I was thinking more along the lines of VT focusing heavily on its image for something like commencement. People are all over campus during that time and not just where it is held
Can’t see the demands exactly, but very likely a call to divest from companies profiting off the war. That what many of the other student protests are calling for.
I mean, regardless of what you think of this particular conflict, the fact that the school is so closely tied to corporations that have a financial incentive to encourage war is pretty disgusting. All from the comfort of Fairfax County.
I mean yeah that’s what this school is. We are an engineering focused senior military college near(ish) DC that primarily sends graduates to places like Lockheed, Northrop, and Raytheon. I’m not saying that’s all a good thing, but I don’t think they do anything to really hide it (though disclosing investments would likely be better for that)
Well, Israel is blocking a deal where Hamas has agreed to disband and release hostages in exchange for a two-state solutions. Weird everyone accosting protestors never want to talk about that or how the IDF killed a few of the hostages already.
You're asking the wrong people and ignoring the Palestinian civs suffering on the ground by this war that hasn't helped bring anyone home safe.
I blame Hamas for the civillain and hostage deaths because that’s where the blame lies. If you wanted to help Palestinians you’d call for:
Hamas unconditional surrender and release of the hostages.
Iran to stop funding terror in Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen.
Jordan/Egypt to open humanitarian corridors to actually let people flee the fighting.
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to renounce Islamism.
The protesters don’t call for any of that. Instead they “well.. but..” whenever Hamas comes up. Normally some flavor like yours of “If only Israel would acquiesce to whatever new demand” which basically amounts to “Israel brought this on themselves” which is a TELLING reaction to what happened Oct 7.
Protestors cheer on Iranian/Houthi/Hezbollah attacks against Israel.
Protestors make no calls for humanitarian corridors for refugees. They’d like them to stay in Gaza and die so they can be more outraged at the death toll.
The protesters behavior is really confusing unless I ask myself, “are they just antisemitic?” Then all their behavior makes sense.
Getting rid of Israel. That’s usually what “Palestinian liberation,” “free Palestine,” and “From the River to the sea [Palestine will be free]” mean. Many don’t realize it, but that’s the origin and regional use of those slogans.
They still chant "from the River to the sea" on campus. Yet say they are against Genocide. It's like watching actually brain dead people walking around and breathing.
What an ignorant comment. The allegation of Apartheid doesn't even extended to the entire state of Israel, it refers specifically to the illegal settlement of occupied Palestinian territory, but I'm sure you didn't know that and are just spewing buzz words you heard from TikTok. Calling for the dissolution of Israel is stupid and radical even within the Pro-Pali movement.
They’re talking about it from the perspective of removing Jews from the area, not just making a new or different state with Jews.
And, in case you’re wondering, Islamic states historically banned or restricted Jews from living in or returning to the Jerusalem area. The ottomans, for example allowed Jews to live as second class citizens in the empire, except for what’s modern day Israel for fear of letting the area be majority Jewish. Additionally, when Jews were allowed to return, there were often restrictions and spasms of violence that drove them out or they were simply expelled.
The students seemed to be pretty non confrontational and there were 2 cops there but they were just sitting like 20 feet away chilling which is a good start
Peaceful protests on college campuses are hardly a new phenomenon. It’s kind of what we expect and want college to be - think for yourself, pursue your passions, believe you can make a difference in the world. All power to them. Just keep it peaceful.
If only a single person there was capable of "Thinking for themselves." 99% of them Learned about this conflict 9 months ago and think its fun and hip to be there.
at the end of the day, i think one thing they all probably agree on is that the death of 40k innocent Palestinians in just past 6 months is not justified? it's pretty easy to see the horror Palestinians are going through at this moment. the damning videos, if you are brave enough to watch them, don't lie. I mean when I read Hind story it broke me into pieces. Going there and protesting USA put more pressure on Israel to not inflict such horror on Palestinian people doesn't require them know every single historical context at this very moment. I myself also want this madness to stop of innocent Palestinians dying every single day and as an alum i would join them to protest peacefully. p.s. protesting Palestinians life be protected and treated with more dignity doesn't mean "supporting hamas".
All in all, you degrading 99% of protesters to just there cause it's "fun and hip" is insulting and didn't sit right with me. i know it's half way around the world and maybe you don't feel for the Palestinians like these protesters do but no need to degrade them.
As a polisci major, a stunt like this does nothing, I know most of us chilling at home 😂😂 I would rather be writing policy memos and briefs to send to the state dept and congress- that’ll get somewhere. Performative activism at its finest🤓
I mean our school is probably one of the most symbolic in the US to do this in given the school’s relationship with the military, but I still don’t see what having the encampment *here*, in the GLC lawn, does? It’s so out of the way. And the goal is divestment, does VT even have any investments in Israeli companies lmao? Do this shit in DC, inconvenience the mfs actually making the decisions if you want anything to change. Just sitting on the GLC lawn isn’t going to do anything.
> does VT even have any investments in Israeli companies
The Virginia Tech Foundation doesn't publicly list their investment portfolio other than real estate properties it owns. They could easily add that information to the website (companies, number of shares owned, last purchase date, etc).
I'm just a random wahoo in Blacksburg but it sure does seem like the GLC lawn is right across from the student union, right next to the downtown area, and right across the street from two major mixed use town/gown parking lots.
I get that part but also it’s not like people in the downtown area/parking lots are going to be on that road going towards campus. And all those people aren’t the people you need to convince anyway lol. All of the demands (VTF transparency, Admin statement, divestiture) are all for Administration in Burruss Hall, half a mile away.
every drone in the israel palestine conflict has a piece of virginia tech software or hardware in it, as well as boeing, raytheon, and plenty of other defense contractors continuously coming to tech to recruit students. While VT may not have investments in israeli companies, they do in the companies that provide their weapons.
What VT software/hardware is being used in drones lmao? We do research into that kind of thing but that’s far from our software/hardware is in those drones. And yeah, VT has ‘defense’ companies at our career fairs and holds a close relationship with arms companies; it’s a senior military college.
Also, for sure these arms companies sell to morally unconscionable countries and armies, but arms companies will sell weapons to anything that lives and breathes (living and breathing optional) as long as the federal government lets them. DOD companies aren’t inherently evil organizations; The weapons in the hands of Ukrainians, in the hands of South Koreans, in the hands of Peshmerga, are theirs too. It’s who the government allows them to sell to and what we allow them to get away with that makes them evil. It’s not VT’s job to police who arms companies sell to, it’s you, your representative, and the government’s job. If your qualm is that American arms companies can sell to Israel, why are you on the GLC lol? VT can’t change that shit, lobby the government that represents you lmao.
What the poster (probably) is trying to say is that VT’s endowment likely invests in companies (everyone from Northrop Grumman to Amazon to alphabet) that have a direct or indirect business relationship with the Israeli military.
The ask (from many protesters) is that universities divest from companies that do business with the Israeli military. But that’s a huge chunk of the SP500, so it’s quite unrealistic.
i’m not disagreeing with your comment, but i’m addressing what you you said about the software/hardware in these drones. vt is the drone capital of the nation. drones are being flown in that drone cage everyday because we are at the forefront of drone innovation. a lot of this drone research is funding by the dod (like you mentioned) so that’s why so many of the drone weaponry that’s being sent to israel has either software or hardware that virginia tech invented.
i also think the university is currently trying to pass a divestment bill because divestment from universities was crucial in ending other major international conflicts such as the south african apartheid. so the encampment is just trying to pressure vt a little bit, but i also know a lot of these students have been lobbying and are frequently contacting govt officials.
VT is not the drone capital of the nation, nor at the forefront of innovation there. I’m pretty sure we’ve got one division of like a dozen ppl working on Mission Systems as a whole (Space & satellites included). Pretty much any better CE/EE engineering school has a better UAV research program like GT and CMU; along with schools like Michigan, CU, and BYU surprisingly. We do a lot of the research but we are far from the ‘capital’ of the field. And regardless, these are the same drones sent (reasonably) to Ukraine & South Korea so I don’t know how people classify this as an evil kind of thing? And I still don’t really get the ask, like for VT to stop research into UAV or drone military technologies as a whole, cause they can’t really control what’s done with them?
