"Facts On the Dining Hall? Sabra Hummus was the Main Get For UCR Protestors"

The title of this piece is the headline in a Josh Marshall piece.

I saw it on my Twitter feed because Malcolm Nance (who I generally respect, but he has been one-note on the protests) retweeted it. JM basically agreed with one response that it sounded like an “SNL skit.” One thing that annoys me is speaking to the choir sneering responses to something warranting more nuance.

First, I want to make a general comment, quoting Jill Filipovic. A response to me quoting this elsewhere cited another part of her response. I am working with this response alone. I also am not a general reader of JF. So, if she is overall horrible in your view, my apologies. The article is paywalled but I saw the quote here.

Today, a clear line of argument has emerged from many progressive commentators: First, the overwhelming majority of the protesters are peaceful and not anti-Semitic. Second, it undermines and mischaracterizes a vital movement to focus on a few bad actors who spout anti-Semitic vitriol, or to emphasize a few chants that glorify Hamas or call for the destruction of Israel. Third, the obsessive coverage of these protests is coming at the expense of the much more important story, which is the war itself. And in many respects, this is a sensible position. A war costing tens of thousands of lives, conducted by a key U.S. ally following a horrific terrorist attack, is a much more important story than whatever college students are doing in the United States. The violent crackdowns on these protests strike many, myself included, as far more troubling than the protests themselves. And it isn’t fair to conflate what a handful of protesters do or say with a much broader movement.

Chris Hayes has also strongly opposed the “third” aspect.

Here is a supportive discussion of encampments in general.

Second, there is the concern that some anti-Israeli voices will cut their nose to spite their face by not voting for President Biden. I have seen an analysis that young voters place this issue far down there regarding what they will use to decide.

Also, a smaller segment (particularly conservative Muslim Americans) is generally not supportive of Democrats overall. For instance, they did not support the election of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who I like for 2028.

I don’t know how this balances out. After all, there are many people (including my congressman) strongly supportive of Israel and opposed to even mild opposition to Israeli leadership. The numerous Muslims in my district, notwithstanding.

An election that turns on so few votes will be affected by numerous issues. It is why I oppose darn sure conclusions any one thing mattered in 2016. A person can have a good argument without going all the way. A general Joe philosophy there.

Two things. I think it is hard to suppose college students especially aren’t going to protest given the stakes. Biden very well might have listened to opposition to some extent. So, to the degree you think the protests overall are misguided because they threaten Biden, the whole thing has a certain moot quality.

But, more importantly, Trump is MUCH WORSE on almost any issue that reasonable people support. That includes Israel’s victims here.

[I suppose you can find something that won’t change much. Take out the “almost” if my stickler-for-accuracy mindset seems silly.]

Back to the immediate story. The Sabra hummus thing is an easy thing to ridicule/latch on to, but it is but one aspect of the agreement. Anyway, at the very least, they are not just concerned about “dining halls.”

The very fact that there was a negotiation provides the protestors some value. Some people find any negotiation horrible, including smearing the opposition in the process. Some had the same mentality about 1960s protestors, including Stephen Bright, who went from being a student negotiator to an anti-death penalty lawyer.

And is it really that the "main get," going by the list? Why are the other things meaningless? For instance, the first item is a full disclosure of UC investments, updated as appropriate. The specific institution does not have the power to disinvest funds used to support the war in Gaza. Thus, a discussion process is promised.

The agreement also regulates study abroad programs, which has implications for studying in Israel. The School of Business has also discontinued global programs in Israel and other places, including Cuba, Vietnam, and Brazil. A university FAQ clarifies:

Through our dialogue, we learned that these study-abroad programs were not offered under the auspices of the UC Riverside Office of International Affairs, nor are they consistent with university policies. So they are being discontinued.  

Okay.  The protest side sees the agreement as a first step. They will have a wait-and-see attitude. If they are not satisfied, they might start encampments again. That this is merely an "SNL sketch" is rather dubious.

If we move past ridicule, the campaign against Sabra has been ongoing for around fifteen years. There is a symbolic quality to it, down to the very name (Jew born in Israel). Perhaps, instead of sneering, we can understand why it was one of multiple aspects of the agreement.

[Lemons and lemon trees are another important symbol.]

Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate. Heather Cox Richardson had a good Substack on how mothers made their voices heard, including after the Civil War:

“I was visited by a sudden feeling of the cruel and unnecessary character of the contest. It seemed to me a return to barbarism, the issue having been one which might easily have been settled without bloodshed. The question forced itself upon me, ‘Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters, to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone know and bear the cost?’”

The “waste” continues in many forms as we should remember on Memorial Day, which honors more than the beginning of summer. It honors those who died in our wars.

How does change occur? Oh so many ways. The voice of the people is involved. If nothing else, humanity needs to express their opposition to our inhumanity.

Let us remember our humanity and try to uphold the good parts.