders, business people, entertainers, educators and other influencers.

Prayer

O God, who honors those who risk everything to do what is right, grant us courage, wisdom and light to stand up for your truth. Give us grace also to listen to one another and humility to learn to walk in your ways of justice and mercy. By the power of the Spirit of Christ living in us. Amen.

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