Chris Selley: Nothing is less educational than a political protest

Good teachers can make good lessons out of political demonstrations ... but how many good teachers do we have?

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Ask anti-Israel protesters why their movement seems so dedicated to wearing masks when they take to the streets, and usually you’ll hear some version of what the New York Times heard during the university encampments earlier this year: to offset “the risk of being doxxed by pro-Israel groups accusing them of antisemitism, featured by news media or captured in viral videos.”

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“If I give my name, I lose my future,” a Northwestern University student told the Times.

Protest is so much more credible when participants have the courage of their convictions — when protesters are actually willing to risk something for the cause, as opposed, say, to demanding meal service and bathroom access from the universities they despise while they occupy and vandalize their campuses.

But identification isn’t a particularly far-fetched concern. During the protests at Columbia University, Bloomberg News obtained more than 100 pages of freedom-of-information documents showing how the Federal Protective Service — a branch of Homeland Security responsible for protecting most federal-government buildings and their occupants — was keeping tabs on anti-Israel protesters. On both sides of the border, we have seen prominent lawyers and law firms pledge never to hire certain anti-Israel protesters.

Now set aside your........

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