the war in Gaza assimilated to the Vietnam War

American students saved America’s honor by protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza and setting up tent camps on campuses like those in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. These pro-Palestinian demonstrations involved about a hundred universities, including the most prestigious, from the Atlantic to California, from the north to the south.

These protests began on April 17, 2024 at the prestigious Columbia University located in New York. They have expanded to California (UCLA, Berkeley, Humboldt), Harvard (Massachusetts), Yale (Connecticut), Rice (Texas), Bloomington (Indiana), Rutgers (New Jersey), Northwestern (Chicago) and other universities. At some universities, teachers and even Jewish students joined the demonstrations. Wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, the students chanted “long live free Palestine”, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will win”, “Zionism is ultimately a form of violence”.

Let’s recall that after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which caused the death of 1,200 people and the taking of 240 hostages, the Israeli army immediately responded first with airstrikes, and then with ground operations in the north, center and south of the country. Gaza. The total number of Palestinian losses to date is 34,654 dead and 77,908 injured, 80% of whom are women and children, and the destruction of almost all infrastructure and residential buildings. While the Gaza Strip received 500 trucks a day, Israeli forces allowed only a reduced number of trucks to pass through, causing a situation of hunger due to lack of food and disease due to lack of medicine, especially among children. The UN estimates that the reconstruction of Gaza will cost 40 billion dollars. President Biden has repeatedly reiterated the United States’ “unwavering support for Israel.” He gave Israel an additional budget of 13 billion dollars and continued to supply it with weapons.

Protesters at American universities have called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. They criticized the policies of the Biden administration and demanded an end to financial and military aid to Israel. They also called for severing ties with Israeli universities and American companies that supply arms and services to Israel.

At Columbia University, they named a university building “Hind’s Hall” in honor of a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza named Hind. The reaction of the administration of the American university was varied. Some have tried to negotiate with students, such as Brown University, which effected the dismantling of the camp by accepting a divestment vote from the companies that enable and profit from the genocide in Gaza. Counter-protesters, mostly Jews, attacked students and camps. University administrators then called the police, who dismantled the camps and arrested 2,000.

Israeli and American officials responded to these student protests. The Israelis, as usual, described these demonstrations as anti-Semitic. Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the “terrifying renewal of anti-Semitism” and that “American universities are contaminated with hatred.” Israel’s economy minister said “the protesters don’t know what they’re talking about.”

President Biden said that “Americans have the right to peaceful protests, but order must prevail.” Donald Trump, ever the maximalist, said “The police raid in Colombia was a magnificent thing to watch.” He added that the student protesters are “radical left-wing freaks and we have to stop them now, they are paid agitators, we have to put an end to the anti-Semitism that is flooding our country today.” Both Israeli and American officials falsely invoke anti-Semitism because Palestine is a political issue of liberation from Israeli occupation of its territory.

Some observers equated the war in Gaza there is the one from Vietnam who there is opposed the United States to North Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. The war in Gaza was worse, because the Viet Cong were armed, while in Gaza the Israeli army mostly attacked unarmed civilians who had no air defense system. Israeli fighter pilots destroy and kill Palestinian civilians and return quietly and safely to their base. On November 15, 1969, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Washington to express their opposition to the maintenance of American troops in Vietnam and staged a “death march.” The United States eventually left Vietnam.

In conclusion, the Palestinian cause is just, and other pro-Palestinian demonstrations were held at Sciences-po (France), Mc Gill (Canada), the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the University of Sydney (Australia). Talks are currently underway in Cairo for a second 40-day truce with an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. They failed because Hamas demanded a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza. Netanyahu, for his part, refuses and confirms his intention to attack the city of Rafah, which is crowded with about 1.5 million Palestinians. If it happens, it will be a real carnage. Sooner or later there will be a Palestinian state, because wars of liberation always triumph in the end. For example, the liberation wars against colonialism and against apartheid.

Author: Jawad KERDOUDI

PresidentIMRI

(Moroccan Institute of International Relations)