Despite weeks of pro-Palestinian protests, colleges and universities have not divested from Israel. President Biden is still sending weapons to the Israel Defense Forces. That all appears unlikely to change, no matter how many commencements are canceled.
The pro-Palestinian movement’s mistake was choosing a “Hamilton Hall” protest model instead of a “Parkland” one.
The Hamilton Hall model is based on the 1968 tactics of Columbia University students protesting the Vietnam War and the university’s planned expansion into Harlem. The students occupied five campus buildings, including Hamilton Hall and held a dean hostage overnight. The result was a disaster: 700 hundred students were arrested, 100 were injured, and the New York City Police Department was justly condemned for using excessive force.
Parkland refers to the response of students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, to a school shooting that killed 17 of their classmates in 2018. The traumatized students started a peaceful March For Our Lives movement with 300 chapters nationwide, testified in Congress and........