Images of pro-Palestine/anti-Israel protests have filled news networks for weeks. Across the country, students wearing the keffiyeh occupied campuses in protest over the Israel-Hamas war. The scarves were worn in solidarity with the Palestinian people but appeared more like fashion accessories for demonstrators.
Although there were many students carrying signs supporting Palestinians, there was nothing commemorating the more than 1,200 people horrifically massacred by Hamas on Oct. 7, nor the 200-plus who were taken hostage, some of whom have since died. Instead of antisemites, much of the news media describes the students as “peaceful demonstrators” who resembled anti-war college protesters from the 1960s.
They sat outside their tents, playing guitar, painting signs, and talking with fellow demonstrators. The protests appeared innocent and non-threatening — the entire camp could have been construed as College Protest 101, an elective course for first-year students. Then violence ensued.
Wearing masks and the Palestinian scarves to conceal their identities, professional activists — many from the Students for Justice in Palestine, or SJP, which is said to be an anti-Zionist student organization — poured in to turn the protests violent. Any student who may have sympathy for the Palestinians suffering as a result of the war, became useful fools for these pro-Hamas groups. Clashes between students and police resulted in injuries and arrests.
One female Jewish student wa.