Campus Protests are Doing More Harm Than Good
Ryland Bickley, Abby Sutton, and The Civil Discourse Program
Before discussing why pro-Palestinian campus protests are doing more harm than good, it’s important to acknowledge two points. The first is that students absolutely have the right to protest peacefully and should not be shut down if they do so. The second is that there is a humanitarian crisis occurring in the Middle East, and there is nothing wrong with being concerned about it or pushing for change.
However, a number of student protests have not been peaceful. Per NBC, there have been multiple instances of protesters blocking access to school buildings and property that should be open to all students. At Portland State University, protesters occupied the library and vandalized it, leaving graffiti, piles of trash, and “make-shift weapons” behind. Recordings from Columbia University in April included undeniably offensive, pro-Hamas, and antisemitic chants and statements. Any protest involving people damaging and vandalizing public property or yelling hateful statements will significantly impact credibility. Some argue that property destruction is a valid tactic for social and political change, but it’s essential to recognize its impact on public perception and the overall effectiveness of protests.
After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, a Reuters poll showed the vast majority of people believed that peaceful protests were an appropriate response to the killing of an unarmed man by police. They also showed that property damage caused by protestors undermined their original case for justice. If the protestors’ goal is to build support for their preferred policy changes, destroying property is clearly doing more harm than good.
It’s also clear that context is missing in these protests. While the Israel-Palestine conflict dates back much further, this recent chapter began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas, the governing body of Gaza, targeted Israeli civilians and killed over a thousand people in a surprise attack. On that day, Hamas also took dozens of people hostage, which is a blatant human rights crime. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by governments including the United States and European Union and is recognized as using human shields to protect its operations. Its founding charter calls not just for the elimination of Israel as a country, but for the killing of Jews, while its current charter does not accept Israel as a state and refuses any alternatives. That isn’t exactly a call for peace. The reality is that Hamas is intent on destroying Israel. Protestors should consider how their words and actions align with this violent militant group.
Many protestors seem ignorant of the true nuance and scope of what they are campaigning about. It’s no surprise when considering a rapidly growing number of young adults are getting their news on TikTok, a short-form social media site well-known for its misinformation and unverifiable videos. Wars come with massive amounts of propaganda from both sides. That is why it’s essential to get news from diverse, reliable sources. Unfortunately, it appears that too many protestors are committed to advancing a narrative based on incomplete information from sources that would quickly be dismissed as lacking credibility in most college classes.
There are certainly many innocent Palestinian civilians who deserve better, but sympathizing with Hamas in their struggle against Israel is a dangerous idea. There is plenty of room for disagreement, but those seeing the issue as black and white – on either side – are missing much of its complexity.
That lack of nuance, in a topic that requires much of it, is why campus protests are causing more harm than good. Additionally, the media consistently focuses on protests that are sensational and disruptive. This drives people farther apart instead of opening the door to reasonable discourse. Protesters might be trying to help end the Israel-Palestine conflict, but instead, they are increasing what is already a dangerous level of radicalism and division surrounding it.
Campus Protests are Doing More Good Than Harm
Zion Okano, Norah Steed, and The Civil Discourse Program
We are currently witnessing a period of widespread dissatisfaction and protest in response to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, felt most potently on college campuses. When observing the impact of these protests and the broadly negative response they have received, one may wonder whether they are doing more good than harm. We maintain that these protests should be protected and encouraged because they display what should be a fundamental American value; the ability to nonviolently protest injustice.
Any violence at these protests is not because of the protesters themselves but because of those responding to them. Pro-Palestine protesters have been made out to be violent and antisemitic. This is not accurate. Most of the violence at these protests has come from police and counter-protesters. Any successful protest must cause some obstruction to the status quo. This is how a movement gets attention. This is how changes are made. Protestors blocking buildings is a form of harm; it blocks people from going to work or class, harming their work and education, but it is not violent. Throwing fireworks into a crowd of protestors, which is something that pro-Israeli counter-protestors have done, does violent harm. These actions are completely out of balance with the overwhelmingly peaceful pro-Palestine demonstrations they are countering. To argue that protesters bring counter-protest upon themselves is to side perpetually with whoever has the biggest stick and the least regard for human freedom. When the status quo sides with the oppressors, we must defend the right of the oppressed to challenge the status quo.
It is incredibly difficult to tell if a protest will do more good than harm while it’s happening. The civil rights protestors didn’t know if the Civil Rights Act would pass, and the anti-war Vietnam protesters didn’t know if we would leave Vietnam. But those protesting in favor of justice are usually looked at favorably by history, regardless of their methods. As Dr. Martin Luther King wrote in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action.’” Let us not take the position of the “white moderate.” Let us keep at front of mind the injustice being wrought on the Palestinian people. When we discuss the defensibility of the protests, let us not forget the harm of staying silent. Since Israel began its invasion of the Gaza Strip more than 35,000 Palestinian people have been killed. Additionally, an estimated 1.7 million people have been displaced from their homes and do not have sufficient access to water, food, medicine, or housing for survival. We should be proud of the young people of our country who are doing what they can to fight this injustice. These protestors are doing everything in their power to challenge the United States and its institutions’ continued support of Israel’s excessively aggressive military action. That is more than enough good to outweigh any harm they could be doing.
With the First Amendment, the founders of the United States determined that the protection of free speech, assembly, and protest are fundamental civil liberties. Conflict is the way of protest. More than that, it is the way of progress. To cease protests would be cultivating the “negative peace” described by MLK, choosing stagnant injustice over complicated, difficult, worthwhile progress. Wherever people are fighting against injustice, the harm will always be outweighed by the good.