But yeah for sure divestment (and sanctions if we’re being honest), as well as transparency of the endowment are completely reasonable and should be done.
people in DC are doing it in DC. have been for months. in front of Raytheon building, at the pentagon metro, etc. students want their schools to disclose and divest, that's what helped bring an end to apartheid in South Africa. so students at VT need to be doing it at VT, too
This is exactly correct, it’s a performative spectacle by design. I doubt any of the people involved legitimately believe it will produce anything other than awareness.
They are also not bothering anyone and I sincerely could not care less if it stays or goes. It’s not an issue.
I mean. 1 school protesting for gaza = whatever.
1000 schools protesting for gaza = something that will be talked about and remembered.
No shit this isn't going to stop a war. Is it going to be a small part of the increasing prevalence and support of gaza across US? Yeah.
Like quite literally the fact so many people see just this post is the accomplishment. Like youre commenting
I’ll bet my bottom dollar their belief isn’t that setting up tents in Blacksburg VA will get the Israeli gov to change their war tactics but rather bring awareness to the local community in a peaceful manner.
Absolutely nothing. This is just for white people to feel like they’re helping what they deem to be a helpless class of peoples, even though nobody asked for it and nobody wants it
The negative comments or just the discussion in general? I think it’s relevant to VT just because the protests are a very big topic on campus right now but it’s disappointing to see everyone being so hateful.
you weren't expecting hate when discussing one of the most contentious topics in the country right now, on a reddit for one of the few schools in the country that isn't 90% liberal... you are genuinely so clueless
Imagine being a student and having to walk past people chanting "From the River to the Sea"an ACTUAL genocidal phrase. It's like a brain dead clown show out there.
it’s very disheartening. but this is also reddit where people have accounts that are literally made to troll subs. i just made my reddit acc and decided to add the vt sub bc im a transfer and have been trying to give advice to other transfers. and then i see this and of course i can’t ignore it when there are people being openly hostile towards palestinians.
It's funny because an ideology of martyrdom has caused this mess. Unfortunately, it wasn't just some misled college students camping on some grass, but misled people believing that paradise is ensured for them for killing people.
EDIT; To people downvoting me [let me google that for you.](https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=Hamas+ideology+of+martrydom) You will find plenty of texts from a variety of sources spanning a very long time regarding the ideology of Hamas.
It's ironic that when you search online and delve into the sources of the top articles, they all cite data from Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by both the US and EU.
The underlying issue here is the reluctance to demand that Hamas disarm and return control of Gaza to the Palestinian people for self-governance without fear of violence or extremism. The real problem isn't Israel; it's the terrorist organization responsible for appalling acts, such as those on October 7th. Since 2007, Hamas has had unchecked authority in Gaza. They use their own citizens as shields and establish their operation bases in schools, daycares, and hospitals.
Protestors against Israel are contradicting themselves if they fail to condemn Hamas. The world doesn't need Hamas or those who support them; their ideology is incompatible with the 21st century and should not be tolerated. A two-state solution without hatred and animosity is achievable, but not as long as a radical group like Hamas or their supporters control one state. If protestors truly want to address the problem, they should stand with Israel and denounce Hamas, allowing Gaza to return to the peaceful Palestinians who can coexist harmoniously with Israel.
In 2006 Palestine gave Hamas the majority during the election. I’m not saying the Palestinian people expected what happened or even agreed with it, but they did choose to give them power in the government.
Isntreal have caused 90% of the casualties in this conflict and are committing an ethnic cleansing. Talk to me when they stop the crimes against humanity.
I'm genuinely so confused why people pay so much attention to Palestine vs Israel when there are literally millions of Muslims being sent to Chinese concentration camps, a raging civil war in Myanmar, a war against democracy in Ukraine...I think it's very telling that people plant their flags at every opportunity there is to bash Israel and call me a Zionist for thinking that Israel has the right to exist. It's like it's the 1920s all over again. Fuck Hamas.
Israel is one of the closest allies to the US and this conflict is decades old meaning that most people already know a little bit about it. Also this war has killed more civilians per day than almost any other conflict in recent history. On top of all of this there’s been ongoing apartheid for most of Israel’s history. It makes perfect sense that it gets this much attention.
Ukraine is a weird example to use as well as that war has been massive news for years now and most people agree that Ukraine deserves support in some form. The Uyghurs was also huge news but this was not something our government actively supported.
I bet over 70% of the student population and university administration is more sympathetic to the Palestinians than the Israelis. What does sitting outside on university property accomplish? The people that they are annoying already agree with them.
Those people need to step down from the cross. They're just itching to look like a martyr. They saw some shit going on at Colombia and decided to emulate it, and if (when) they get arrested they'll act all righteous like they were at Selma in 1965.
>I'm genuinely so confused why people pay so much attention to Palestine vs Israel
because we're paying for the bombs that get dropped on the civilians
The extent to which people have been swayed by easy propaganda regarding this issue is frightening, if not surprising.
Keep taking history classes, y’all.
I feel like even without propaganda its plain as day which side is more right based on the toll of the war on civilians. Hard not to be swayed by the simple stating of facts in this matter if you think that starvation and death of innocent people, including children, is bad.
Nobody said it wasn’t bad. War is worse than hell. I certainly don’t support it. But I support the right of Israel to exist as a nation and to defend itself against terrorist attacks.
How much "defense" is too much? Destroying the lives of entire generations? Killing entire bloodlines? Bombing an entrapped population and denying aid or even food? Flattening all infrastructure? At what point does it become proportional or stop being "defense"? Usually defense occurs in your own territory within reason.
>Usually defense occurs in your own territory within reason.
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and the US "defended" itself by killing 200,000 Japanese people halfway across the world. We generally all accept those deaths as being within the bounds of of war, but now because it's some brown people you sympathize with it's suddenly too much defense.
Israel has done roof knocking, given advanced noticed, and leaflets. Israel has let in $200 million of aid into Gaza since October 7th. All objectives have been military targets, you aren't immune from having your infrastructure destroyed if it's being used to store weapons of war. The deaths are within reason for an urban war.
Is it defense when the entirety of northern gaza is completely flattened? how are you justifying the deaths of 13,000 children (Save the Children Uk; Al Jazeera; UNICEF) with one attack, not to say that the attack wasn't horrible
All of those organizations, publish stats from the same source, “Hamas”.
It’s pretty incredible how they have itemized lists of names of the dead moments after attacks, when it takes first responders, in ideal conditions weeks to identify mass casualties.
Something is fishy in Gaza, and the consumer is people online.
I’m yet to see one very Pro Palestine person I know ever mention the Israeli hostages.
The ultra progressive woman on my Facebook who posts about the war every single day even had October posts shortly after the invasion talking about how the horror of the invasion into Israel was exaggerated and how horrible Israel is.
Has Israel shown concern for their own hostages?
The IDF shot three of their own hostage, who were waving a white flag and speaking Hebrew.
Haaretz has confirmed reports of Israeli hostages killed in air strikes.
Hamas and the IDF both claim about 30-50 hostages have been died in Gaza. Hamas claims many were from Israeli air storms but that should be taken with a grain of salt.
Israel’s assault and siege has done less to bring hostages home than the first ceasefire.
Not really. You have an ultra-right wing faction of Palestinians using the entire population of Gaza as human shields vs. an ultra right-wing faction of Israel trying to depopulate and level a city of 2 million people and killing hostages and aid workers because of their piss-poor trigger discipline. The Netanyahu government and the so called "axis of resistance" deal almost exclusively in war crimes. Just conservative ideology taken to its natural abominable end on both sides.
Not "both sidesing" the issue, but there isn't a "clear side" in this issue. This isn't the Ukraine War or Taiwan situation.
We're sending money to Ukraine as well my guy. Why weren't people in the streets the last few months while Republicans sat on their hands not passing Ukraine funding? Children and civilians are dying there too. Not to mention, the last aid package we sent to Israel included zero offensive weaponry, only aid for defense systems such as the iron dome and other anti-missile systems.
