Student repression in US shows how far political elites will go to defend Israel

When it comes to Israel, both wings of the US political establishment have repeatedly gone to  great lengths in order to protect and cover up its war crimes in Palestine. This has been at the expense of lofty values considered foundational to Western societies, such as freedom of expression, speech, and protest. Despite viewing itself as a democracy, the political elites have ignored the demands of the very people who elected it.

A recent CBS News poll revealed that 61% of Americans oppose sending weapons to Israel, including 77% of Democrats and nearly 40% of Republicans. Both parties have responded by sending more arms to Israel. US political elites have even threatened international institutions, such as the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, when these bodies dared to criticise Israel. Nearly all of the Republican legislators, along with  42 Democrats, voted to sanction the ICC, which passed by a vote of 247–155. Perhaps there is no clearer example of the disjuncture between Americans and their government than in the student movement that started last October.

Students leading US solidarity

Students, who have been at the forefront of demanding a permanent ceasefire, an arms embargo on Israel, ending the genocide, divestments from arms manufacturers, and severing academic ties with Israeli institutions, have faced repression from across the board for this. Both Democrats and Republicans, including the president and vice president, have responded to student protests by portraying them as “chaotic,” vilifying their actions, and threatening students with deportations. Congress even went as far as interrogating university presidents, three of whom were led to resign. This included the President of University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Columbia.

In response to America's support of Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, students started protesting and raising awareness about the situation. The first major encampment started at Columbia University on April 17, followed by others across the country. Faculty, workers, and staff joined these protests. Many universities responded by attacking, arresting, and even firing faculty, sending a chilling message that no one is safe. Despite this, students and faculty remain committed to protesting the genocide. By the end of the academic year, over 2,950 people had been arrested during protests on at least 61 college campuses across the US.

For most students, university is where they learn about global struggles and become politicised, often encountering influential anti-colonial scholars like Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, and bell hooks. These encounters shape their views on liberation, resisting colonialism, and US imperialism. It urges them to act and not be silent towards injustices.

Universities also provide a space for organising, something that many students experience for the first time during their undergraduate studies. Organising allows students to understand the transnationality and intersectionality of the different struggles in the Global South. Moreover, many students are socialised to believe that they have a right to protest and are protected when expressing their views. However, when the student movement for Palestine gained influence and visibility, especially during the encampments, many students were punished.

New term, same struggle

As the new academic year begins, students continue to pressure their universities to take action by divesting from Israel. Universities and local legislators have responded to popular demands by enacting  extensive measures to repress, limit, and ban student protests.

The University of California and Cal State prohibited encampments and wearing masks across their 33 campuses. The New York University became the first university to forbid the critique of Zionism categorising “Zionist” as protected identity under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to Palestine Legal, the University of Maryland banned all “expressive events” on campus that are not university-sponsored on October 7, to prevent their chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace from holding a vigil that had already been approved. Bernard University restricted staff from displaying signs that support any geopolitical perspective, claiming it violates community expectations.

In early August, Nassau County Legislature approved the Mask Transparency Act, which bans face coverings unless for health, safety, religious or celebratory reasons, carrying penalties of up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. Just days later, one of the first arrests under this law involved a pro-Palestine student protester. The student was arrested in Long Island during a protest against an event promoting and selling occupied Palestinian land to future settlers. The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relation condemned the arrest, stating, “We are witnessing the immediate effects of the discriminatory and unconstitutional mask ban and condemn the policy as a silencing tactic targeting supporters of Palestinian human rights.”

Other students have also been targeted due to the anti-protest policies that were enacted. On the first day of school, The New York police arrested two students while picketing and demanding divestment from companies with ties to Israel. Four people were arrested during a die-in demonstration that was held at the University of Michigan.

This bipartisan failure to protect students' rights to express their opinions and organise campuses is alarming. Both parties have made it clear that they will defend Israel at any cost, even if it means suppressing people’s freedoms and rights.

For decades the US policy towards Palestine has been one of denial: denial of the Nakba in 1948, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the occupation of Palestinian lands in 1967, the illegal settlements, the illegal wall, settler violence, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. This policy of denial extends to the student movement for Palestine, where students are denied their rights to fight against the genocide that their government is funding, supporting, and abetting.

Unfortunately, whether democrats or republicans win the upcoming elections this policy of denial will carry on. It reflects a settler colonial logic shared by the US and Israel towards those they colonised- denying their existence, struggle, and right to resist.

Samar Saeed is a Ph.D. candidate in the History Department at Georgetown University.

Follow her on Twitter (X): @Samarsaeed

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Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.