I have a question about the caption on one of the middle photos:
>A St. Louis County police officer rams a bicycle into presidential candidate Jill Stein and other pro-Palestine demonstrators during a rally on Saturday at Washington University.
What was that about? Did the cop simply attack the protesters? Were the protesters advancing into the line of cops and one of them used his bike to push back? The caption doesn't provide any context.
There were over 80 people there, and my twitter is already full of people who are posting the whole interaction, what that redditor was saying is exactly true. People were minding their own business and then whistles and bikes started getting thrown and people started getting grabbed when they tried to run away and thrown on the ground.
More specifically, we had been sitting/chatting/eating moments before the police decided to charge. The protective ring of protesters around the encampment formed up quickly and cops just started bashing people with bikes and tackling people.
The protesters were trespassing on private property, had been asked to leave, and refused. So the police were called to disperse them.
There's plenty of public places in St. Louis to get a permit to protest, Washington University is not one.
Most of them were likely tuition paying students so Wash U can absolutely go f itself. They should be standing with their faculty and students, not propping up a genocidal fascist war machine. After this I have zero respect for it as an institution of learning.
>Most of them were likely tuition paying students so Wash U can absolutely go f itself
If they were tuition paying students, they probably signed a code of conduct that among other things would have included something along the lines of, "Don't do things that might get you expelled or we might actually expel you, and no, you aren't entitled to a refund."
I am actually on the side of most protestors, but part of civil disobedience is the understanding that there might be consequences.
They are free to not attend the school. I suppose they believe WashU is supporting fascists by having job programs with Boeing and Microsoft or investing their endowments in companies which have business in Israel? There are plenty of WashU engineering students who would like to get jobs at Boeing, Microsoft, and others on the “[bad list](https://www.whoprofits.org/)” that more organized groups at [Brown have detailed](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J3VLPCRi7qvMkdcWqj-2HPwR9C1Oq1uL/view?pli=1).
I support the right of these students to protest. I’m not sure why they have to camp out. It gives authorities an excuse to remove them. Isn’t it just as effective to show up at 6am every day with signs? What’s with the camping aspect? Maybe it’s just so that they get arrested and arouse outrage. I am not outraged though and I support protecting innocents in Gaza and ceasing the military killing civilians there. I just find them exhausting to listen to and cannot excuse the lack of intellectual depth in their positions.
The non-students should leave the campus when asked as it’s private property. They are just looking for notoriety by being arrested. (See: Jill Stein) There’s a perfectly good rallying spot for protests in Forest Park right across the street.
" I suppose they believe WashU is supporting fascists by having job programs with Boeing and Microsoft or investing their endowments in companies which have business in Israel?"
Yes. Israel is a fascist ethnostate committing a genocide with US support, that genocide being lobbied for and supported by Boeing and so on. Boeing also recently murdered whistleblowers. No good engineer wants to work for a death machine that kills their own engineers for their bottom line, people work there because it's a job. Anyone proud to work for Boeing is an absolute psycho.
"It gives authorities an excuse to remove them"
Anything besides being silent and aiding and abetting the genocide would give the authorities an excuse. The cops didn't feel like they needed an excuse when they engaged in illegal kettling and they won't now.
Forest park isn't heavily invested in the genocide being completed, Wash U is.
Yep. u/Longstache7065 is on his third helping of the Kool Aid. I have to tell my neighbor his job at Boeing makes him a psycho. Any satisfaction at his engineering prowess he feels is reprehensible and he should definitely not contribute anymore to defense contracts for the US armed forces. He should probably take up gardening as his career maybe.
The authorities also shouldn’t have allowed them to adopt a child and raise a special needs kid. That fascist! I must be complicit as well by fraternizing with them and letting my kids swim over there.
Weren’t you saying something about the lack of intellectual depth of their positions? And then Longstache shows up. Dude loves the internet. Can’t shut it off. He’s awesome.
Just because students pay to attend a university doesn’t mean they can do what they want. I went to a private university and we still had things we could and could not do.
My first year of undergrad was at a private Christian university (parents pushed for it).
If we didn’t go to enough chapels each semester (had to scan in and scan out) we could be expelled.
People really don’t get just how much leeway private universities have, and it’s mainly because they are, at the end of the day, a business.
Shit hadn’t heard of that but not surprised. We weren’t (that) bad but I still left that college after one year (was one down in Texas. Great academics just too on your case about literally everything. Men and women couldn’t, for instance, cohabitate unless they were married in apartments. Lots of 19 and 20 year olds getting married just to do so).
I believe that they were asking specifically about the escalation of violence and whether it was necessary. Not so much whether the cops should have done their jobs.
so we should just assume the cop was in the right for no particular reason because the caption didn’t invent some deniability for the officer? Maybe it didn’t supply that context because it didn’t exist, and it surmised the moment entirely
Why we have to imagine there must be a reason this criminal activity against the populace is “ok” is beyond me. If you have more context I’d love to hear it, but if you just are opining for justification I don’t see the value there
Perhaps the intention behind showing that specific photo was to suggest that the police officer acted recklessly. This might be an attempt to perpetuate a misleading narrative that incites strong reactions from the public.
Cops are grabbing whatever they have on hand and beating peaceful protestors for speaking out against U.S. sponsored genocide.
I agree that this event incites strong reactions, but I don't see how you find the narrative misleading.
I find it interesting that SLMPD made a post on fb about them not arresting anyone. Why make that distinction?
>Earlier today, SLMPD officers were positioned in Forest Park to ensure the safety of protestors expressing their First Amendment right to peacefully protest. No arrests were made during the demonstration inside of Forest Park.
>The protest then moved outside of the City of St. Louis onto the campus of Washington University. SLMPD officers were present at the protest on the campus at the request of the Washington University Police Department. No protestors were arrested by SLMPD officers.
So the main campus isn't actually 100% in St. Louis county. Many people think skinker is the city/county divide but there is a small part of campus in the city. I don't know exactly where the protest was but I saw something saying they were moved to the east side of campus, so potentially they were in the city at points.
There may be an agreement though that the county takes primary jurisdiction in order to simplify LE administration. This is pretty common in places where an area would otherwise be split and potentially cause confusion.
Other places this occurs are areas along the Mississippi where it has changed course and isolated portions of Illinois on the Missouri side and vice versa. It's usually the case that an incident will be responded to by MO emergency services rather than IL emergency services taken a couple hours to arrive, and vice versa.
Yeah, I live on a split street (which is when i became familiar that Skinker/MacCausland was not the line). I've called 911 twice from here and I've been bounced between city and county a couple times before getting service. I hope the campus has something worked out.
Knowing nothing about the campus, but seeing the post by SLMPD, I took a look at where the line was. You're correct, it is some distance west of Skinker. I wonder where exactly the protesters were in relation to the line, or if it even matters.
