BY MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN | CalMatters
During back-to-back days at one of California’s largest universities, hundreds of students took to marches, impassioned speeches and megaphones to condemn the mass death that has afflicted Israelis and Palestinians: The attack by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, and the Israeli military response since then. The UCLA demonstrations last week — one Tuesday by supporters of Israel, the other Wednesday by pro-Palestinian students — were common in grief but riven by deep wounds over history and words.
This wasn’t a dialogue, but a thunderous expression of each side’s anguish.
Ever since campus protests in California erupted over the latest explosion of violence, students affected by the crisis have endured profound agony as they watch an escalation of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict not seen in decades. Adding to their hurt is a lack of public consensus over what language constitutes prejudice. At the same time, California university leaders are also struggling to strike a balance between First Amendment guarantees and civility.
And as the regents of the University of California meet Wednesday, undoubtedly students will bring their sorrow to a leadership searching to instill comity. While the regents don’t have the matter on their agenda, the morning public comment period is often an electric display of students and employees voicing concern. Late last week, the UC leadership released a statement denouncing bigotry while noting free speech protects vile rhetoric.
The discord is playing out as campus Arabs, Jews and Muslims are witnessing generational traumas that gash their identities like spears, intensifying feelings already on edge.
For Jewish students, the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, in which the Palestinian militant group Hamas murdered 1,200 people, was a grotesque reminder of past perils that have menaced Jewish communities. The massacre was the single largest loss of Jewish life in one day since the…
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