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In a War it is Hard to Find a Winner

May 13th, 2024 by Kenneth Abrahams

For months, people have asked me if I am going to talk about the war in the Middle East, particularly as it impacts college and university campuses. Until now, I have resisted for a myriad of reasons. As this has dragged on, I have become very disheartened by what I have seen on college campuses and the lack of civility involved. For better or worse, it is a topic worthy of addressing. For those looking for me to support or condemn one side or the other, my apologies but that is not what my plan is. It is simply to look at the impact it is having on the campuses and the students.

For a variety of reasons, I feel un or under qualified to weigh in on this in terms of who is right or wrong. Regardless of who you believe is right, the loss of lives and the destruction of property on both sides is devastating and disheartening. Story after story rolls across my email feed from The Atlantic, NY Times, Boston Globe, the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1440 and others providing horrific stories of loss of life while trying to explain what is going on. Television news has shown graphic images of the destruction including footage from hospitals where the injured have been taken, some of them infants. Families have been separated and with the deaths of some family members they will never be whole again. In my lifetime, I have seen images of Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Although very young, I remember the 1967 six-day war in Israel and of course 9/11. Images coming out of Gaza and Israel are no less heart breaking or gut wrenching.

Seeing the reactions on college campuses has been troubling but fascinating. It is a microcosm of our world right now. Peaceful protests have turned violent. Nobody is really listening to one another, just shouting louder and louder to be heard. Both students with ties to the Palestinian people as well as those with ties to Israel or Muslims and Jews have reported feeling unsafe and unwelcome on campus. Flags of support have been burned and desecrated and encampments over run or cleared out by police. Campus leaders unfamiliar with this level of unrest struggle to provide a response that is acceptable to everyone or even the majority of people. Calls for divestment of holdings in Israeli companies are often followed by suggestions that campus leadership step down. It is, in a word, a mess.

As I said earlier, I don’t really know enough to take sides. This is a part of the world that has been in turmoil for centuries. Three of the worlds major religions call this area their religious home and it has been a region of strife almost since the beginning of recorded history. It would be easy for me to sit here, thousands of miles away in the comfort of my home office, to pick a side and point fingers, but not being there and not knowing exactly what is happening and how people are being affected makes me uncomfortable doing that. It would also be fair to criticize me because I have not been to any of the protest sites or met with any of the student protesters.

There are several things about the protests and the protesters that are bothering me. First and foremost is the inability or unwillingness to listen. Several schools, to better inform students about the history of the region and the genesis of the conflict, have brought in speakers from one side or the other, in some cases representatives from both sides are invited. Often, prior to the speakers taking the stage, either through protests before or disruptions at the event, they never get to utter a word. Perhaps, these students are more intelligent or worldly than I. Maybe they already possess the information that was going to be presented. Colleges and universities are supposed to be about learning and the free exchange of ideas, not shouting down those whose viewpoints do not mesh with your own. Another thing that has alarmed me is that some of the protesters are not students, faculty, or staff from the campuses. In a few cases, it has come out that some of these protesters are either being paid or work for organizations that support one side or the other. Images of students attacking public safety officers are, to say the least, troubling as are the images of students being shoved to the ground by police or fellow students. Hearing stories of both Jewish students and students of Muslim faith being targeted, made to feel unwelcome. or being fearful to even leave their rooms is heartbreaking.

Commencement exercises have been disrupted or schools have had to spend a fortune on hiring additional security. In some cases, out of protest, chosen speakers have decided to decline an invitation that they had previously accepted. While in other cases, the invitation has been withdrawn. Sometimes it is unclear whether the speaker dropped out or if they were uninvited. This year the class of 2024 has or will be walking across the stage. If they are graduating college this year, many of them were the high school class of 2020. That year very few, if any, schools held traditional graduations. It is sad that, yet again, some of them will either miss out on this milestone celebration or it will be tainted.

Wars rarely, if ever, produce a winner. This conflict is no exception. Thousands of non-combatants, many of them children, have died or been injured and as the conflict drags on many more are likely to be impacted. Much of what I have witnessed from afar with these protests on college campus is that they are filled with hate and vitriol. It is especially alarming because that is exactly what has started this war and many others. As I stated earlier on in this piece, there is much I don’t know or understand about this conflict. One thing I am certain about is that things always seem to work out better with listening, understanding, and having empathy for others. That doesn’t seem to be happening in the Middle East or on college campuses. It certainly seems like the end of the academic year is coming at a perfect time. Maybe when school resumes in the late summer/early fall cooler heads will prevail. At least we can hold out hope for that.

Sitting on the fence, not taking a side and being politically correct or neutral is not my default setting. This issue is a tough one because people feel very strongly about this subject, whether they are well informed or not. Discussing this with a friend he shared with me what the University of Florida President Ben Sasse said. I don’t think I could say it any better:

"At the University of Florida, we have repeatedly, patiently explained two things to protesters: We will always defend your rights to free speech and free assembly—but if you cross the line on clearly prohibited activities, you will be thrown off campus and suspended. In Gainesville, that means a three-year prohibition from campus. That’s serious. We said it. We meant it. We enforced it. We wish we didn’t have to, but the students weighed the costs, made their decisions, and will own the consequences as adults. We’re a university, not a daycare. We don’t coddle emotions, we wrestle with ideas."

A number of protesters are not going to be able to walk with their classmates and some may not be able to finish their education at the university that they attended until recently. If their actions crossed the line, then the consequences are justified. We all take a stand at some time or another and if it is a cause we believe in many of us are willing to accept the consequences of our actions. Some of the student protesters seem shocked when the institutions act and are dismayed that they are being held accountable. As a TV show once stated don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time.

About the Author

Full disclosure, Ken Abrahams is Jewish. He has also studied war and history for years. His client base is almost exclusively colleges and universities and this spring the problems in the Middle East have been discussed at length when he has visited or worked on campuses. He is hopeful for some sort of peaceful end to this conflict sooner rather than later.

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