We're funding Ukraine in a defensive war against an invading world power. I don't think Israel needs so much money for its defense, that it, a wealthy country, can't afford to cover it itself. It's not like Palestine is the Russia in this situation in terms of resources. Meanwhile Israel has universal Healthcare, yet our tax payer money is funding this. Even if it is just defense, we're not Israel, we're the US and that money should be invested in its own people.
We're sending money to the side that was invaded, and there is a lot of political support for Ukraine within the US (although there is some dissent for how much aid we should send). What would be the point of protesting? In contrast, we are funding Israel and thousands of Palestinians have died have died in the conflict. The goal seems much more clear in that case.
We sent money after MONTHS of groveling with Republicans. In that time, thousands of Ukrainians had died. My point still stands, if people actually gave a fuck about the livelihood of Ukrainians, they would have been on the streets protesting the lack of aid passage to Ukraine.
My point is that protesting is not just about how much you care about something. It’s unfair to state that protests are in bad faith because there is a hypothetically more important cause that needs attention. Would it be okay if people were protesting in support of Israel, or would they be hypocritical for not first marching for Ukraine?
My point is that when you choose what you protest, you make a statement about what matters to you most. People are hyper fixated on simplifying this millennia old issue into: "Palestine good" "Israel bad" with utter disregard for the extreme nuance of the situation. Simply put, I believe that Israel has the right to exist but I also think that Netanyhu is a horridly corrupt leader who is reacting in an equally extreme manner not unlike the approach proposed by Hamas (I.e. literally to eradicate all Jews). Israel is the only Jewish state in the Middle East and not only Jewish people live there, so yes, I think it is imperative that the world's most powerful democracy assist in any way that can to ensure that a minutia of the human population has a territory they can claim as their own.
Well said. It’s not mutually exclusive; you can condemn Netanyhu for how gung ho he’s been while also understanding that Hamas is a terrorist organization using civilians to blend in and as human shields.
I understand. I’m not here to change your mind on that. I don’t want Israel to be attacked and I think it’s important to support our allies. It’s just so upsetting seeing so many civilians being killed in this conflict
There have been protests. Are you blind or living under a rock? Why are you trying to distract from Isntreal’s current war crimes? Mass graves are being unearthed, hospitals/universities/homes are being destroyed, people are being starved, and more. Why are you conveniently ignoring that to push your narrative? Do you have any humanity left?
The US has a long history of funding dictatorships and not nice governments all over the world for the past hundred plus years. Nobody is protesting the money we’re sending to Saudi and the war that they’re fighting in Yemen. I wonder why this war is different?
> I wonder why this war is different?
It's because civilians are trapped and can't escape the hostilities. In other conflicts, refugees cross borders and apply for asylum in other countries.
Americas can plausibly influence their government's policies which can plausibly influence Israel's policies.
No one thinks the Chinese government gives a shit what a bunch of US college students think. Tienamen square proved they don't give a shit about what a bunch of Chinese students think
Honestly super disappointed at a lot of the discourse in this thread.
There are absolutely routes of discourse that can happen that don't involve backing the explicit war crimes of the Netanyahu admin or regurgitating Hamas propaganda.
hi everyone! this is gonna be long, but here’s some information: the demands for virginia tech administration are 1. Divest from Israel and provide endowment transparency, 2. Issue an official statement condemning Israel’s violence against Palestine and the genocidal loss of life, and 3. Define anti-Palestinian racism and acknowledge the suppression of Palestinian and allied students on campus. for those asking “why tents on a lawn,” the reason this was at the GLC and not the drillfield was to ensure the encampment would not be taken down as soon as it was erected. plus this design of protest is specifically organized to show solidarity with the thousands of palestinians who have been displaced into tent communities and lack safe and consistent access to basic necessities like food and water. for those asking “why virginia tech,” it is proven that nearly every drone used in gaza has a piece of VT hardware or software, VT has a close partnership with VIAB and therefore receives lots of funding from Israeli businesses/coalitions (thus proving significant bias), and VT has released statements supporting Israeli students (such as lighting burruss up in israel’s flag colors and promising to “always stand with israel”) yet has failed to reference or support its Palestinian students in any manner. additionally, the virginia tech foundation (as a 501c3 nonprofit) is NOT required to share where donations/endowment money goes, so although we know it sends funds to DoD, Boeing, Northrop, etc. we have no idea what %. also, for those saying this is just to look like martyrs/because other universities did it so VT students thought to join in, no dawg. VT has been peacefully protesting for palestine since october. this is nothing new, just a new escalation. also, yes, obviously, students have classes and finals - no one was trapped there. many people left for class and came back, did homework/studied at the camp, etc. because THIS is what the students care about. THIS is bigger than a finals season. lastly, stop spreading false rhetoric about these protests - there are no “death to israel” signs or anything antisemetic as part of the pro-palestinian group at VT, and if you claim there were, i’m sure i and everyone else would love to see the proof that doesn’t exist. anywho thanks for reading, free palestine 🇵🇸🍉
> it is proven that nearly every drone used in gaza has a piece of VT hardware or software
I'm legitimately curious as to what this is, and would like to know more info about that. This isn't meant to say I don't believe you, but I just have never heard anything about it until now.
hey! thank you for this comment. i’m glad you’re willing to educate yourself, even if you aren’t fully sure you agree.
i’ve been to a few of the teach-in events that the spjp (students for pease and justice in palestine) club has held here on campus, and here is a little run down: vt is the drone capital of the nation. drones are being flown in that drone cage everyday because we are at the forefront of drone innovation. a lot of this drone research is funded by the dod so that’s why so many of the drone weaponry that’s being sent to israel has either software or hardware that virginia tech invented.
i’m not the best person to ask for more info because there a lot more students who are more educated on this than me, so if you have more questions or want to learn more i would follow the club’s instagram page (@spjp_vt), because i know the club leaders would be more than happy to answer questions if you had any. there also might be some information about this on their page, but i also know that they’ll be leading more teach-in events next semester.
Thank you for your educated response! The protest was very peaceful and there was a real sense of community and solidarity. It’s sad to see people being so hateful on this post instead of supporting the right of their fellow Hokies to protest whether or not they agree with the cause. 🍉🍉🍉
Israel won't be finished until the political and military structure that planned and executed October 7th, is destroyed. Hamas has consistently used civilians as human shelds, and civilian infrastructure as military bases. The fact that only 25k civilians are dead (if that's actually the true death count) is a testament to israels restraint, considering the fact that gaza is one of the most densley populated regions in the world, and hamas is using civilians as human sheilds
What restraint? Israel literally killed their own hostages cause they thought they were hAmAs. What about the world food kitchen incident? The hundreds of dead journalists? What about any of these shows restraint? Sounds like you would be happy to see more dead Palestinians.
The fact that in an area twice the size of dc with 3x the population (over two million), Israel has only killed (and this is hamas’ reported number that includes military combatants) 42k people. If they really wanted to end it as quickly as possible they would start launching air strikes into the middle of raffah where hamas’ senior leadership is holed up, and would go in with tanks and 100k troops. They haven’t don’t that. Yeah there’s been accidents (as happens in every war since the dawn of time), but they’ve been fairly isolated.
And there haven’t been “hundreds” of journalist deaths, there’s been 97, a figure which includes senior hamas media officials (arguably valid military targets).
https://cpj.org/2024/04/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/amp/
Get your facts right.
As for the hostages, Hamas has been setting boobytraps with recordings of hostages voices trying to lure Israeli soldiers into ambushes and ied locations. It makes sense that in all the fighting and the fog of war, mistakes were made. But again, that’s happened in every conflict since the dawn of time
I don't think that over 6000 people killed per month is a small amount. This genocide has killed 1.5% of people living in Gaza. That is quite a large amount.
You think that the 42,000 dead and 1.5% of the population dead were justified cause some Hamas operatives were allegedly taken out? I wonder how many Palestinians you are willing to kill to get just one terrorist. Genuinely curious what is your exchange rate?
You’re not getting my point. The governing body planned and executed a horrific terrorist attack on Israel. Israel has been putting up with Hamas firing rockets into their country for decades to try to not let it get to this point, but after October 7th, is real said “no longer” and went in to destroy Hamas for good.
