Are Pro-Palestinian Protests at American Universities Going Too Far?

Extended pro-Palestinian protests at American colleges and universities like New York’s Columbia University over the past few weeks have sparked dialogue across the media spectrum.

Not Peaceful: Columbia Professor John McWhorter, writing for the New York Times (Left bias), criticized the Columbia protests as “not peaceful” and protestors for believing “Jewish students and faculty should be able to tolerate” them because they are white. He described the protests as a “relentless assault” using “ever-angrier rhetoric” and “beyond what any people should be expected to bear up under, regardless of their whiteness, privilege or power.”

Useful Idiots: Former Israeli official Aviva Klompas, writing for Newsweek (Center bias), argued the scale of the protests shows America’s adversaries that young Americans have “lost the ability to distinguish between good and evil” and threaten “the safety of every Western democracy.” Klompas described protestors as “useful idiots” for terror groups and accused them of ignoring basic truths that don’t suit their desired framing of the conflict.

Not In Texas: Daniel Samet, writing for National Review (Right bias), commended the University of Texas for drawing an “unambiguous line in the sand” on how it would break up demonstrations and adhering to it. Compared to the events at Columbia, Samet likened Texas’ actions as an embodiment of the “Don’t California my Texas” sentiment many Texan residents have towards progressives moving into the state.