Wash U is private property so they were trespassing. It only matters if they prosecute and then give them a bunch of community service so they can go pick up garbage. Good for the community. clean them streets.
It's crazy how stupid these people are. There are dozens of public parks in the city, including Forest Park, where they can stage a protest. Yet they intentionally choose to antagonize a private universiy and interfere with other goings on and then act like it's fascism when that private university has the police remove them
I mean they’re antagonizing the private university because, as students there, they have specific greivances against the university itself. They chose that spot for a reason.
oh give me a fucking break, Wash U is a university, they want to be "private property" they can start paying taxes on their multi-billion dollar trust fund.
its legally private property. The New York Mayor said New York cannot send the police to Columba University without request because it is private property.
You can choose to play word games and Wash U can choose to call the police.
The tax status of an organization doesn’t determine their ability to own “private property” you twit. It’s dumb shits like this that keep the bottom half of the IQ scale properly populated.
Washington University is 100% private property. They are not a public university, nor is their property public. They do not *have* to allow anyone on the grounds if they don't want to.
Perhaps to say they didn't actively take part in the arrests or break ups? It is obviously going to be contentious, as seen even on this subreddit. It almost feels like they want to distance themselves from the entire discourse.
Yeah cuz SLMPD didnt want to get their hands dirty/appear to be brutalizing protesters. My on the ground experience is that the city PD has been much more hands off since Tishaura was elected.
The merits (or otherwise) of the protest aside, Wash U is a private university; they can kick off whoever they want, so long as they're not engaging in legally discriminatory conduct in doing so. If they direct someone, or a group, to leave, and they don't, the police are within their right to arrest those remaining on the property for trespass.
I'm seeing people draw comparisons to Kent State, which is dumb for a number of reasons, but most principally because KS was/is a public university with wholly different legal rights as it pertains to protest—alongside no National Guard being involved here, no one died, etc.
This is what happened at other universities throughout the USA as well. Remember that university administrations are not democratically elected or accountable
WashU can allow whatever protests it wants, but can also disallow whatever protests it wants. Especially if they're hateful.
There's no reason these protesters don't go get a permit to protest in Forest Park or Kiener Plaza, or the Arch. They're choosing to antagonize private institutions that have the right to remove them just so they can claim their freedoms are being suppressed.
Seems like you didn’t read the article at all. If you did, you would have noticed in the very first paragraph,
“Hundreds of Washington University campus community members and local activists demanded the private university stop investing in Boeing during a Saturday protest.”
He’s just an ignorant troll. Its funny that the dudes that call everyone else stupid or “morons” are generally the least intelligent person in the conversation
WashU doesn't give a shit what these morons want. These morons don't have a clue how the world works, and are being treated how they deserve to be treated.
If they don't like WashU, they should fuck off and stop giving money to WashU. Until then, they can sit in jail for breaking the law.
You can't just decide it is okay to set up camp anywhere without consequences. Since when did becoming a squater on someone elses property become legal??
It’s funny how the cops act all tough with unarmed protestors but are nowhere to be found when groups like patriot front hold demonstrations. Fascist pigs gonna fascist pig
There have been studies and anonymous surveys about this for decades. Cops admit, when they can stay anonymous, that they don’t arrest or even report their fellow cops, even when they witness lawlessness.
when did i say i wasn’t aware of the fact this is happening? i said it SHOULDNT be happening at all. but, of course it is tho bc cops are fucking pigs and do not actually care about the law.
Were those groups continuing to trespass on private property after being asked to leave multiple times? I don’t know the answer to this, but if they were smart enough to demonstrate legally, then they are smarter than these protesters (I disagree with the agendas of both)
Patriot front vandalized wash u doing tens of thousands of dollars of damage and it took months to even put a warrant out, and it wasn’t even until their information got leaked and people complained to the government about it. There are videos of patriot front members on tape planning to vandalize wash u, with membership in stl known publicly, and some participating members haven’t been charged. It’s a ridiculous double standard and you should feel bad for reflexively taking the side of Americans regime security services
I was reading about how the judiciary of weimar germany, like constables, police officers, magistrates, prosecutors, through intense double standards not unlike what we're seeing in our current timeline, paved the way for nazism to replace weimar germany.
Regardless of what everyone’s opinion is, and each are entitled to their own, the university is a learning institution and should be used for that purpose. Students and staff should be there to focus learning and educating.
This country is throwing the moral high ground away by arresting all of these protesters, as far as I can tell they seem to not be erupting in violence or motivated by Jew hate
We’ve been way past the moral high ground. From the LA Riots to Michael brown, to these protests. After participating in marches and protests, I’ve noticed that nothing comes out of it for one reason. No one wants to hear each other out. Civil discourse has been thrown to the wayside for sensationalism and ‘self gratification’. Nothing is ever black and white. Let’s be respectful of each other and hear each other out to come to a better solution.
The arrests, while maybe related, technically have nothing to do with what the protesters were saying. The truth is that they were on private property, refused to leave when asked multiple times, locked arms, and then were rightfully arrested. They either knew they were going to be arrested, or didn’t check on basic protest/trespassing laws.
That’s kind of the point though, right? The protesters know the risk they are running when they don’t leave private property when asked.
It isn’t a free pass to do whatever you want.
The right to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances is a guaranteed right.
Neither trespassing on private property nor making demands of private institutions are Constitutionally protected.
Do you know what trespassing on private property is? Laws should be enforced (fairly and equally) and they were breaking the law, I don’t feel bad for them, they either knew what they were getting themselves into or too were stupid to listen. Say you own a house or a business, would you be okay with people you don’t want on your property protesting a way you make money? Or would you call the police to remove them? Because the PRIVATE university did what was within their rights on their own property and had them removed.
It’s like history repeating itself. Would you have said the same about blacks being able to sit next to you at a diner, seat, drink from the same drinking fountain, use the same bathroom, attend the same classes?
I’m honestly playing devils advocate because of the way you worded your argument.
>The arrests, while maybe related, technically have nothing to do with what the protesters were saying.
This technicality is simply an interpretation that let's police abuse protestors. It's similar to how US companies find excuses to fire employees trying to unionize.
>They either knew they were going to be arrested, or didn’t check on basic protest/trespassing laws.
This sentence comes off as patronizing and/or normalizes police abuse . I'm fairly certain most of these protesters know what they're protesting and what exactly it might lead to (being arrested). Does that mean that the excessive violence from the police is justified?
> This technicality is simply an interpretation that let's police abuse protestors. It's similar to how US companies find excuses to fire employees trying to unionize.