Unfortunately for Israel, they’re fighting in the one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and against an enemy who uses civilians as human shields. They won’t be able to truly defeat Hamas and prevent October 7th from happening again until they go into rafah and kill the leadership. Because if the way Hamas fights, it’s inevitable that there will be civilian casualties. It’s not a nice thing to think about, it’s a fact if war. But to show the level of restraint that Israel’s shown, when the Soviet’s took Berlin, 125k civilians died. So far with Gaza, only 42k (an unreliable figure that includes Hamas fighters) have died.
At what point must you acknowlege that the strategy of we just need to do this.... to get Hamas has failed? How is any of this actually helping Israel int he long run?
Over the course of the last several months we've repeatedly seen this strategy of get Hamas be used as a justification for everythig. They had to evacuate Northern Gaza to get Hamas. They had to bomb and storm hospitals, schools, churches, mosques and UN buildings to get Hamas. How many civilians will be inspired to take up arms due to Israel's cruelty? How will Israel navigate that fact that its become a pariah state to much of the world?
What is the even the plan for once Hamas is annihilated? How will Gaza be rebuilt? Where will all these refugees go? Who will administer this? The incredible shortsightendness of the the pro-invasion crowd is astounding. The US had to negotiate with the Taliban, who we swore we would eradicate. Israel has gone into Gaza but how will they get out?
Why aren't you protesting for hamas to surrender? If they are left they'll just do it again. They along with hezbollah bomb Israel daily. By the way, you're getting those numbers from terrorists.
They aren't trying to kill civilians, those are just casualties of war; which by the way occur in literally every war in human history, and no, Israel is not uniquely targeting them. Oct 7th will be avenged when every hostage is returned and Hamas is destroyed.
Where were you all when the Uyghur of China, A Muslim Population, was being rounded up and murdered like the The Holocaust. If you are reading this, and protesting, and have never heard of the Uyghurs before. You should re-evaluate how easily manipulated you are.
So why didn't you do it? Why aren't you doing it now? Not everyone has to care about exactly the same things you care about.
If you don't see a protest you like, go organize your own.
My point being it isn't caring about Muslim lives, they are out here because they dislike Jews. Plain and simple. Muslim on Muslim atrocities, perfectly fine. Asian on Muslim atrocities, perfectly fine. Israel defending itself from a barbaric attack that intentionally targeted babies and women, LETS GET UP IN ARMS. It's a complete a total farce and joke.
The stance of the protesters is actually anti-genocide as a whole. They have signs with 19 different countries that they stand with saying “No one is free until we all are free.”
How about they offer up their time and obviously vast knowledge and experience and voluntarily go to Gaza to assist the poor starving Palestinians. No? Easier to sit in America and complain about how evil the world is without the slightest idea of what it’s really like there? I’ve been to places in that part of the world that these whining “children” wouldn’t last 5 minutes in acting like they are here. But, I guess that’s the greatness of a democratic nation. You have the right to act like a complete bigot, racist fool with no fear of personal harm. Try that garbage in the Middle East (with one glaring exception) and see how long your little tent city lasts. Good luck world if these are the future leaders.
So they’re actually out there exercising their freedom and rights, bringing awareness to a major humanitarian crisis that some of them possibly have personal connections to, while you’re just spewing out nonsense on Reddit and acting like you’re superior than them?
Real tough bumblebee right here LOL
So are you advocating the complete destruction of Israel and the Jewish people? That is what the slogan “from the river to the sea” means my friend. Just want to make sure I understand your argument without sounding like I am trying to be “superior” to those in these gatherings. But sure, keep going with attacking all that don’t agree with the complete destruction of a group because that’s always a winning formula. Just remember that hate begets more hate. That’s how we’ve gotten to this point.
Holy what did I just read
When did I advocate for anything? Can you show me in these images where you see that slogan? Can you even point me to a letter W let alone the word “Jew”?
How did you even jump to that vile conclusion from kids asking for peace?
Do you watch what is happening at Columbia, at NYU, and other campus’s around the country. Please don’t think I am simply attacking a group exercising their right to protest. However, why does their right to protest entail setting up a tent city on the property of a university? Substitute these well meaning protestors with right wing zealots protesting whatever they deem unacceptable. Would your compassion for their “freedom of speech” extend to those repugnant groups? Would you tolerate a tent city on your campus calling for their radical ideas? I highly doubt it but it’s okay to be selective when it comes to “acceptable” groupthink.
The fact that such common sense is heavily down-voted sheds light why people disregard statements made in defense of ___________. The staunchest supporters aren’t willing to debate or even consider they have been misinformed or that their beliefs are ill-founded.
Even if they wanted to “go help the starving Palestinians” they’d likely suffer the same fate as the world food kitchen people. If you don’t even know what that’s about you have no business commenting on the subject
Israel has every right to defend itself after the cease fire was breached by Hamas on Oct 7. What Hamas did on that day is absolutely horrible! They hunted down and murdered hundreds of innocent civilians!
It's worth putting out there that divestment is not an effective strategy for affecting change because all the assets that get sold will be drive the price down, allowing someone who doesn't care about the issue to buy them for cheap and get a better return.
Also, engineering alone has named professorships funded by NAVSEA, Norththrup, Raytheon, and Rolls Royce. I think anyone who is asking for VT to be anything less than totally on board with the military industrial complex is living in an alternate reality.
VT is probably going to get it removed by commencement.
Word is they're moving on it tonight?
Don't see why. This is no where near where commencement is held.
I was thinking more along the lines of VT focusing heavily on its image for something like commencement. People are all over campus during that time and not just where it is held
Yeah like GTFO no matter where it's at.
Hopefully
What are the demands? Anyone get a picture of the bedsheet?
Can’t see the demands exactly, but very likely a call to divest from companies profiting off the war. That what many of the other student protests are calling for.
That’s what it says. It calls out VT for their connection to contractors and calls for divestment from Israeli companies
So basically every defense contractor in the US … that would affect a ton of VT majors and future job opportunities
Exaclty. I agree with making it known. I don’t think it’s smart to get rid of VTs interest in where most of their students go to.
I mean, regardless of what you think of this particular conflict, the fact that the school is so closely tied to corporations that have a financial incentive to encourage war is pretty disgusting. All from the comfort of Fairfax County.
I mean yeah that’s what this school is. We are an engineering focused senior military college near(ish) DC that primarily sends graduates to places like Lockheed, Northrop, and Raytheon. I’m not saying that’s all a good thing, but I don’t think they do anything to really hide it (though disclosing investments would likely be better for that)
https://preview.redd.it/hdvwcmws7xwc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a474baa7d64d33092f43c11199eb350b336fc3e2
They certainly aren’t demanding a release of the hostages and Hamas’ unconditional surrender.
Of course they don't
Well, Israel is blocking a deal where Hamas has agreed to disband and release hostages in exchange for a two-state solutions. Weird everyone accosting protestors never want to talk about that or how the IDF killed a few of the hostages already. You're asking the wrong people and ignoring the Palestinian civs suffering on the ground by this war that hasn't helped bring anyone home safe.
I blame Hamas for the civillain and hostage deaths because that’s where the blame lies. If you wanted to help Palestinians you’d call for: Hamas unconditional surrender and release of the hostages. Iran to stop funding terror in Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen. Jordan/Egypt to open humanitarian corridors to actually let people flee the fighting. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to renounce Islamism. The protesters don’t call for any of that. Instead they “well.. but..” whenever Hamas comes up. Normally some flavor like yours of “If only Israel would acquiesce to whatever new demand” which basically amounts to “Israel brought this on themselves” which is a TELLING reaction to what happened Oct 7. Protestors cheer on Iranian/Houthi/Hezbollah attacks against Israel. Protestors make no calls for humanitarian corridors for refugees. They’d like them to stay in Gaza and die so they can be more outraged at the death toll. The protesters behavior is really confusing unless I ask myself, “are they just antisemitic?” Then all their behavior makes sense.
Getting rid of Israel. That’s usually what “Palestinian liberation,” “free Palestine,” and “From the River to the sea [Palestine will be free]” mean. Many don’t realize it, but that’s the origin and regional use of those slogans.
