Student: Campus protests unnerved me, but still shouldn’t be shut down

It is a contentious time to be a college student, especially in the nation’s capital. I am a freshman at the George Washington University, which, until police intervened this month, was one of the sites of a growing encampment movement across the country, demanding that America universities divest from companies providing weapons to Israel, among other asks.

I think it is important to preface a few things before I continue. I am not an expert on this topic. I’m not even close. I am a well-meaning student who is trying to take what I am given and come to my own conclusions. To be honest, I hate feeling like I have to write about this. I am just trying to make sense of a conflict that spans thousands of years and, at least to me, is one of the most intractable policy issues of our time.