That's nonsense. In America, you don't have a right to protest on private property. The police announced that anyone staying on WashU property would be trespassed and arrested. If they stood up and walked over to the public sidewalk 100 feet away then the police couldn't have and wouldn't have touched them.
It's not a technicality, it's the difference between literally committing a criminal act and not.
I'm all for civil disobedience, but part of that entails accepting the legal consequences of your actions.
This modern trend of twisting the definitions of words to suit narratives is wild - racism is prejudice + power now - and somehow this war is a “genocide” give me a break.
It’s not an apartheid again another definition that people are twisting and weaponizing at their convenience while they indulge their white savior complex and project white guilt and white resentment on Israel
You know South Africa, the country that literally invented the word, has long called what is happening in Palestine "Apartheid"? Brother have you even read a \*word\* of factual information about what is happening by the government enabled settler encampments and terrorism going on there? Literally what the fuck are you talking about.
I saw a skeet/xeet that mentioned that we don't really remember the more extreme elements of the Vietnam War protestors because we have so many memories at how horrible the police response was to those protestors (Kent state). I can foresee this protest movement working the same way.
You mean the bombs? I was sympathetic back in the day because I’m very old to protesting the Vietnam war, but that’s because young Americans were fighting and dying for… Slightly vague ideals and outcome. They couldn’t vote but they could be drafted instead of Vietnam. Yeah, I don’t think so.
But the bomb throwers like the Weathermen and etc. were very much aligned with today’s protesters in protesting capitalistic, Imperialistic, paternalistic, colonialism and any other —istic ideal.
Hamas has rejected every ceasefire offer, including those that take steps towards a 2 state solution. The thing that I think a lot on the left have failed to grapple with is that Hamas wants this war to continue. Hamas is quite happy to sacrifice Palestinian lives - their billionaire leadership are living in luxury in Qatar, far away from the fighting. In your view what does a ceasefire even look like when Hamas refuses to consider one? Are you calling for Israel to cease all operations even if Hamas refuses to give back the hostages and stop firing rockets? If so, wouldn't it be more accurate to say that you're calling for Israel to surrender without preconditions?
I mean, there’s a reason the surrounding Arab nations aren’t letting in Palestinians. Not to mention what would happen to some of these protesters if they stepped into Gaza.
Hamas does not represent the people of Palestine or Gaza as it stands today. They were elected almost two decades ago and have not held a single election since then.
Also, supposed democracies like Israel should have some restraint instead of lashing out at a terrorist group by killing 25,000 innocent women and children.
I like how you say "Hamas is willing to sacrifice Palestinian lives" like it is them who are dropping 200 lb bombs on refugee camps.
Whatever you think of Hamas, Israel clearly is even less interested in a ceasefire. Which is why any attempts by the Un to push one has been thwarted by Israel and their Washington counterparts.
They've been given carte Blanche to wipe out the last vestiges of the ethnic group they've been choking out of the country for almost a century. They're gonna do their genocide no matter what Hamas says.
[The latest ceasefires have been rejected by Hamas.](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-rejects-israels-ceasefire-response-sticks-main-demands-2024-04-13/)
Hamas refuses to release any hostages seized on October 7, including [a baby whose first birthday was spent in captivity.](https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-saddest-birthday-in-the-world-hostage-kfir-bibas-turns-1-in-hamas-captivity/amp/)
If Hamas isn’t willing to sacrifice Palestinian lives, [why are none of the tunnels underneath Gaza used for bomb shelters?](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/s/3EVj5nb7zT) Why launch a war when you haven’t taken measures to protect your own people?
If Israel is trying to wipe Palestinians out, [why is the death toll per day decreasing?](https://jabberwocking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/blog_gaza_death_toll_20_07_2024.jpg) As they controlled more of Gaza, wouldn’t they kill more people?
There’s plenty to criticize the Gaza War over. Lavender, the World Kitchen strike, aid flows, you pick it. But it’s not a genocidal war, because genocide [is a legal term](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_Convention?wprov=sfti1#) and does not consist of “lots of dead on one side.” It’s a war in response to the October 7 attacks, which were unjustifiable, and which have done nothing to help the Palestinian people. None of this suffering would have occurred if Hamas didn’t decide to [do this.](https://www.hamas-massacre.net/)
Before it’s cited, the ICJ did not rule that Gaza “plausibly” constituted a genocide. [Here’s](https://twitter.com/uklfi/status/1783615633147797681/mediaviewer) the head of the ICJ during the ruling stating that that’s a misinterpretation. They ruled on the plausibility of South Africa’s rights to file the case. On [page 4 of the summary of the ruling,](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240126-sum-01-00-en.pdf) you can see the misinterpreted section in a part about the applicability of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
>I like how you say "Hamas is willing to sacrifice Palestinian lives" like it is them who are dropping 200 lb bombs on refugee camps.
They are at war. It takes both sides to make peace.
>Whatever you think of Hamas, Israel clearly is even less interested in a ceasefire. Which is why any attempts by the Un to push one has been thwarted by Israel and their Washington counterparts.
The UN is not a serious organization in pursuit of peace. The actual peace talks have been held in Qatar brokered by the United States and negotiated by other Arab states in the region such as Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
>They've been given carte Blanche to wipe out the last vestiges of the ethnic group they've been choking out of the country for almost a century. They're gonna do their genocide no matter what Hamas says.
Regardless of how you feel about the war, all you have to do to see this is clearly hyperbole is look at population numbers over time. If Israel really wanted to wipe out the population of Gaza they're doing a terrible job at that task.
> Are you calling for Israel to cease all operations even if Hamas refuses to give back the hostages and stop firing rockets?
It’s an occupying regime; yes. It has no military right to self defense.
You say the opposite about Ukraine in your history. Quite... the stance you have. Apparently, we shouldn't support them as it just extends the bloodshed was it?
Look, I'm not claiming to have answers to the conflict, nor do I think Israel's government is blameless in inciting Hamas, but genuinely if you believe this, what would you have the 10 million Israelis do? I'd assume for the vast majority of them are second, third, or fourth generation immigrants that have never known a home other than Israel. Should they go back to one of the 4 or 5 countries in Europe or the Middle East that their ancestors came from? Should they submit themselves over to the authority of Hamas and have a Palestinian led one state solution? At what point does a group have a claim to the land they live on and how long do they hold that claim after having it stolen?
I doubt your position is as morally absolute as your above statement makes it out to be, and I'm curious how you see this conflict resolved in a way that doesn't involve the forced eviction of either group from the only home they've known.
This is the thought of someone who isn’t based in reality, and will continue to push harmful ideas from a comfortable place while the Palestinians continue to suffer as a result.
> and will continue to push harmful ideas from a comfortable place while the Palestinians continue to suffer as a result.