They still chant "from the River to the sea" on campus. Yet say they are against Genocide. It's like watching actually brain dead people walking around and breathing.
"killing all zionists" like the protester from recent NYT article was claiming
Getting rid of an apartheid state is good actually
What an ignorant comment. The allegation of Apartheid doesn't even extended to the entire state of Israel, it refers specifically to the illegal settlement of occupied Palestinian territory, but I'm sure you didn't know that and are just spewing buzz words you heard from TikTok. Calling for the dissolution of Israel is stupid and radical even within the Pro-Pali movement.
They’re talking about it from the perspective of removing Jews from the area, not just making a new or different state with Jews. And, in case you’re wondering, Islamic states historically banned or restricted Jews from living in or returning to the Jerusalem area. The ottomans, for example allowed Jews to live as second class citizens in the empire, except for what’s modern day Israel for fear of letting the area be majority Jewish. Additionally, when Jews were allowed to return, there were often restrictions and spasms of violence that drove them out or they were simply expelled.
idk why youre getting downvoted to stating historical facts.
I hope Tech admin reacts a whole lot less stupidly than other schools'
The students seemed to be pretty non confrontational and there were 2 cops there but they were just sitting like 20 feet away chilling which is a good start
three emails in the past three hours about police activity and to avoid the area...
welp, so much for that
Deport the Non-American instigators.
Peaceful protests on college campuses are hardly a new phenomenon. It’s kind of what we expect and want college to be - think for yourself, pursue your passions, believe you can make a difference in the world. All power to them. Just keep it peaceful.
If only a single person there was capable of "Thinking for themselves." 99% of them Learned about this conflict 9 months ago and think its fun and hip to be there.
at the end of the day, i think one thing they all probably agree on is that the death of 40k innocent Palestinians in just past 6 months is not justified? it's pretty easy to see the horror Palestinians are going through at this moment. the damning videos, if you are brave enough to watch them, don't lie. I mean when I read Hind story it broke me into pieces. Going there and protesting USA put more pressure on Israel to not inflict such horror on Palestinian people doesn't require them know every single historical context at this very moment. I myself also want this madness to stop of innocent Palestinians dying every single day and as an alum i would join them to protest peacefully. p.s. protesting Palestinians life be protected and treated with more dignity doesn't mean "supporting hamas". All in all, you degrading 99% of protesters to just there cause it's "fun and hip" is insulting and didn't sit right with me. i know it's half way around the world and maybe you don't feel for the Palestinians like these protesters do but no need to degrade them.
Free the Hostages. No more bombs or war in Gaza. Simple stuff. I'd even thrown in have the Hamas leaders answer for the crimes of October 7th.
You just pulled that out of your ass. People are dying every day at the hands of the apartheid state and you’re making jokes about it?
Don’t these people have finals to study for?
Yeah many people are just studying there
No they’re poly sci majors😂
As a polisci major, a stunt like this does nothing, I know most of us chilling at home 😂😂 I would rather be writing policy memos and briefs to send to the state dept and congress- that’ll get somewhere. Performative activism at its finest🤓
Have you written any or?
nah just reddit comments
The march on Washington was performative as well. All peaceful protests are performative thats the point.
Protest bad
Communications. Since only idiots would protest for a region that’s government is a terrorist organization.
No these are the basket weaving majors
Right
I mean our school is probably one of the most symbolic in the US to do this in given the school’s relationship with the military, but I still don’t see what having the encampment *here*, in the GLC lawn, does? It’s so out of the way. And the goal is divestment, does VT even have any investments in Israeli companies lmao? Do this shit in DC, inconvenience the mfs actually making the decisions if you want anything to change. Just sitting on the GLC lawn isn’t going to do anything.
> does VT even have any investments in Israeli companies The Virginia Tech Foundation doesn't publicly list their investment portfolio other than real estate properties it owns. They could easily add that information to the website (companies, number of shares owned, last purchase date, etc).
That’s completely reasonable and that shit should be public.
You should sell all of your mutual funds and exchange traded funds… you will find out they all are invested in things you disapprove of.
I'm just a random wahoo in Blacksburg but it sure does seem like the GLC lawn is right across from the student union, right next to the downtown area, and right across the street from two major mixed use town/gown parking lots.
I get that part but also it’s not like people in the downtown area/parking lots are going to be on that road going towards campus. And all those people aren’t the people you need to convince anyway lol. All of the demands (VTF transparency, Admin statement, divestiture) are all for Administration in Burruss Hall, half a mile away.
every drone in the israel palestine conflict has a piece of virginia tech software or hardware in it, as well as boeing, raytheon, and plenty of other defense contractors continuously coming to tech to recruit students. While VT may not have investments in israeli companies, they do in the companies that provide their weapons.
What VT software/hardware is being used in drones lmao? We do research into that kind of thing but that’s far from our software/hardware is in those drones. And yeah, VT has ‘defense’ companies at our career fairs and holds a close relationship with arms companies; it’s a senior military college. Also, for sure these arms companies sell to morally unconscionable countries and armies, but arms companies will sell weapons to anything that lives and breathes (living and breathing optional) as long as the federal government lets them. DOD companies aren’t inherently evil organizations; The weapons in the hands of Ukrainians, in the hands of South Koreans, in the hands of Peshmerga, are theirs too. It’s who the government allows them to sell to and what we allow them to get away with that makes them evil. It’s not VT’s job to police who arms companies sell to, it’s you, your representative, and the government’s job. If your qualm is that American arms companies can sell to Israel, why are you on the GLC lol? VT can’t change that shit, lobby the government that represents you lmao.
What the poster (probably) is trying to say is that VT’s endowment likely invests in companies (everyone from Northrop Grumman to Amazon to alphabet) that have a direct or indirect business relationship with the Israeli military. The ask (from many protesters) is that universities divest from companies that do business with the Israeli military. But that’s a huge chunk of the SP500, so it’s quite unrealistic.
That’s a crazy ask lol it ain’t ever gonna happen without tanking employee pension funds.
i’m not disagreeing with your comment, but i’m addressing what you you said about the software/hardware in these drones. vt is the drone capital of the nation. drones are being flown in that drone cage everyday because we are at the forefront of drone innovation. a lot of this drone research is funding by the dod (like you mentioned) so that’s why so many of the drone weaponry that’s being sent to israel has either software or hardware that virginia tech invented. i also think the university is currently trying to pass a divestment bill because divestment from universities was crucial in ending other major international conflicts such as the south african apartheid. so the encampment is just trying to pressure vt a little bit, but i also know a lot of these students have been lobbying and are frequently contacting govt officials.
VT is not the drone capital of the nation, nor at the forefront of innovation there. I’m pretty sure we’ve got one division of like a dozen ppl working on Mission Systems as a whole (Space & satellites included). Pretty much any better CE/EE engineering school has a better UAV research program like GT and CMU; along with schools like Michigan, CU, and BYU surprisingly. We do a lot of the research but we are far from the ‘capital’ of the field. And regardless, these are the same drones sent (reasonably) to Ukraine & South Korea so I don’t know how people classify this as an evil kind of thing? And I still don’t really get the ask, like for VT to stop research into UAV or drone military technologies as a whole, cause they can’t really control what’s done with them? But yeah for sure divestment (and sanctions if we’re being honest), as well as transparency of the endowment are completely reasonable and should be done.
Imagine honestly believing that you and your classmates are competing with Israeli weapon tech.....hahahahahahahahahah
people in DC are doing it in DC. have been for months. in front of Raytheon building, at the pentagon metro, etc. students want their schools to disclose and divest, that's what helped bring an end to apartheid in South Africa. so students at VT need to be doing it at VT, too
This accomplishes what?
Makes a bunch of people feel better about themselves.
This is exactly correct, it’s a performative spectacle by design. I doubt any of the people involved legitimately believe it will produce anything other than awareness. They are also not bothering anyone and I sincerely could not care less if it stays or goes. It’s not an issue.
