Opinion: ‘A cry of hope in the absence of hope’ - Young people rally for justice in Gaza

A student at the University of Oregon sets up a sign that reads “Divest from death” as students set up a tent encampment at the university to protest the Israel-Hamas war on Monday in Eugene, Ore.

A student at the University of Oregon sets up a sign that reads “Divest from death” as students set up a tent encampment at the university to protest the Israel-Hamas war on Monday in Eugene, Ore. Jenny Kane/ AP

By JOHN BUTTRICK

Published: 05-04-2024 6:30 AM

John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com

This last week I went for my monthly haircut. At my age, I get a significant discount (thank you very much). However, as I was paying for my discounted haircut, my barber reminded me with a chuckle, “just a few more years and you will be eligible for free haircuts.” I smiled and replied, “Your shop knows what it’s doing. When I reach 90 I will be lucky to have any hair left to cut. And if by any slight chance I still have some hair on my head, I may not be able to negotiate the stairs to get into the shop.”

There is a good possibility that my hope for a free haircut is hopeless. As Christian Palestinians often repeat, “We cry for hope when there is no hope,” for our freedom and dignity.

It is hopelessness that leads to disruption of daily routines, such as the university and college student protests that have arisen over the Gazan/Israeli war. The students are rallying in hope against hope for the withholding of U.S. military aid to Israel, a ceasefire, and for universities and colleges to divest from companies that profit from the occupation in Palestine.

It is a feeling of hopelessness to witness Congress and university institutions refusing to discuss the details of the students’ issues. Instead, a debate has ensued in Congress and on campuses of higher education over maintaining law and order, condemning antisemitism, keeping donors happy, and defining free speech. Conservative Israeli supporters enter the discussion by portraying universities and students as radical on issues of politics, free speech, race, and support for Palestinians. Using fear, they seek to create hostile environments for anyone who doesn’t adhere to their pro-Israel ideologies.

The cry for law and order has resulted in a strain on student campus life. +972 Magazine reports, “Since October, universities have suspended student groups, curbed academic speech, and called the police on peaceful protesters on campuses coast to coast.”

Some examples include reporter Ava Young-Stoner writing that Columbia University has responded to pro-Palestine students and faculty with punitive measures like suspending Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). Barnard College has changed its student code of conduct, censoring pro-Palestine language from the faculty website.

Nat Leach reported that the University of Michigan students occupied the building that houses President Santa Ono’s office. More than 40 students were arrested after occupants were denied food, water, and access to the bathroom. When a student fainted, police delayed medics from entering. One undergraduate was thrown to the ground by campus police and had her hijab ripped off. Amber X Chen reports, “UC Berkeley allowed university police to publicly release photos of individual protesters in an attempt to identify those who had allegedly ‘committed one or more criminal acts.’” Speaking truth to power seems hopeless for Palestine supporters.

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However, there may be hope where there is no hope. The campus movement toward peace and justice for Israelis and Palestinians would not have gained so much prominence without the arrests, said Daniel Schlozman, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University. To students and others who might have sympathized with the protesters without joining them, the shock of the arrests may have galvanized action rather than passive support, leading many to join the protests, including faculty. They seek to reclaim the intended political dispute over the war in Gaza.

Science professor Omar Wasow explains, as campuses and media join in, there is developing a cascade of concern over Palestinian oppression and the continuing Israel/Gaza war. Wasow theorizes, that one way to understand how protest movements spread is the “ovation model.” For example, he explains, in a theater audience, “if some people in the front stand up (to clap), then other people start to stand up, and it’s a cascade throughout the auditorium.”

The younger generation is catching on. They have the motivation, and the vision to break the cycle of war and the brutality that has persisted over the centuries. Perhaps resistance to the college campus movement will not deter but give energy to the movement. Perhaps there is a growing aspiration for a human community of care, empowered by the resisters. Perhaps there will be a cascade for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine and in other waring countries of the world. Perhaps the cry for hope where there is no hope will finally be heard. “The world (is) paying attention.”

Perhaps I should listen to the optimism of my barber!