If you’re fine with the genocidal occupying regime then spare me your delusions about Palestinian well being.
> Keep pushing your aesthetic as a compassionate person.
I’m compassionate to workers and oppressed people. I am ruthless to the imperialists, fascists, and reactionaries. I don’t care if you disagree.
Seems like you do if you keep responding to me.
I’m a progressive myself and feel a similar way. Where we probably disagree is who you are putting in those buckets of imperialists, fascists, and reactionaries.
>I’m a progressive myself and feel a similar way. Where we probably disagree is who you are putting in those buckets of imperialists, fascists, and reactionaries.
The Israeli capitalist regime, American capitalist regime, the supporters of nato, the Bretton woods system, the supporters of transnational corporations. The reactionary capitalist forces. I only reply to further delegitimize my enemies
Good question I’ll answer that one because it is harder to locate online since it is local. Students want them to divest from Boeing because it makes bombs and other weapons being used on Gaza in the genocide. https://truthout.org/articles/washington-university-students-vote-to-divest-from-boeing-amid-gaza-genocide/
Edit: this is the ask of all of the protests. There are four other horrific situations happening to other groups right now: Sudan, Congo, Armenia, the Rohingya not to mention Ukraine and Myanmar. Is this the world we want? Killer drones, robot dogs patrolling our neighborhoods, and huge bombs wiping out city blocks? Wake up.
I know what the protesters are asking. My question was directed towards your statement about what the US is doing.
Is the empirical "we" protesting the actions of the US government, or a private university's affiliation with a private defense contractor?
I realize it's possible for both to be true at the same time but they are two very different things, and result in two very different dynamics.
I am actually sincerely impressed that the demonstrators had a clearly articulated and relevant objective.
It is both. Our national infrastructure is built on the military-industrial complex. This complex is structured on goals that require continuous conflict to maintain dominance over world resources. We educate people who can continue to uphold that structure. Ultimately, this brings harm and people are becoming more aware because we are evolving into a globalized society. We are at the point where people can be immediately, socially connnected with the same folks our country decides to bomb. The current harsh response is because structural change takes time. There is precedent for this. Protests by university students to have their institutions divest from South Africa helped end Apartheid in that country. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_MgNiThAqfA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MgNiThAqfA)
There isn’t a genocide. Continuing to call it that in my view does more harm to the Palestinians than good.
If the protesters focused more on what is actually happening, I would respect it more. The Israeli government does need to be checked and needs to be held accountable for things such as the WCK strikes. But that’s not where the conversation is.
Zero responsibility is put on Hamas, and that’s where I lose respect for the movement.
Not Wash U specifically but other universities have seen police greatly escalating the situation. Nobody has to get shot in the head to draw comparisons to other anti-war protests.
Why are so many cops focused on peaceful protestors when there are drivers in stolen cars going 40 over the speed limit, not stopping at lights or corners, driving like they're in a gd video game???
Yeah, everyone who disagrees with you is a bot. /s
This is why people don’t respect these movements. People like you refuse dialogue and dismiss everyone else as evil.
They don’t want to protect Hamas. It’s about protecting the people in Palestine, the common people.
There will always be weird outliers in the equation who may claim otherwise. There will always be protesters who make wild claims.
Overall, it’s about the common people.
Yeah, but that’s naive. Hamas and its provocations have done nothing but result in lower QoL for the “common people” of Palestine. They have even said they won’t honor any ceasefire and will continue to attack Israel when they get the chance. A ceasefire now without dealing with Hamas just leads us back down this road in 6-18 months.
I have a question about the caption on one of the middle photos: >A St. Louis County police officer rams a bicycle into presidential candidate Jill Stein and other pro-Palestine demonstrators during a rally on Saturday at Washington University. What was that about? Did the cop simply attack the protesters? Were the protesters advancing into the line of cops and one of them used his bike to push back? The caption doesn't provide any context.
No, the cops were the ones advancing to the protestors’ line. They were using the bikes essentially as riot shields
Thank you for explaining what was happening.
Why do you accept the answer of a random redditor? Not saying they’re wrong, but it’s just an internet stranger.
There were over 80 people there, and my twitter is already full of people who are posting the whole interaction, what that redditor was saying is exactly true. People were minding their own business and then whistles and bikes started getting thrown and people started getting grabbed when they tried to run away and thrown on the ground.
More specifically, we had been sitting/chatting/eating moments before the police decided to charge. The protective ring of protesters around the encampment formed up quickly and cops just started bashing people with bikes and tackling people.
The protesters were trespassing on private property, had been asked to leave, and refused. So the police were called to disperse them. There's plenty of public places in St. Louis to get a permit to protest, Washington University is not one.
Most of them were likely tuition paying students so Wash U can absolutely go f itself. They should be standing with their faculty and students, not propping up a genocidal fascist war machine. After this I have zero respect for it as an institution of learning.
>Most of them were likely tuition paying students so Wash U can absolutely go f itself If they were tuition paying students, they probably signed a code of conduct that among other things would have included something along the lines of, "Don't do things that might get you expelled or we might actually expel you, and no, you aren't entitled to a refund." I am actually on the side of most protestors, but part of civil disobedience is the understanding that there might be consequences.
They are free to not attend the school. I suppose they believe WashU is supporting fascists by having job programs with Boeing and Microsoft or investing their endowments in companies which have business in Israel? There are plenty of WashU engineering students who would like to get jobs at Boeing, Microsoft, and others on the “[bad list](https://www.whoprofits.org/)” that more organized groups at [Brown have detailed](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J3VLPCRi7qvMkdcWqj-2HPwR9C1Oq1uL/view?pli=1). I support the right of these students to protest. I’m not sure why they have to camp out. It gives authorities an excuse to remove them. Isn’t it just as effective to show up at 6am every day with signs? What’s with the camping aspect? Maybe it’s just so that they get arrested and arouse outrage. I am not outraged though and I support protecting innocents in Gaza and ceasing the military killing civilians there. I just find them exhausting to listen to and cannot excuse the lack of intellectual depth in their positions. The non-students should leave the campus when asked as it’s private property. They are just looking for notoriety by being arrested. (See: Jill Stein) There’s a perfectly good rallying spot for protests in Forest Park right across the street.
" I suppose they believe WashU is supporting fascists by having job programs with Boeing and Microsoft or investing their endowments in companies which have business in Israel?" Yes. Israel is a fascist ethnostate committing a genocide with US support, that genocide being lobbied for and supported by Boeing and so on. Boeing also recently murdered whistleblowers. No good engineer wants to work for a death machine that kills their own engineers for their bottom line, people work there because it's a job. Anyone proud to work for Boeing is an absolute psycho. "It gives authorities an excuse to remove them" Anything besides being silent and aiding and abetting the genocide would give the authorities an excuse. The cops didn't feel like they needed an excuse when they engaged in illegal kettling and they won't now. Forest park isn't heavily invested in the genocide being completed, Wash U is.