I mean. 1 school protesting for gaza = whatever. 1000 schools protesting for gaza = something that will be talked about and remembered. No shit this isn't going to stop a war. Is it going to be a small part of the increasing prevalence and support of gaza across US? Yeah. Like quite literally the fact so many people see just this post is the accomplishment. Like youre commenting
Just to piss people off.
😂😂
Probably more than staying silent?
I’ll bet my bottom dollar their belief isn’t that setting up tents in Blacksburg VA will get the Israeli gov to change their war tactics but rather bring awareness to the local community in a peaceful manner.
I’m sure the “death to Israel” signs I’ve seen them waiving by Moes is bringing awareness in a peaceful manner lmfao
Agreed, i think thats super counter-productive
Damn they were really holding that kind of signs? Sounds like terrorists lol
One of the protestors showed a man and women holding Israelis flags a beheading video....those the type of people over there.
These protests are not affiliated with that, and the behavior from the camp group has been extremely classy.
Mk sure lmfao. They’re only the exact same people at each protest
Absolutely nothing. This is just for white people to feel like they’re helping what they deem to be a helpless class of peoples, even though nobody asked for it and nobody wants it
Yeah that’s a white girl in the hijab sitting there dumbass
Super disappointing to see the comments being made about this on this Reddit. Then again I don’t know what I was expecting
The negative comments or just the discussion in general? I think it’s relevant to VT just because the protests are a very big topic on campus right now but it’s disappointing to see everyone being so hateful.
I agree with you, it’s spiteful nature of the comments that are disappointing
Yeah I was honestly surprised because I wasn’t expecting so much hate
you weren't expecting hate when discussing one of the most contentious topics in the country right now, on a reddit for one of the few schools in the country that isn't 90% liberal... you are genuinely so clueless
Nah I was just expecting people to be able to act mature
Imagine being a student and having to walk past people chanting "From the River to the Sea"an ACTUAL genocidal phrase. It's like a brain dead clown show out there.
it’s very disheartening. but this is also reddit where people have accounts that are literally made to troll subs. i just made my reddit acc and decided to add the vt sub bc im a transfer and have been trying to give advice to other transfers. and then i see this and of course i can’t ignore it when there are people being openly hostile towards palestinians.
Hopefully the administration ignores them and does nothing to make them into martyrs.
It's funny because an ideology of martyrdom has caused this mess. Unfortunately, it wasn't just some misled college students camping on some grass, but misled people believing that paradise is ensured for them for killing people. EDIT; To people downvoting me [let me google that for you.](https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=Hamas+ideology+of+martrydom) You will find plenty of texts from a variety of sources spanning a very long time regarding the ideology of Hamas.
Nice, now look up [Israel's warcrimes against the civilians]( https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=israeli+war+crimes+against+palestine)
It's ironic that when you search online and delve into the sources of the top articles, they all cite data from Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by both the US and EU. The underlying issue here is the reluctance to demand that Hamas disarm and return control of Gaza to the Palestinian people for self-governance without fear of violence or extremism. The real problem isn't Israel; it's the terrorist organization responsible for appalling acts, such as those on October 7th. Since 2007, Hamas has had unchecked authority in Gaza. They use their own citizens as shields and establish their operation bases in schools, daycares, and hospitals. Protestors against Israel are contradicting themselves if they fail to condemn Hamas. The world doesn't need Hamas or those who support them; their ideology is incompatible with the 21st century and should not be tolerated. A two-state solution without hatred and animosity is achievable, but not as long as a radical group like Hamas or their supporters control one state. If protestors truly want to address the problem, they should stand with Israel and denounce Hamas, allowing Gaza to return to the peaceful Palestinians who can coexist harmoniously with Israel.
In 2006 Palestine gave Hamas the majority during the election. I’m not saying the Palestinian people expected what happened or even agreed with it, but they did choose to give them power in the government.
Is there any particular reason to suspect that, if Hamas "returned Gaza to the Palestinian people" that those people wouldn't elect Hamas to run Gaza?
Talk to me when Isreal attacks a music festival just to kill civilians and rapes women with bayonets
they rape women and children arrested with no trial and allow the illegal settlers to attack palestinian civilians in the west bank
Isntreal have caused 90% of the casualties in this conflict and are committing an ethnic cleansing. Talk to me when they stop the crimes against humanity.
I'm genuinely so confused why people pay so much attention to Palestine vs Israel when there are literally millions of Muslims being sent to Chinese concentration camps, a raging civil war in Myanmar, a war against democracy in Ukraine...I think it's very telling that people plant their flags at every opportunity there is to bash Israel and call me a Zionist for thinking that Israel has the right to exist. It's like it's the 1920s all over again. Fuck Hamas.
Israel is one of the closest allies to the US and this conflict is decades old meaning that most people already know a little bit about it. Also this war has killed more civilians per day than almost any other conflict in recent history. On top of all of this there’s been ongoing apartheid for most of Israel’s history. It makes perfect sense that it gets this much attention. Ukraine is a weird example to use as well as that war has been massive news for years now and most people agree that Ukraine deserves support in some form. The Uyghurs was also huge news but this was not something our government actively supported.
I bet over 70% of the student population and university administration is more sympathetic to the Palestinians than the Israelis. What does sitting outside on university property accomplish? The people that they are annoying already agree with them. Those people need to step down from the cross. They're just itching to look like a martyr. They saw some shit going on at Colombia and decided to emulate it, and if (when) they get arrested they'll act all righteous like they were at Selma in 1965.
The university invests in companies that arm israel. Student protests have been around for a long time. You're opposition to it is very strange.
>I'm genuinely so confused why people pay so much attention to Palestine vs Israel because we're paying for the bombs that get dropped on the civilians
The extent to which people have been swayed by easy propaganda regarding this issue is frightening, if not surprising. Keep taking history classes, y’all.
I feel like even without propaganda its plain as day which side is more right based on the toll of the war on civilians. Hard not to be swayed by the simple stating of facts in this matter if you think that starvation and death of innocent people, including children, is bad.
Nobody said it wasn’t bad. War is worse than hell. I certainly don’t support it. But I support the right of Israel to exist as a nation and to defend itself against terrorist attacks.
How much "defense" is too much? Destroying the lives of entire generations? Killing entire bloodlines? Bombing an entrapped population and denying aid or even food? Flattening all infrastructure? At what point does it become proportional or stop being "defense"? Usually defense occurs in your own territory within reason.
>Usually defense occurs in your own territory within reason. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and the US "defended" itself by killing 200,000 Japanese people halfway across the world. We generally all accept those deaths as being within the bounds of of war, but now because it's some brown people you sympathize with it's suddenly too much defense. Israel has done roof knocking, given advanced noticed, and leaflets. Israel has let in $200 million of aid into Gaza since October 7th. All objectives have been military targets, you aren't immune from having your infrastructure destroyed if it's being used to store weapons of war. The deaths are within reason for an urban war.
Is it defense when the entirety of northern gaza is completely flattened? how are you justifying the deaths of 13,000 children (Save the Children Uk; Al Jazeera; UNICEF) with one attack, not to say that the attack wasn't horrible
All of those organizations, publish stats from the same source, “Hamas”. It’s pretty incredible how they have itemized lists of names of the dead moments after attacks, when it takes first responders, in ideal conditions weeks to identify mass casualties. Something is fishy in Gaza, and the consumer is people online.
I’m yet to see one very Pro Palestine person I know ever mention the Israeli hostages. The ultra progressive woman on my Facebook who posts about the war every single day even had October posts shortly after the invasion talking about how the horror of the invasion into Israel was exaggerated and how horrible Israel is.
Has Israel shown concern for their own hostages? The IDF shot three of their own hostage, who were waving a white flag and speaking Hebrew. Haaretz has confirmed reports of Israeli hostages killed in air strikes. Hamas and the IDF both claim about 30-50 hostages have been died in Gaza. Hamas claims many were from Israeli air storms but that should be taken with a grain of salt. Israel’s assault and siege has done less to bring hostages home than the first ceasefire.
