Campus protestors get the "Charlottesville" treatment
I have been following the student protests, which began on several campuses in the last couple of weeks, in the wake of Israel’s continued relentless bombing campaigns on Gaza, which, coupled with their mandated blockade of food, water, and medicine to the region, has led to a horrific humanitarian crisis. Thousands of civilians are dead, and many others have reportedly been living on the brink of starvation, or otherwise subjected to atrocious conditions.
The behavior of the demonstrators hasn’t always been exemplary, but they have been non-violent, which is more than could be said for those who took part in what the media infamously called the “mostly peaceful” riots of the summer of 2020. Nevertheless, the coordinated crackdown against the students has been shockingly harsh. It is clear that, unlike in 2020, these demonstrations do not have the tacit support of the Establishment. In 2020, National Guard stood by passively as thugs wrecked cities, setting buildings on fire, looting, and destroying property with general impunity.
In one grotesque photo op after another, police in fact knelt before the rarely peaceful agitators in 2020, but there is no kneeling being done by cops in 2024. The billy clubs are out, and tear-gas is being used liberally, as encampments are being forcibly dispersed and participants mass-arrested.
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Though this protest is obviously taking place on a much wider scale, I often find that images I see across media sites now cause me to recall my own experiences in Charlottesville in August of 2017, during the abortive “Unite the Right” event. Now, as then, violent counter-protesters showed up; now, as then, their instigations went largely unremarked and completely unpunished. Back then, in Charlottesville, it was the perennially odious, wretched, and scummy Antifa; today it is seemingly pro-Israel paramilitary strike forces who have played this role.
Now, as then, cops showed up in riot gear (though no riot was happening), ordered the participants to disperse, brazenly ignoring the latter’s clear First Amendment rights, then proceeded to violently assault those who resisted these tyrannical edicts.
The parallels are striking indeed, on numerous levels. It has been interesting (and I’ll admit, at times a bit Schadenfreude-inducing, to see leftists getting the “Charlottesville treatment.” It does go to show that “Right” and “Left” are designations that are ultimately less important than system-friendly and system-noncompliant. The former get perks and fawning corporate endorsements; the latter get kicks and lifelong infamy.
To the newly “cancelled” pro-Palestine demonstrators, I say: welcome to the infamy club, guys! Now y’all know how it feels.
"[...] but there is [no?] kneeling being done by cops in 2024."