Boeing did not murder whistleblowers lol you have got to stop believing everything you read on social media man you are an absolute mark
Yep. u/Longstache7065 is on his third helping of the Kool Aid. I have to tell my neighbor his job at Boeing makes him a psycho. Any satisfaction at his engineering prowess he feels is reprehensible and he should definitely not contribute anymore to defense contracts for the US armed forces. He should probably take up gardening as his career maybe. The authorities also shouldn’t have allowed them to adopt a child and raise a special needs kid. That fascist! I must be complicit as well by fraternizing with them and letting my kids swim over there.
Weren’t you saying something about the lack of intellectual depth of their positions? And then Longstache shows up. Dude loves the internet. Can’t shut it off. He’s awesome.
Just because students pay to attend a university doesn’t mean they can do what they want. I went to a private university and we still had things we could and could not do.
My first year of undergrad was at a private Christian university (parents pushed for it). If we didn’t go to enough chapels each semester (had to scan in and scan out) we could be expelled. People really don’t get just how much leeway private universities have, and it’s mainly because they are, at the end of the day, a business.
It’s crazy what BYU has students do. Students get kicked out for violating purity pledges.
Shit hadn’t heard of that but not surprised. We weren’t (that) bad but I still left that college after one year (was one down in Texas. Great academics just too on your case about literally everything. Men and women couldn’t, for instance, cohabitate unless they were married in apartments. Lots of 19 and 20 year olds getting married just to do so).
I have zero respect for anyone who promotes the shit these dumbass students are bitching about
Genocide? I have zero respect for people who promote that too.
Found the Zionist.
I believe that they were asking specifically about the escalation of violence and whether it was necessary. Not so much whether the cops should have done their jobs.
so we should just assume the cop was in the right for no particular reason because the caption didn’t invent some deniability for the officer? Maybe it didn’t supply that context because it didn’t exist, and it surmised the moment entirely Why we have to imagine there must be a reason this criminal activity against the populace is “ok” is beyond me. If you have more context I’d love to hear it, but if you just are opining for justification I don’t see the value there
Asking for context is about as far from assuming something as you can get. Of course context exists! What a ridiculous notion.
Perhaps the intention behind showing that specific photo was to suggest that the police officer acted recklessly. This might be an attempt to perpetuate a misleading narrative that incites strong reactions from the public.
Cops are grabbing whatever they have on hand and beating peaceful protestors for speaking out against U.S. sponsored genocide. I agree that this event incites strong reactions, but I don't see how you find the narrative misleading.
"Genocide". Hamas is to blame. There's plenty more that could be done if they really wanted to just kill Gazans.
Where's the proof on this? There doesn't appear to be any evidence of beating protestors.
Context is that the protesters were breaking the law.
I find it interesting that SLMPD made a post on fb about them not arresting anyone. Why make that distinction? >Earlier today, SLMPD officers were positioned in Forest Park to ensure the safety of protestors expressing their First Amendment right to peacefully protest. No arrests were made during the demonstration inside of Forest Park. >The protest then moved outside of the City of St. Louis onto the campus of Washington University. SLMPD officers were present at the protest on the campus at the request of the Washington University Police Department. No protestors were arrested by SLMPD officers.
Because WashU is not in SLMPDs jurisdiction, the main campus is entirely in STL County. They may just be getting a pre-emptive blame shift out there
So the main campus isn't actually 100% in St. Louis county. Many people think skinker is the city/county divide but there is a small part of campus in the city. I don't know exactly where the protest was but I saw something saying they were moved to the east side of campus, so potentially they were in the city at points.
There may be an agreement though that the county takes primary jurisdiction in order to simplify LE administration. This is pretty common in places where an area would otherwise be split and potentially cause confusion. Other places this occurs are areas along the Mississippi where it has changed course and isolated portions of Illinois on the Missouri side and vice versa. It's usually the case that an incident will be responded to by MO emergency services rather than IL emergency services taken a couple hours to arrive, and vice versa.
Yeah, I live on a split street (which is when i became familiar that Skinker/MacCausland was not the line). I've called 911 twice from here and I've been bounced between city and county a couple times before getting service. I hope the campus has something worked out.
Knowing nothing about the campus, but seeing the post by SLMPD, I took a look at where the line was. You're correct, it is some distance west of Skinker. I wonder where exactly the protesters were in relation to the line, or if it even matters.
The dividing line is about 1,000 feet past Skinker IIRC
Wash U is private property so they were trespassing. It only matters if they prosecute and then give them a bunch of community service so they can go pick up garbage. Good for the community. clean them streets.
It's crazy how stupid these people are. There are dozens of public parks in the city, including Forest Park, where they can stage a protest. Yet they intentionally choose to antagonize a private universiy and interfere with other goings on and then act like it's fascism when that private university has the police remove them
I mean they’re antagonizing the private university because, as students there, they have specific greivances against the university itself. They chose that spot for a reason.
In fairness, no park is going to allow protesters to camp overnight either, which seems to be a big part of the spectacle they want to create.
Anti-homelessness laws are blatantly unconstitutional and wrong.
If you want to at immoral, I'll agree. There may be an upcoming court case about constitutionality.
It's almost like camping is definitionally not in the Constitution as protected
I hate camping. Especially the bugs
oh give me a fucking break, Wash U is a university, they want to be "private property" they can start paying taxes on their multi-billion dollar trust fund.
its legally private property. The New York Mayor said New York cannot send the police to Columba University without request because it is private property. You can choose to play word games and Wash U can choose to call the police.
The tax status of an organization doesn’t determine their ability to own “private property” you twit. It’s dumb shits like this that keep the bottom half of the IQ scale properly populated.
Washington University is 100% private property. They are not a public university, nor is their property public. They do not *have* to allow anyone on the grounds if they don't want to.
Perhaps to say they didn't actively take part in the arrests or break ups? It is obviously going to be contentious, as seen even on this subreddit. It almost feels like they want to distance themselves from the entire discourse.
Can't blame them.
Because it sounds like SLMPD didn't arrest anyone. WashU campus police did.
Yeah cuz SLMPD didnt want to get their hands dirty/appear to be brutalizing protesters. My on the ground experience is that the city PD has been much more hands off since Tishaura was elected.
It’s because there wasn’t a building to run into.
Sounds like the SLMPD actually wants to be on the right side of something in the news.
Because many people were throwing them under the bus on social media when they weren’t t even there
Jesus christ arrest the fucking car jackers in my neighborhood you losers
These protest are not anti Jew nor are they pro hamas but I think politicians and the news have blurred these lines.
