In the wake of the Israel-Gaza war, students are pushing for universities to sever ties with the weapons industry funding their campuses, writes Dr Binoy Kampmark.
THE RAGE AND PROTEST against Israel’s campaign in Gaza, ongoing since the 7 October attacks by Hamas, has stirred student activity across several U.S. university campuses and beyond. Echoes of the Vietnam anti-war protests are being cited. The docile consumers of education are being prodded and found interested.
University administrators and managers are, as they always tend to, doing the bidding of their donors and funders in trying to restore order, punish the protesting students where necessary and restrict various forms of protest. Finally, those in the classrooms have something to talk about.
A key aspect of the protest centres on university divestment from U.S. military companies linked to and supplying the Israeli industrial war machine. The pattern is also repeating itself in other countries, including Canada and Australia. …