Protesters’ Vandalism, Demands Are Misguided

Returning for Reunions, I was saddened to see the beautiful Public and International Affairs building defaced with spray paint, and the fountain dyed red. Many student protesters’ actions and demands seem misguided for several reasons:

1. Yes, the death toll and destruction in Gaza is horrific. We all wish that Israel had chosen a better strategic response, and pray that not another Palestinian dies. But protesters also need to understand Hamas. By invading Israel and butchering and kidnapping its residents, Hamas knowingly and deliberately provoked this entirely predictable Israeli military response. Hamas chooses to leave Gaza’s populace exposed, starving, on the battlefield, while protecting its military forces in a vast network of well-stocked bunkers. It is a calculated and barbaric strategy to maximize civilian deaths. Since taking over leadership of Gaza in 2007, Hamas has consistently put its citizens’ nationhood, well-being, and even their lives, second to its stated goal of the elimination of Israel. Anyone who seeks peace must also address Hamas.
2. In China at least a million Muslim Uighurs have been held in concentration camps for years, believed to be subject to not only “re-education,” but torture, sexual violence, sterilization, and slave labor. China has been accused of crimes against humanity and of genocide. Yet the campus is not being roiled by encampments, sit-ins, disruptive protests or vandalism demanding divestiture from Chinese companies and boycott of Chinese academics. Students should consider why the scale of their response to other humanitarian crises is so different.
3. Calling for Princeton to divest from companies that directly profit from oppression of their labor force (1980s South African apartheid protests) or from war is one thing. Calling for a boycott of academics and academic institutions is another. Players on both sides of this conflict have used violence and obstructed peaceful solutions. Shutting down dialogue is the antithesis not only of the pursuit of knowledge and progress for which Princeton exists, but obviously antithetical to crisis resolution, understanding, and peace.
4. Like the Confederate flag, the red hand means very different things to different people. If protesters use a symbol in order to demand an end to Israeli violence that Israelis interpret as a call for barbarism against them, it is a poor choice. If a symbol does not have a universally understood meaning, without disclaimers, it does not suit its purpose.
5. In spite of the “blood on our hands” theatrics and vandalism, the reality is that Princeton’s investments probably have little impact on events in Israel and Gaza. Students’ passions would be better directed towards doing the work of researching and understanding all sides of this long conflict, and rolling up their sleeves to help Israelis and Palestinians find a way to live peacefully side by side.
6. Vandalism is not a good way to win sympathy for a cause.