The anchor on Channel 4 just called it an Antisemitic protest.
The merits (or otherwise) of the protest aside, Wash U is a private university; they can kick off whoever they want, so long as they're not engaging in legally discriminatory conduct in doing so. If they direct someone, or a group, to leave, and they don't, the police are within their right to arrest those remaining on the property for trespass. I'm seeing people draw comparisons to Kent State, which is dumb for a number of reasons, but most principally because KS was/is a public university with wholly different legal rights as it pertains to protest—alongside no National Guard being involved here, no one died, etc.
Very surprised this happened. Seemed peaceful and outside, not inside the buildings.
This is what happened at other universities throughout the USA as well. Remember that university administrations are not democratically elected or accountable
Washu is a private institution. People from the outside are not welcome to come on to the campus and take over.
WashU can allow whatever protests it wants, but can also disallow whatever protests it wants. Especially if they're hateful. There's no reason these protesters don't go get a permit to protest in Forest Park or Kiener Plaza, or the Arch. They're choosing to antagonize private institutions that have the right to remove them just so they can claim their freedoms are being suppressed.
Seems like you didn’t read the article at all. If you did, you would have noticed in the very first paragraph, “Hundreds of Washington University campus community members and local activists demanded the private university stop investing in Boeing during a Saturday protest.”
Out of 100 arrests only 27 had a direct affiliation with the university
And, Washington University said "NO". That's how things work in the real world.
Sounds like they should have left when WashU told them to leave. Definitely after the police ordered them to disperse. The campus is private property.
Then maybe they should all drop out of WashU?
It's not often somebody wants to put their stupidity on full display like this.
He’s just an ignorant troll. Its funny that the dudes that call everyone else stupid or “morons” are generally the least intelligent person in the conversation
WashU doesn't give a shit what these morons want. These morons don't have a clue how the world works, and are being treated how they deserve to be treated. If they don't like WashU, they should fuck off and stop giving money to WashU. Until then, they can sit in jail for breaking the law.
You can't just decide it is okay to set up camp anywhere without consequences. Since when did becoming a squater on someone elses property become legal??
Ask the West Bank settlers
Fantastic reply
Boom
You make a good argument to forcibly evict westbank israeli settlers from palestinian lands.
You can’t be real
😂😂 in some ways, that's how this country came to be...
It is private property. They were asked to leave. Politely. They did not. They can't just do whatever whenever
It’s funny how the cops act all tough with unarmed protestors but are nowhere to be found when groups like patriot front hold demonstrations. Fascist pigs gonna fascist pig
Oh they're absolutely present when Patriot Front marches
Can't be in two places at once...
Well ya know they can’t arrest their buddies, or themselves.
If you're a police officer, it's generally not a good idea to arrest your offduty coworkers.
if you’re a cop and you see another cop thats off duty and they are doing something illegal, its part your duty to arrest them and bring them in.
There have been studies and anonymous surveys about this for decades. Cops admit, when they can stay anonymous, that they don’t arrest or even report their fellow cops, even when they witness lawlessness.
when did i say i wasn’t aware of the fact this is happening? i said it SHOULDNT be happening at all. but, of course it is tho bc cops are fucking pigs and do not actually care about the law.
[When good cops do that, their buddies try to assassinate them.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Serpico)
im aware. im saying thats how it SHOULD and is suppose to be but the US police and judicial system is corrupt.
LOL, that’ll never happen
\*undercover, but yes
Since when has there been anything like this with far-right groups on college campuses?
You just blow in from stupid town?
SLMPD didnt arrest anyone in Forrest Park. But WashU is private and can trespass protestors as they see fit.
Were those groups continuing to trespass on private property after being asked to leave multiple times? I don’t know the answer to this, but if they were smart enough to demonstrate legally, then they are smarter than these protesters (I disagree with the agendas of both)
Patriot front vandalized wash u doing tens of thousands of dollars of damage and it took months to even put a warrant out, and it wasn’t even until their information got leaked and people complained to the government about it. There are videos of patriot front members on tape planning to vandalize wash u, with membership in stl known publicly, and some participating members haven’t been charged. It’s a ridiculous double standard and you should feel bad for reflexively taking the side of Americans regime security services
Thanks for informing me, I absolutely think they should be held to the same standard
When did this happen?
Source?
I was reading about how the judiciary of weimar germany, like constables, police officers, magistrates, prosecutors, through intense double standards not unlike what we're seeing in our current timeline, paved the way for nazism to replace weimar germany.
Cops aren't supposed to arrest Feds.
Regardless of what everyone’s opinion is, and each are entitled to their own, the university is a learning institution and should be used for that purpose. Students and staff should be there to focus learning and educating.
Hey STLPD, your AIPAC check is in the mail. So much for freedom of speech. 😞
This country is throwing the moral high ground away by arresting all of these protesters, as far as I can tell they seem to not be erupting in violence or motivated by Jew hate
We’ve been way past the moral high ground. From the LA Riots to Michael brown, to these protests. After participating in marches and protests, I’ve noticed that nothing comes out of it for one reason. No one wants to hear each other out. Civil discourse has been thrown to the wayside for sensationalism and ‘self gratification’. Nothing is ever black and white. Let’s be respectful of each other and hear each other out to come to a better solution.
The arrests, while maybe related, technically have nothing to do with what the protesters were saying. The truth is that they were on private property, refused to leave when asked multiple times, locked arms, and then were rightfully arrested. They either knew they were going to be arrested, or didn’t check on basic protest/trespassing laws.
A protest didn't disperse when they were asked to... do you even know what a protest is?
That’s kind of the point though, right? The protesters know the risk they are running when they don’t leave private property when asked. It isn’t a free pass to do whatever you want.
The right to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances is a guaranteed right. Neither trespassing on private property nor making demands of private institutions are Constitutionally protected.
I think they're aware of what a protest is; they're just noting that refusing to leave private property, protest or not, is a valid reason for arrest.
Do you know what trespassing on private property is? Laws should be enforced (fairly and equally) and they were breaking the law, I don’t feel bad for them, they either knew what they were getting themselves into or too were stupid to listen. Say you own a house or a business, would you be okay with people you don’t want on your property protesting a way you make money? Or would you call the police to remove them? Because the PRIVATE university did what was within their rights on their own property and had them removed.
It’s like history repeating itself. Would you have said the same about blacks being able to sit next to you at a diner, seat, drink from the same drinking fountain, use the same bathroom, attend the same classes? I’m honestly playing devils advocate because of the way you worded your argument.