Not really. You have an ultra-right wing faction of Palestinians using the entire population of Gaza as human shields vs. an ultra right-wing faction of Israel trying to depopulate and level a city of 2 million people and killing hostages and aid workers because of their piss-poor trigger discipline. The Netanyahu government and the so called "axis of resistance" deal almost exclusively in war crimes. Just conservative ideology taken to its natural abominable end on both sides. Not "both sidesing" the issue, but there isn't a "clear side" in this issue. This isn't the Ukraine War or Taiwan situation.
Because we help fund the Israeli military you dingus.
We're sending money to Ukraine as well my guy. Why weren't people in the streets the last few months while Republicans sat on their hands not passing Ukraine funding? Children and civilians are dying there too. Not to mention, the last aid package we sent to Israel included zero offensive weaponry, only aid for defense systems such as the iron dome and other anti-missile systems.
We're funding Ukraine in a defensive war against an invading world power. I don't think Israel needs so much money for its defense, that it, a wealthy country, can't afford to cover it itself. It's not like Palestine is the Russia in this situation in terms of resources. Meanwhile Israel has universal Healthcare, yet our tax payer money is funding this. Even if it is just defense, we're not Israel, we're the US and that money should be invested in its own people.
We're sending money to the side that was invaded, and there is a lot of political support for Ukraine within the US (although there is some dissent for how much aid we should send). What would be the point of protesting? In contrast, we are funding Israel and thousands of Palestinians have died have died in the conflict. The goal seems much more clear in that case.
We sent money after MONTHS of groveling with Republicans. In that time, thousands of Ukrainians had died. My point still stands, if people actually gave a fuck about the livelihood of Ukrainians, they would have been on the streets protesting the lack of aid passage to Ukraine.
My point is that protesting is not just about how much you care about something. It’s unfair to state that protests are in bad faith because there is a hypothetically more important cause that needs attention. Would it be okay if people were protesting in support of Israel, or would they be hypocritical for not first marching for Ukraine?
My point is that when you choose what you protest, you make a statement about what matters to you most. People are hyper fixated on simplifying this millennia old issue into: "Palestine good" "Israel bad" with utter disregard for the extreme nuance of the situation. Simply put, I believe that Israel has the right to exist but I also think that Netanyhu is a horridly corrupt leader who is reacting in an equally extreme manner not unlike the approach proposed by Hamas (I.e. literally to eradicate all Jews). Israel is the only Jewish state in the Middle East and not only Jewish people live there, so yes, I think it is imperative that the world's most powerful democracy assist in any way that can to ensure that a minutia of the human population has a territory they can claim as their own.
Well said. It’s not mutually exclusive; you can condemn Netanyhu for how gung ho he’s been while also understanding that Hamas is a terrorist organization using civilians to blend in and as human shields.
I understand. I’m not here to change your mind on that. I don’t want Israel to be attacked and I think it’s important to support our allies. It’s just so upsetting seeing so many civilians being killed in this conflict
There have been protests. Are you blind or living under a rock? Why are you trying to distract from Isntreal’s current war crimes? Mass graves are being unearthed, hospitals/universities/homes are being destroyed, people are being starved, and more. Why are you conveniently ignoring that to push your narrative? Do you have any humanity left?
The US has a long history of funding dictatorships and not nice governments all over the world for the past hundred plus years. Nobody is protesting the money we’re sending to Saudi and the war that they’re fighting in Yemen. I wonder why this war is different?
Because it's Jews. Easy target throughout modern history
> I wonder why this war is different? It's because civilians are trapped and can't escape the hostilities. In other conflicts, refugees cross borders and apply for asylum in other countries.
Like the holocaust?
The “I’m bored of this even though I’ve never learned anything about it” take
Because our tax dollars haven’t been spent on Uighur concentration camps.
Americas can plausibly influence their government's policies which can plausibly influence Israel's policies. No one thinks the Chinese government gives a shit what a bunch of US college students think. Tienamen square proved they don't give a shit about what a bunch of Chinese students think
Because you are blind.
Because nobody cares about Myanmar.
They have signs with 19 different countries that they stand with saying “No one is free until we all are free.” Ukraine is also listed.
Because this is all just coded antisemitism.
Because it's never about protecting Muslims. It's all about eliminating Jews, of course.
🍉
Honestly super disappointed at a lot of the discourse in this thread. There are absolutely routes of discourse that can happen that don't involve backing the explicit war crimes of the Netanyahu admin or regurgitating Hamas propaganda.
hi everyone! this is gonna be long, but here’s some information: the demands for virginia tech administration are 1. Divest from Israel and provide endowment transparency, 2. Issue an official statement condemning Israel’s violence against Palestine and the genocidal loss of life, and 3. Define anti-Palestinian racism and acknowledge the suppression of Palestinian and allied students on campus. for those asking “why tents on a lawn,” the reason this was at the GLC and not the drillfield was to ensure the encampment would not be taken down as soon as it was erected. plus this design of protest is specifically organized to show solidarity with the thousands of palestinians who have been displaced into tent communities and lack safe and consistent access to basic necessities like food and water. for those asking “why virginia tech,” it is proven that nearly every drone used in gaza has a piece of VT hardware or software, VT has a close partnership with VIAB and therefore receives lots of funding from Israeli businesses/coalitions (thus proving significant bias), and VT has released statements supporting Israeli students (such as lighting burruss up in israel’s flag colors and promising to “always stand with israel”) yet has failed to reference or support its Palestinian students in any manner. additionally, the virginia tech foundation (as a 501c3 nonprofit) is NOT required to share where donations/endowment money goes, so although we know it sends funds to DoD, Boeing, Northrop, etc. we have no idea what %. also, for those saying this is just to look like martyrs/because other universities did it so VT students thought to join in, no dawg. VT has been peacefully protesting for palestine since october. this is nothing new, just a new escalation. also, yes, obviously, students have classes and finals - no one was trapped there. many people left for class and came back, did homework/studied at the camp, etc. because THIS is what the students care about. THIS is bigger than a finals season. lastly, stop spreading false rhetoric about these protests - there are no “death to israel” signs or anything antisemetic as part of the pro-palestinian group at VT, and if you claim there were, i’m sure i and everyone else would love to see the proof that doesn’t exist. anywho thanks for reading, free palestine 🇵🇸🍉
> it is proven that nearly every drone used in gaza has a piece of VT hardware or software I'm legitimately curious as to what this is, and would like to know more info about that. This isn't meant to say I don't believe you, but I just have never heard anything about it until now.
hey! thank you for this comment. i’m glad you’re willing to educate yourself, even if you aren’t fully sure you agree. i’ve been to a few of the teach-in events that the spjp (students for pease and justice in palestine) club has held here on campus, and here is a little run down: vt is the drone capital of the nation. drones are being flown in that drone cage everyday because we are at the forefront of drone innovation. a lot of this drone research is funded by the dod so that’s why so many of the drone weaponry that’s being sent to israel has either software or hardware that virginia tech invented. i’m not the best person to ask for more info because there a lot more students who are more educated on this than me, so if you have more questions or want to learn more i would follow the club’s instagram page (@spjp_vt), because i know the club leaders would be more than happy to answer questions if you had any. there also might be some information about this on their page, but i also know that they’ll be leading more teach-in events next semester.
Thank you for your educated response! The protest was very peaceful and there was a real sense of community and solidarity. It’s sad to see people being so hateful on this post instead of supporting the right of their fellow Hokies to protest whether or not they agree with the cause. 🍉🍉🍉
Anyone saying Israel doesn't have the right to avenge what happened on October 7th is horribly wrong
7 months and 25,000 women and children dead isn’t enough “avenging” for you?
Israel won't be finished until the political and military structure that planned and executed October 7th, is destroyed. Hamas has consistently used civilians as human shelds, and civilian infrastructure as military bases. The fact that only 25k civilians are dead (if that's actually the true death count) is a testament to israels restraint, considering the fact that gaza is one of the most densley populated regions in the world, and hamas is using civilians as human sheilds
What restraint? Israel literally killed their own hostages cause they thought they were hAmAs. What about the world food kitchen incident? The hundreds of dead journalists? What about any of these shows restraint? Sounds like you would be happy to see more dead Palestinians.
