A lot has changed since the National Guard shot protestors at Kent State and Jackson State. A lot was going on at that time between the Civil Rights riots and protests and the anti-Vietnam protests. I lived back then and now.
I sided with the MLK protestors and sided against the black rioters. I condemned the shooting of peaceful protestors, but one of my friends was given his last rights (but pulled through), when a black rioter unleashed a shot gun blast at him at close range.
There was a domestic war going on. At one extreme you had MLK's black and white supporters fighting for civil rights through peaceful protests and boycotts and at the other end you had Malcolm X adherents who embraced change "by whatever means necessary" including violence.
Back then, the "state" in the form of state governors resisted integration. It took federal troops to desegregate the schools. I knew someone whose county in the south closed their public schools for ten years rather than desegregate.
Regardless of "the cause", when law enforcement kills "protestors" or even uses unjustifiable force to remove criminal trespassers, it should be held accountable. But that is not what is happening on college campuses, and it is an insult to those in the past who were attacked because of their skin color or their peaceful protesting with the current actions of people on college campuses.
There is no equivalency between then and now.
Today's protests are not about Gaza. They are about Marxism where the Jews including American Jews are being portrayed as "oppressors" and Hamas and their supporters as "victims". No real effort is being made by those on college campuses to distinguish between American Jews and Israelis. And so, what we are seeing is antisemitism masking at an antiwar movement. Utter nonsense.
There are some Palestinians that are innocent victims of the war with Israel. Those casualties are a tragedy, but no similar outrage has occurred regarding the countless of equivalent civilian casualties through the world going on concurrently. Protests regarding innocent civilian casualties in Ukraine (the numbers dwarf Gaza), or throughout African civil wars, or in Haiti hardly merit coverage much less protest.
The hypocrisy of progressive liberals many of whom would be killed in Arab countries for their ideological beliefs siding with Palestinians is difficult to fathom. I prefer to side with the country whose values most closely match mine. Raping women and cutting off the heads of babies doesn't match my values and screaming more such acts should be undertaken, suggest the movement is alive and well.
On the other hand, going to war against organizations that perpetrate such horrible acts of terrorism does match my values.
Am I sad about the fact that innocent people get killed in such a war. You bet. But as America experienced in Afghanistan, it is impossible to avoid civilian casualties when an enemy takes refuge among civilians. When that happens, I blame the country using civilians as shields, not the country forced to deal with human shields.
Regarding protests in this country. No one has a right to protest on private property or even government property if doing so interferes with the ability of citizens and government to carry out their daily activities. Hasn't January 6th taught us anything... you can protest outside the Capitol but not enter the building.
Likewise, you can't deny students access to their classes. You can't block a public bridge that people may need to access to get to the hospital.
Protesting is about expressing your opinion; it is not about violating the rights of others. I expect police to use appropriate force when removing trespassers (they lose their "protestor" status when they violate the rights of others) in a way that minimizes physical harm, but the trespassers have an equal responsibility not to resist arrest.
Let's keep the rules straight.