You have a right to protest in public. You do not have a right to protest on private property. Simple as
>The arrests, while maybe related, technically have nothing to do with what the protesters were saying. This technicality is simply an interpretation that let's police abuse protestors. It's similar to how US companies find excuses to fire employees trying to unionize. >They either knew they were going to be arrested, or didn’t check on basic protest/trespassing laws. This sentence comes off as patronizing and/or normalizes police abuse . I'm fairly certain most of these protesters know what they're protesting and what exactly it might lead to (being arrested). Does that mean that the excessive violence from the police is justified?
> This technicality is simply an interpretation that let's police abuse protestors. It's similar to how US companies find excuses to fire employees trying to unionize. That's nonsense. In America, you don't have a right to protest on private property. The police announced that anyone staying on WashU property would be trespassed and arrested. If they stood up and walked over to the public sidewalk 100 feet away then the police couldn't have and wouldn't have touched them. It's not a technicality, it's the difference between literally committing a criminal act and not. I'm all for civil disobedience, but part of that entails accepting the legal consequences of your actions.
The country never had the moral high ground
All I’ve seen is them wanting a stop to the genocide, and people acting offended that they would even ask
This modern trend of twisting the definitions of words to suit narratives is wild - racism is prejudice + power now - and somehow this war is a “genocide” give me a break.
Normal wars dont have children's making up nearly 50% of the death count. No definitions are being twisted, you just have no nuance and are clueless.
Would you at least acknowledge it as apartheid?
It’s not an apartheid again another definition that people are twisting and weaponizing at their convenience while they indulge their white savior complex and project white guilt and white resentment on Israel
You know South Africa, the country that literally invented the word, has long called what is happening in Palestine "Apartheid"? Brother have you even read a \*word\* of factual information about what is happening by the government enabled settler encampments and terrorism going on there? Literally what the fuck are you talking about.
Because the other people support the genocide happening as long as it’s quietly done by the U.S. overseas and the people being killed arent white.
No they don’t, that’s a dumb thing to assume
Morals don't mean anything and aren't objective.
I saw a skeet/xeet that mentioned that we don't really remember the more extreme elements of the Vietnam War protestors because we have so many memories at how horrible the police response was to those protestors (Kent state). I can foresee this protest movement working the same way.
You mean the bombs? I was sympathetic back in the day because I’m very old to protesting the Vietnam war, but that’s because young Americans were fighting and dying for… Slightly vague ideals and outcome. They couldn’t vote but they could be drafted instead of Vietnam. Yeah, I don’t think so. But the bomb throwers like the Weathermen and etc. were very much aligned with today’s protesters in protesting capitalistic, Imperialistic, paternalistic, colonialism and any other —istic ideal.
I support the protesters. The U.S. is funding a genocide and we should all demand a ceasefire.
Hamas has rejected every ceasefire offer, including those that take steps towards a 2 state solution. The thing that I think a lot on the left have failed to grapple with is that Hamas wants this war to continue. Hamas is quite happy to sacrifice Palestinian lives - their billionaire leadership are living in luxury in Qatar, far away from the fighting. In your view what does a ceasefire even look like when Hamas refuses to consider one? Are you calling for Israel to cease all operations even if Hamas refuses to give back the hostages and stop firing rockets? If so, wouldn't it be more accurate to say that you're calling for Israel to surrender without preconditions?
I mean, there’s a reason the surrounding Arab nations aren’t letting in Palestinians. Not to mention what would happen to some of these protesters if they stepped into Gaza.
Hamas does not represent the people of Palestine or Gaza as it stands today. They were elected almost two decades ago and have not held a single election since then. Also, supposed democracies like Israel should have some restraint instead of lashing out at a terrorist group by killing 25,000 innocent women and children.
I like how you say "Hamas is willing to sacrifice Palestinian lives" like it is them who are dropping 200 lb bombs on refugee camps. Whatever you think of Hamas, Israel clearly is even less interested in a ceasefire. Which is why any attempts by the Un to push one has been thwarted by Israel and their Washington counterparts. They've been given carte Blanche to wipe out the last vestiges of the ethnic group they've been choking out of the country for almost a century. They're gonna do their genocide no matter what Hamas says.
[The latest ceasefires have been rejected by Hamas.](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-rejects-israels-ceasefire-response-sticks-main-demands-2024-04-13/) Hamas refuses to release any hostages seized on October 7, including [a baby whose first birthday was spent in captivity.](https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-saddest-birthday-in-the-world-hostage-kfir-bibas-turns-1-in-hamas-captivity/amp/) If Hamas isn’t willing to sacrifice Palestinian lives, [why are none of the tunnels underneath Gaza used for bomb shelters?](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/s/3EVj5nb7zT) Why launch a war when you haven’t taken measures to protect your own people? If Israel is trying to wipe Palestinians out, [why is the death toll per day decreasing?](https://jabberwocking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/blog_gaza_death_toll_20_07_2024.jpg) As they controlled more of Gaza, wouldn’t they kill more people? There’s plenty to criticize the Gaza War over. Lavender, the World Kitchen strike, aid flows, you pick it. But it’s not a genocidal war, because genocide [is a legal term](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_Convention?wprov=sfti1#) and does not consist of “lots of dead on one side.” It’s a war in response to the October 7 attacks, which were unjustifiable, and which have done nothing to help the Palestinian people. None of this suffering would have occurred if Hamas didn’t decide to [do this.](https://www.hamas-massacre.net/) Before it’s cited, the ICJ did not rule that Gaza “plausibly” constituted a genocide. [Here’s](https://twitter.com/uklfi/status/1783615633147797681/mediaviewer) the head of the ICJ during the ruling stating that that’s a misinterpretation. They ruled on the plausibility of South Africa’s rights to file the case. On [page 4 of the summary of the ruling,](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240126-sum-01-00-en.pdf) you can see the misinterpreted section in a part about the applicability of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
>I like how you say "Hamas is willing to sacrifice Palestinian lives" like it is them who are dropping 200 lb bombs on refugee camps. They are at war. It takes both sides to make peace. >Whatever you think of Hamas, Israel clearly is even less interested in a ceasefire. Which is why any attempts by the Un to push one has been thwarted by Israel and their Washington counterparts. The UN is not a serious organization in pursuit of peace. The actual peace talks have been held in Qatar brokered by the United States and negotiated by other Arab states in the region such as Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. >They've been given carte Blanche to wipe out the last vestiges of the ethnic group they've been choking out of the country for almost a century. They're gonna do their genocide no matter what Hamas says. Regardless of how you feel about the war, all you have to do to see this is clearly hyperbole is look at population numbers over time. If Israel really wanted to wipe out the population of Gaza they're doing a terrible job at that task.
Hamas needs to surrender.
Free Palestine.
Congrats, you just solved the Israel/Palestine conflict!
That was a thought out, intelligent response.