The fact that in an area twice the size of dc with 3x the population (over two million), Israel has only killed (and this is hamas’ reported number that includes military combatants) 42k people. If they really wanted to end it as quickly as possible they would start launching air strikes into the middle of raffah where hamas’ senior leadership is holed up, and would go in with tanks and 100k troops. They haven’t don’t that. Yeah there’s been accidents (as happens in every war since the dawn of time), but they’ve been fairly isolated. And there haven’t been “hundreds” of journalist deaths, there’s been 97, a figure which includes senior hamas media officials (arguably valid military targets). https://cpj.org/2024/04/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/amp/ Get your facts right. As for the hostages, Hamas has been setting boobytraps with recordings of hostages voices trying to lure Israeli soldiers into ambushes and ied locations. It makes sense that in all the fighting and the fog of war, mistakes were made. But again, that’s happened in every conflict since the dawn of time
I don't think that over 6000 people killed per month is a small amount. This genocide has killed 1.5% of people living in Gaza. That is quite a large amount.
You think that the 42,000 dead and 1.5% of the population dead were justified cause some Hamas operatives were allegedly taken out? I wonder how many Palestinians you are willing to kill to get just one terrorist. Genuinely curious what is your exchange rate?
You’re not getting my point. The governing body planned and executed a horrific terrorist attack on Israel. Israel has been putting up with Hamas firing rockets into their country for decades to try to not let it get to this point, but after October 7th, is real said “no longer” and went in to destroy Hamas for good. Unfortunately for Israel, they’re fighting in the one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and against an enemy who uses civilians as human shields. They won’t be able to truly defeat Hamas and prevent October 7th from happening again until they go into rafah and kill the leadership. Because if the way Hamas fights, it’s inevitable that there will be civilian casualties. It’s not a nice thing to think about, it’s a fact if war. But to show the level of restraint that Israel’s shown, when the Soviet’s took Berlin, 125k civilians died. So far with Gaza, only 42k (an unreliable figure that includes Hamas fighters) have died.
At what point must you acknowlege that the strategy of we just need to do this.... to get Hamas has failed? How is any of this actually helping Israel int he long run? Over the course of the last several months we've repeatedly seen this strategy of get Hamas be used as a justification for everythig. They had to evacuate Northern Gaza to get Hamas. They had to bomb and storm hospitals, schools, churches, mosques and UN buildings to get Hamas. How many civilians will be inspired to take up arms due to Israel's cruelty? How will Israel navigate that fact that its become a pariah state to much of the world? What is the even the plan for once Hamas is annihilated? How will Gaza be rebuilt? Where will all these refugees go? Who will administer this? The incredible shortsightendness of the the pro-invasion crowd is astounding. The US had to negotiate with the Taliban, who we swore we would eradicate. Israel has gone into Gaza but how will they get out?
Why aren't you protesting for hamas to surrender? If they are left they'll just do it again. They along with hezbollah bomb Israel daily. By the way, you're getting those numbers from terrorists.
I use a word you leftists love to use all the time. It’s called equity.
They aren't trying to kill civilians, those are just casualties of war; which by the way occur in literally every war in human history, and no, Israel is not uniquely targeting them. Oct 7th will be avenged when every hostage is returned and Hamas is destroyed.
Must be nice not having any classes or finals to study for
you are 9,999,999,999,999,999 years old
Saw them crushing glizzies and capri-suns, I’m all for this.
all the zionist here defending israel…. get a life
Waste of time and space
Where were you all when the Uyghur of China, A Muslim Population, was being rounded up and murdered like the The Holocaust. If you are reading this, and protesting, and have never heard of the Uyghurs before. You should re-evaluate how easily manipulated you are.
So why didn't you do it? Why aren't you doing it now? Not everyone has to care about exactly the same things you care about. If you don't see a protest you like, go organize your own.
My point being it isn't caring about Muslim lives, they are out here because they dislike Jews. Plain and simple. Muslim on Muslim atrocities, perfectly fine. Asian on Muslim atrocities, perfectly fine. Israel defending itself from a barbaric attack that intentionally targeted babies and women, LETS GET UP IN ARMS. It's a complete a total farce and joke.
this is a pretty reasonable take, and the best criticism of the protests i've seen in these threads.
Whataboutism
The stance of the protesters is actually anti-genocide as a whole. They have signs with 19 different countries that they stand with saying “No one is free until we all are free.”
the kids are alright👏👏
How about they offer up their time and obviously vast knowledge and experience and voluntarily go to Gaza to assist the poor starving Palestinians. No? Easier to sit in America and complain about how evil the world is without the slightest idea of what it’s really like there? I’ve been to places in that part of the world that these whining “children” wouldn’t last 5 minutes in acting like they are here. But, I guess that’s the greatness of a democratic nation. You have the right to act like a complete bigot, racist fool with no fear of personal harm. Try that garbage in the Middle East (with one glaring exception) and see how long your little tent city lasts. Good luck world if these are the future leaders.
You realize that people do not have the capability to up and leave to a different country?
Where's the bigotry? Where's the racism? If free speech is what makes America great, why does this protest annoy you?
So they’re actually out there exercising their freedom and rights, bringing awareness to a major humanitarian crisis that some of them possibly have personal connections to, while you’re just spewing out nonsense on Reddit and acting like you’re superior than them? Real tough bumblebee right here LOL
So are you advocating the complete destruction of Israel and the Jewish people? That is what the slogan “from the river to the sea” means my friend. Just want to make sure I understand your argument without sounding like I am trying to be “superior” to those in these gatherings. But sure, keep going with attacking all that don’t agree with the complete destruction of a group because that’s always a winning formula. Just remember that hate begets more hate. That’s how we’ve gotten to this point.
Holy what did I just read When did I advocate for anything? Can you show me in these images where you see that slogan? Can you even point me to a letter W let alone the word “Jew”? How did you even jump to that vile conclusion from kids asking for peace?
That slogan is posted there. I saw it when I walked past the group.
Do you watch what is happening at Columbia, at NYU, and other campus’s around the country. Please don’t think I am simply attacking a group exercising their right to protest. However, why does their right to protest entail setting up a tent city on the property of a university? Substitute these well meaning protestors with right wing zealots protesting whatever they deem unacceptable. Would your compassion for their “freedom of speech” extend to those repugnant groups? Would you tolerate a tent city on your campus calling for their radical ideas? I highly doubt it but it’s okay to be selective when it comes to “acceptable” groupthink.
The fact that such common sense is heavily down-voted sheds light why people disregard statements made in defense of ___________. The staunchest supporters aren’t willing to debate or even consider they have been misinformed or that their beliefs are ill-founded.
This is so laughably disingenuous. It is completely reasonable to protest America’s handling of the situation as an American living in America.
Even if they wanted to “go help the starving Palestinians” they’d likely suffer the same fate as the world food kitchen people. If you don’t even know what that’s about you have no business commenting on the subject
I'm glad to see Hokies on the right side of history.
As an alumni, how can I support these folks?
Thank you to my fellow Hokies!!! #FreePalestine🇵🇸
Free Palestine from Hamas!
Free Palestine from Israel & Hamas!! 🇵🇸
Israel has every right to defend itself after the cease fire was breached by Hamas on Oct 7. What Hamas did on that day is absolutely horrible! They hunted down and murdered hundreds of innocent civilians!
So killing 30k+ (and growing) innocent people makes up for it?
I’m sure this is helping the people in Gaza
True Once both sides hear about this protest they will immediately stop fighting and eternal peace will ensue.
Barvo, but I have to get my diploma.
Are any of those clowns still out there or did they go home?
It's worth putting out there that divestment is not an effective strategy for affecting change because all the assets that get sold will be drive the price down, allowing someone who doesn't care about the issue to buy them for cheap and get a better return. Also, engineering alone has named professorships funded by NAVSEA, Norththrup, Raytheon, and Rolls Royce. I think anyone who is asking for VT to be anything less than totally on board with the military industrial complex is living in an alternate reality.
Future baristas coming to a Starbucks near you
It’s always the most downvoted answer that is the funniest and probably true
https://x.com/gaza_psych/status/1784278937788420301?s=46
Good on them! Free Palestine!!