As I read "Gone Too Far" critiques of overwhelmingly peaceful but disruptive student protests demanding that universities divest from Israeli-related investments and demand a ceasefire and end to the U.S. military aid that supports the genocidal war on innocent Gazan, I am reminded of Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It is worth reading in its entirety, not because of its provenance but rather its nail-on-the-head relevance to the struggle for Palestinian freedom today.
In the heat of mass direct action for civil rights, King decried, "the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom."
Critics of the student activism demand university “neutrality" concerning speech and political action. Is there a neutral moral position on advocacy for causing mass starvation, death, and destruction of innocent non-combatants who played no part in executing or approving the Hamas October 7 attack? There is room for debate about whether a peaceful resolution to decades includes one state or two states. I hope there is room for questioning whether Israel's creation violated the rights of resident non-Jewish Palestinians. As a non-Zionist Jew, I hope we can debate whether the existence of an ethnocentric Israel protects my safety. However, the right of students to vigorously–and yes, disruptively–demand an end to genocide must be protected.
King continued, "I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose, they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured."
So it is with Palestinians. Neutrality legitimizes continued death and denial of dignity and democratic rights. Of course, protests disrupt the normal flow of daily life. Of course, it inconveniences people. Of course, it makes some people uncomfortable. (To be clear, uncomfortable due to strong disagreement is not the same as unsafe) Discomfort is the point. Injustice cannot be exposed, challenged, and disrupted otherwise.
Arthur taught and led science professional learning and curriculum and assessment development projects for 50 yrs. He writes about education and social justice. He loves spending time with friends and family, hiking, and gardening.
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