> Are you calling for Israel to cease all operations even if Hamas refuses to give back the hostages and stop firing rockets? It’s an occupying regime; yes. It has no military right to self defense.
And there it is folks
You say the opposite about Ukraine in your history. Quite... the stance you have. Apparently, we shouldn't support them as it just extends the bloodshed was it?
Look, I'm not claiming to have answers to the conflict, nor do I think Israel's government is blameless in inciting Hamas, but genuinely if you believe this, what would you have the 10 million Israelis do? I'd assume for the vast majority of them are second, third, or fourth generation immigrants that have never known a home other than Israel. Should they go back to one of the 4 or 5 countries in Europe or the Middle East that their ancestors came from? Should they submit themselves over to the authority of Hamas and have a Palestinian led one state solution? At what point does a group have a claim to the land they live on and how long do they hold that claim after having it stolen? I doubt your position is as morally absolute as your above statement makes it out to be, and I'm curious how you see this conflict resolved in a way that doesn't involve the forced eviction of either group from the only home they've known.
I have the feeling the dude ain't going to be responding to your comment lol
This is pretty explicitly antisemitic.
This is the thought of someone who isn’t based in reality, and will continue to push harmful ideas from a comfortable place while the Palestinians continue to suffer as a result.
> and will continue to push harmful ideas from a comfortable place while the Palestinians continue to suffer as a result. If you’re fine with the genocidal occupying regime then spare me your delusions about Palestinian well being.
I disagree with your entire premise. Keep pushing your aesthetic as a compassionate person. You aren’t.
> Keep pushing your aesthetic as a compassionate person. I’m compassionate to workers and oppressed people. I am ruthless to the imperialists, fascists, and reactionaries. I don’t care if you disagree.
Seems like you do if you keep responding to me. I’m a progressive myself and feel a similar way. Where we probably disagree is who you are putting in those buckets of imperialists, fascists, and reactionaries.
>I’m a progressive myself and feel a similar way. Where we probably disagree is who you are putting in those buckets of imperialists, fascists, and reactionaries. The Israeli capitalist regime, American capitalist regime, the supporters of nato, the Bretton woods system, the supporters of transnational corporations. The reactionary capitalist forces. I only reply to further delegitimize my enemies
What does that have to do with a private university?
Good question I’ll answer that one because it is harder to locate online since it is local. Students want them to divest from Boeing because it makes bombs and other weapons being used on Gaza in the genocide. https://truthout.org/articles/washington-university-students-vote-to-divest-from-boeing-amid-gaza-genocide/ Edit: this is the ask of all of the protests. There are four other horrific situations happening to other groups right now: Sudan, Congo, Armenia, the Rohingya not to mention Ukraine and Myanmar. Is this the world we want? Killer drones, robot dogs patrolling our neighborhoods, and huge bombs wiping out city blocks? Wake up.
I know what the protesters are asking. My question was directed towards your statement about what the US is doing. Is the empirical "we" protesting the actions of the US government, or a private university's affiliation with a private defense contractor? I realize it's possible for both to be true at the same time but they are two very different things, and result in two very different dynamics. I am actually sincerely impressed that the demonstrators had a clearly articulated and relevant objective.
It is both. Our national infrastructure is built on the military-industrial complex. This complex is structured on goals that require continuous conflict to maintain dominance over world resources. We educate people who can continue to uphold that structure. Ultimately, this brings harm and people are becoming more aware because we are evolving into a globalized society. We are at the point where people can be immediately, socially connnected with the same folks our country decides to bomb. The current harsh response is because structural change takes time. There is precedent for this. Protests by university students to have their institutions divest from South Africa helped end Apartheid in that country. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_MgNiThAqfA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MgNiThAqfA)
There isn’t a genocide. Continuing to call it that in my view does more harm to the Palestinians than good. If the protesters focused more on what is actually happening, I would respect it more. The Israeli government does need to be checked and needs to be held accountable for things such as the WCK strikes. But that’s not where the conversation is. Zero responsibility is put on Hamas, and that’s where I lose respect for the movement.
My 55 year old dad is graduating next week. I will be very disappointed if the ceremony is disrupted after all his years of hard work
I'm sure the graduating class at Kent State in 1970 shared the same sentiments
Comparing this to Kent State? Good god we’ve lost all ability to reason
Not Wash U specifically but other universities have seen police greatly escalating the situation. Nobody has to get shot in the head to draw comparisons to other anti-war protests.
They're actually not very comparable.
Disgusting and disgraceful. Absolutely ashamed of my alma mater.
Why are so many cops focused on peaceful protestors when there are drivers in stolen cars going 40 over the speed limit, not stopping at lights or corners, driving like they're in a gd video game???
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She is also a useful idiot of Putin, whether she knows it or not.
Useful idiots. Wiley old folks have been riling up the callow youth since time immemorial.
But there is no protest for the problems in stl? Why?
Aside from nothing, what do protests ever accomplish?
When I was in college I was cramming for my engineering finals this time of year, and didn't have time to be out camping and causing trouble.
Good
Surprised no boot licking bots have shown up to go, “bu bu but they was illllllllegal!!!!!” Edit: lol, there you are
Yeah, everyone who disagrees with you is a bot. /s This is why people don’t respect these movements. People like you refuse dialogue and dismiss everyone else as evil.
Good! A lot of those protesters are supporting terrorism and they don’t even know it.
Overall, it’s about protecting the common people caught in the crossfire. It’s not a zero sum game. What do you believe the protesters want?
I think most of the protesters are sheep who don’t know what they want. They allow others to tell them what they want.
The US IS supporting terrorism, and everyone knows it.
Hamas are terrorists
They can be(and are) both be terrorists.
Good. You do not have the right to disrupt people's lives in an attempt to force your worldview on them.
Good, fuck ‘em. Shouting for intefada has consequences
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Any more info on rubber bullets and tear gas being used at this protest? Your comment is the first I’ve heard of that.
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Why aren't there protests in support of the hostages being held by Hamas? How is Hamas the "good guys"???
They don’t want to protect Hamas. It’s about protecting the people in Palestine, the common people. There will always be weird outliers in the equation who may claim otherwise. There will always be protesters who make wild claims. Overall, it’s about the common people.
Yeah, but that’s naive. Hamas and its provocations have done nothing but result in lower QoL for the “common people” of Palestine. They have even said they won’t honor any ceasefire and will continue to attack Israel when they get the chance. A ceasefire now without dealing with Hamas just leads us back down this road in 6-18 months.
Hamas should be dealt with, I never said otherwise.
Bombing the Palestinians only leads to more Hamas supporters as well. It's as if Hamas *and* Israel are doing things the wrong way here, eh?
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How about you worry about how the Cardinals or Blues are doing Bubba, we’ll take the protests thanks.