“War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate. Don’t punish me with brutality, talk to me, so you can see…what’s going on..what’s going on…“ -Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye could have been singing about the current wave of protests on US University campuses right now when he asked, “What’s going on?” in his timeless song about the struggle against the Vietnam War. Thousands of students, faculty and supporters have set up Palestinian Solidarity Encampments at dozens of colleges and met with criminal and academic penalties – and in some cases extreme brutality by law enforcement. 

By now you’ve heard about the encampment at Columbia University in New York, where hundreds of students had camped out in a peaceful occupation of their campus to demand that the University divest from weapons manufacturers supplying arms to Israel. The students faced imminent arrest when an unprecedented number of faculty surrounded the camp, hands clasped in a circle to prevent the camp’s demise.

The events quickly caught the attention of national media and House Speaker Johnson paid a visit to the camp. While the Republican from Louisina’s words were drowned out by a booing crowd, he said, “If this is not contained quickly, and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard.”

Then world leaders began to take a stand on the topic, including a dispassionate response from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu who claimed the protests were antisemitic and “call[ed] for the annihilation of Israel.” He went further in his fanaticism, and compared the protests to nazis and were “reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s.” Other countries around the world are responding to the wave of protests and beyond in countless ways, some countries divesting immediately and ultimately blocking Israeli trade and some recognizing the Palestinian State – even as the United NAtions Security Council blocked its entry into the elite network.

Now thousands of University students at dozens of campuses have set up their own encampments, including at most major colleges in the United States. These include Princeton, Yale, Harvard, NYU, University of Texas Austin, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Ohio State, University of Michigan, Northwestern, and many more. And that’s not to mention the longer standing occupations on smaller campuses like CalPoly Humboldt, Oregon State University, University of Oregon and many more. 

Has anything like this been seen since the uprising of antiwar protests against the War in Vietnam? 

In other news, the Freedom Flotilla that stands to deliver more than 5,000 Tonnes of food aid to Gaza has been stalled in Turkey, as Israel and US leadership pressures the country not to allow the boats to set sail. The more than 1500 activist leaders from around the world planning to take the trip continue to await the departure of the ships, and can be seen at press conferences describing their experiences. 

Meanwhile, in Gaza and increasingly in the West Bank the Israeli Defense Forces continue to rain down bullets, destroy homes with bulldozers, and stand prepared for the dreaded ground invasion of Rafah, where more than 1 million forcibly displaced Palestinian families are living in tents. Photos and videos of mass graves have now been exposed at hospital sites, and desecrated bodies exhumed for examination. 

With a renewed commitment to the ongoing siege of Gaza, President Biden just signed another massive Aid package for Israel, with approximately $26 Billion in Defense commitments, including more US/Israel intelligence cooperation and an upgrade to the “Iron Dome” missile defense system. And while the US purports to care about the more than 1 million people facing starvation and lack of basic human necessities, their “steadfast” support to support Israel in its ongoing genocide continues.