Campus Pro-Hamas Encampments: An Omen of Western Societal Demise Few understand the ultimate goal of the organizers. by Joan O’Callaghan
https://www.frontpagemag.com/campus-pro-hamas-encampments-an-omen-of-western-societal-demise/
Since the October 7 Hamas massacre, rape and kidnapping of nearly 2,000 Israelis, Western democracies have been engulfed in what are commonly called “pro-Palestinian protests.” Aided and abetted by a leftist legacy media, naïve and ignorant university students, and spineless politicians at all levels, our city streets and university campuses have become battlegrounds. But battlegrounds for what? Is this really about Israel and Gaza, or is something more insidious going on?
An answer to this question lies in events that took place in Hamburg, Germany at the end of April, where more than 1,000 Muslims marched through the streets demanding that the country transform itself into an Islamic caliphate.
In recent weeks, the focus has been on encampments which have sprouted like toadstools on university campuses. An examination of what goes on in these tent cities might provide us with a glimpse of what the future could hold.
These insurrections are not about Israel, or Palestine, or even Gaza. The end game is anarchy, chaos, and finally a nation defined by Sharia. The methodology is simple – intimidation. We see it weekly in the marches that shut down our streets, take over the public spaces, and overrun our universities.
Therefore, it is not surprising that any attempt to counter the hateful propaganda embedded in infantile slogans, with facts, is met with howls that the “freedom of speech” is under threat. Yet, how much “freedom of speech” really exists in the encampments? Videos taken by visiting journalists are revealing. Media tents have been erected by entrances. Only “approved” journalists may enter or ask questions, and only designated activists may answer. Attempts to speak to the students directly are met with responses that they are not “trained” to speak to the media; then these students direct the questioner to the “media tent.” In cases where unapproved journalists did manage to enter the encampments, they were soon met by an organizer who inserted himself between the journalist and the student to prevent any dialogue from taking place. Tight control over what is said and by whom is the order of the day. Freedom of speech for some, but not for others.
Everything is supplied to the campers: brightly colored pup tents, banners and signage, facilities, and food, and anything that might easily be transformed into a weapon. There is big money behind this.
Police who have entered the encampments tell us that the majority of campers are not university staff or students, but well-trained and well-financed outside agitators, who are training the compliant students in civil disobedience tactics. How did this happen?
As someone who spent 28 collective years teaching at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and the University of Toronto (UT), I watched with growing alarm as these institutions began their transformation from places of serious learning and research into purveyors of political correctness, replacing history with preferred narratives, delivered by propagandizing and indoctrination, and hiring and admissions practices prioritized by identity as opposed to merit. A UT instructor with many years’ experience was called out by outraged students when she demonstrated the use of an Indigenous “rain stick” for calming students and getting their attention in the classroom. Rain sticks, I was told, were for sale all along Bloor Street, not limited to Indigenous people. More recently, a music instructor conducted a class in African drumming. Angry students confronted her, saying that as a non-African, she had no business teaching African drumming. In both cases, the hapless instructors received no support from the administration, and were subjected to disciplinary interviews. In my own experience, a student called me out as a “racist” for reprimanding her for rude and unprofessional behavior. Receiving no support from the administration, I refused to teach that class and retired shortly thereafter. The “African drumming” instructor, a new hire, fulfilled the terms of her contract, and then resigned.
As a friend and former colleague lamented to me recently, “All the good people are leaving.” Who would want to have their teaching hamstrung by wokeness and a spineless administration? These actions are forcing all of us into silos where we are comfortable communicating and interacting only with our own kind, lest we inadvertently give offense. Thus students are deprived of the benefits of learning and enriching their lives, from other cultures.
In 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, as an undergraduate, I joined others at my university to protest the presence of Dow Chemical, which was on campus to recruit graduates. I knew very little about Dow’s role in the war, beyond what my fellow students were saying and what I saw on the posters that mushroomed on campus. But it felt good to be part of something larger than myself, and we were so convinced of the moral rightness of our campaign. I didn’t need to know any more than that.
With the wisdom that comes with age and experience, with spending many years in the workforce, and being married to one of Canada’s foremost journalists, I learned to stand back, to not be so quick to accept everything I was told, but to find things out for myself. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned was to fight for what I knew in my heart to be right and good, even when others did not agree. Standing up for what you know to be right and good can be a lonely place. It is always easier to run with the herd, to trade moral clarity for acceptance, and not look too closely at the issues, because you might find yourself forced into an unpopular stance, isolated, reviled even, and in today’s world, their physical safety in jeopardy. For young people, this is a frightening prospect.
Few, if any, understand that the ultimate goal of the organizers is the dissolution of Western democracy.
Like the university administrators, a dearth of our elected officials at any level of government seems to have the stomach and moral clarity to put a halt to these tactics. Mindful of a quickly growing Muslim demographic, politicians are hesitant to act. When votes are at stake, morals and ethics go out the window, and the comfort and safety of Canada’s Jewish community is the currency with which they are willing to buy Muslim votes. History, however, has shown us that what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews.
This astoundingly short-sighted and dangerous approach is reminiscent of Winston Churchill’s warning to Neville Chamberlain, when he signed the Munich Pact in 1938, effectively selling out Czechoslovakia for “peace in our time.” Churchill said, “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war.”
In short, America, Canada and the West are now in a struggle for its ongoing existence as free societies, which parallels Israel’s struggle for its existence as a Jewish state. Given the cowardice of our politicians and the seeming ignorance of much of the citizenry, the future looks grim.
The West needs insist on a return to order and integrity at all levels and in all our institutions, and most importantly, we need to promote our values and insist they be respected. A hopeful sign is that the Germans protested against the Muslim caliphate rally.
To turn a blind eye is to gamble on our future and that of our children and grandchildren.
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