Nowadays, when people talk about protests, they usually refer to pro-Palestinian demonstrations, so that’s what I’ll discuss in this posting.
That’s because Black Lives Matter marches have receded into history, and there won’t be a Democratic version of January 6 although I’m sure Trump would relish such an opportunity to beat up or shoot people for doing what his followers did then.
Palestinian militants have a long history of conscience-shocking violence and terrorism, which limits public sympathy for the Palestinian cause. That’s unfortunate, because the millions of peaceful Palestinians have legitimate grievances.
And although Israel didn’t start the current Gaza war, it hasn’t acquitted itself nobly in conducting it; the IDF has bombed schools and hospitals, killed women and children in large numbers, and targeted journalists and aid workers. Occasionally a high-ranking Israeli politician calls for genocide. The Israeli anger is understandable, but taking it out on civilians who had nothing to do with the Oct. 7 attacks is atrocious.
Here in America, land of the free, Republicans are pro-Israel, anti-dissent, and falsely label sympathy for Palestinians as “pro-Hamas.” Hamas is Palestinian, but not all Palestinians are Hamas; you can sympathize with Palestinians and be against Hamas at the same time.
But Republicans aren’t known as masters of such nuances. And Trump takes criticism of his policies personally. Nevertheless, this is America, where peaceful protest is a constitutional right. Or, anyway, used to be at certain times in our history.
News Nation warns, “Student protesters could be in the crossfire of the Trump administration’s crackdown on colleges, with activists increasingly concerned about freedom of speech for pro-Palestinian advocates.” (Read story here.)
Context is necessary. Last year’s pro-Palestinian campus protests, while generally peaceful, were marred by harassment of Jewish students and graffiti damage to buildings. The perpetrators weren’t exclusively students; they included outside agitators.
As a result of these abuses, News Nation says, “Those on campus have already seen stricter rules around demonstrations this academic year.” Trump is itching to stick his fingers in this pie. He’s “threatened protesters with everything from military action to deportation.” During the campaign he said “any student that protests, I throw them out of the country. You know, there are a lot of foreign students.”
If foreign students break the law, yes, federal authorities can revoke their visas. But just for voicing their opinion? Hmm. Caselaw says the Bill of Rights applies to everyone within our borders, not just citizens.
Trump isn’t a big fan of constitutional rights. His previous administration “pioneered the strategy of misusing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to try to censor speech critical of Israel on college campuses,” according to a lawyer. She thinks “there is a very, very strong possibility” that he’s looking “to quash the movement for Palestinian rights … [and] make it impossible to criticize Israel.”
Policing illegal protest activities is for local law enforcement to do. The Constitution doesn’t let Trump stifle lawful dissent. Courts may have to keep his fingers out of that pie.