Protests and Policy as Porn

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside Fordham's Lincoln Center campus after a group created an encampment inside the building in New York City on May 1, 2024. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Commentary

The pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas, anti-Israel protests have spread to university campuses across the country, just as the agitators hoped (and planned) for them to do. As was also expected, some of these protests have turned violent. A Jewish student was poked in the face with a flagpole at Yale University and hospitalized; another Jewish student was knocked unconscious at the University of California–Los Angeles. Masked mobs have prevented entry of Jewish students and faculty into university facilities. Buildings have been vandalized and broken into at Columbia University, Cal Poly Humboldt, and other locations. Frustrated college presidents at dozens of schools have finally begun calling in police to retake college property and clear unlawful encampments, resulting in hundreds of arrests.