It has been deeply disheartening to see that some of the world’s greatest educational institutions – representations of the world’s brightest minds – are no longer the bastions of free thought and speech as we once thought they were.

American students, however, are still carrying a fervent flame of protest in their support for Palestine in what may be its darkest hour. A wave of solidarity camps, echoing the spirit of the student revolution of the 1960s against the Vietnam War, has emerged from the historic halls of Columbia University to the grounds of MIT, Yale and Harvard. At the forefront of this movement stands Columbia University, a long-time fortress for the American imperial elites, where hundreds of students have challenged the institution’s ties to Israel’s oppression. This act of defiance has echoed across the nation, with over seven top universities joining the cause, and they have been met with fierce resistance.

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Student activism has always been a critical part of social justice, and the style of these solidarity camps are strikingly similar to those against the Vietnam War in the 60s. Just as television coverage of the Vietnam War brought the horrors of conflict into the living rooms of Americans, so too has digital media exposed the brutality of the genocide in Gaza. The more people have seen, they more they have condemned. The parallels, however, can also be seen in the response to these protests as well. The imperial state of the 1960s never took kindly to the counterculture movements, nor the civil rights movement of the time. Dissent will always look the same to those in control. Hundreds of students have been arrested, and the movement has been condemned by all top stakeholders, including Joe Biden.

History has shown, however, that such efforts only galvanise resistance. Solidarity camps being set up in universities all over the West can make a real impact on global perception of this genocide. The involvement of police must be avoided at all costs; coercion and punishment will only breed further radicalism.

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At the start of 2020, we saw millions protest against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, exercising their right to peaceful assembly. Police brutality, however, does not hold a candle to what is happening in Gaza at the moment, and justice demands that we extend this freedom to those who cannot simply bear witness to a massacre.