Washington- “Class of 2024” was the title of the main article of the American magazine “The New Yorker” this week, accompanied by an expressive image showing three university students with their hands tied advancing to the podium of a university to receive their graduation certificates from its president, while policemen surrounded them on all sides.
This picture reflected what hundreds of American universities know of a rare student movement rejecting the American-backed Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and any relations that their colleges have with Israel.
The past months have witnessed, since practical “Al-Aqsa flood“Especially the last few weeks, the weather has been hot In American universities. And confront Millions of American students, especially Jews, Muslims, and Arabs, are in a tense and different situation than they were before October 7, 2023.
The student movement in various parts of the United States sparked an endless debate about the dilemma of the balance between the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly on the one hand, and university rules and policies regarding sit-ins, disrupting studies, and student safety on the other hand.
raising awareness
As universities turned into centers of political activity, and due to the continued aggression against Gaza, students set up pro-Palestine camps to express solidarity and raise awareness among their colleagues.
Instead of engaging in these peaceful protests through dialogue, many university administrations chose police intervention, and Columbia University President Nemat Shafik initiated this approach, which led to the forceful dispersal of student sit-ins and the arrest of approximately 2,600 students from various colleges.
This approach not only threatens the sanctity of academic freedom, but also undermines the role of universities as scientific centers and forums for political debates and intellectual differences.
In the opinion of Murhaf Al-Ashqar, an associate professor at Wayne State University in Michigan, calling the police on universities is an inappropriate approach, and that what happened harms the university’s general image and trust between its students and professors, and also fundamentally contradicts the role of educational institutions in promoting open dialogue and learning. .
Students and their families eagerly await the end of 4 years of university education to obtain their graduation certificate in a huge celebration held by each university. A high-caliber public figure, such as a former president, a famous senator, a community icon, or a heavyweight businessman, is invited to give a speech to the graduates in which he motivates them to enter the labor market and provides advice as they begin their working life.
In light of recent events and developments that required police forces to forcefully disperse sit-ins at some universities, many colleges, led by the University of Columbia and the University of Southern California, canceled large graduation ceremonies and replaced them with simple, small graduation ceremonies.
New chapter
At a time when many parents expressed their anger over the cancellation of graduation ceremonies, some observers considered that these students were writing a new and important chapter in American history. The political elite – for the most part – considers the ongoing wave of student protests to be the most important student movement since the anti-Vietnam War movements of the late 1960s.
The protests, especially at Columbia University, are being compared to the 1968 protests for their size and tactics, and as an echo of the historic 1960s movement.
The intensity of the movements at this university has gained great attention compared to other American universities, because it is in the heart of New York City, the world’s most important financial and business center and the major news media, in addition to the presence of a large percentage of Jewish or Muslim students.
How is the status of American universities affected?
For many decades, American universities – especially the elite universities that witnessed a student movement in support of Palestine more than other colleges – played a pivotal role in the American renaissance, especially in its scientific and technological aspects, as is the case at Columbia, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Many professors at these universities have won dozens of Nobel Prizes in medicine, chemistry, and physics, and their graduates head the most important companies in the world, not to mention that many American presidents have studied there. This justifies the low acceptance rate among applicants, as it does not exceed 4% in some cases.
At a time when it may be too early to discuss the impact of the pro-Palestine student movement on American universities, some reports reflect growing concern expressed by Muslim and Jewish families about targeting their children in these universities, whether through bullying or restrictions on their admission to them.
Harassment
Many American Muslim and Jewish students expressed that they have been subjected to widespread harassment since the seventh of last October.
Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, student Sofia Giovanni, from the American University in Washington, reported that her Jewish and Muslim colleagues were subjected to various harassments, and bullying in many cases from other students on campus. She pointed out that there has been an increase in hate incidents, whether “anti-Semitic” or “Islamophobia,” in recent months.
For his part, the father of a Japanese student, who received an acceptance letter weeks ago from Columbia University, expressed his concern about the idea of sending his son to study at the university he had dreamed of since his childhood.
He told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “Since my first visit to Columbia University while working as a journalist in New York more than 20 years ago, I pledged to do everything in my power to get my son into this prestigious university. However, recent events are forcing me to rethink that. My son is interested in political affairs, and therefore I fear For his safety in this college.”
In contrast, an American businessman of Egyptian origin who lives and works in New York State told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that he had set up a special bank account that saved thousands of dollars years ago to provide all the necessary resources to prepare his daughter – who is currently a high school student – to attend Columbia University. He explained that he was willing to bear any financial burden for this “unachievable” goal.
A recent poll conducted by YouGov last week with more than 9,000 American citizens indicated that 47% of Americans opposed campus protests, while 28% of them supported them.
The percentage varied between Muslims and Jews in America, and while American Muslims supported the protests by 75%, 14% of them rejected them, while 72% of American Jews opposed the protests, and 18% of them accepted them.
These percentages are not considered huge or surprising, especially in light of the societal division and polarization that the United States is experiencing regarding all social and political issues.