The whole thing has spread like wildfire. The student protest at Columbia University in favor of the Palestinians in Gaza has resulted in solidarity efforts from fellow students at Southern Cal, the University of Texas, Princeton and countless other universities. Tent encampments are the order of the day as is the chanted slogan “from the river to the sea” which is “Hamas speak” and means that Israel must be eradicated.

Efforts to remove the tent encampments have resulted in howls of protest as the students demand that their university withdraw all support from companies that support or do business with Israel. Many arrests have occurred for violation of criminal trespass laws.

Some will not be surprised that Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) was the first to dive headfirst, without looking, into the shallow end of the pool. She criticized the Columbia administration for the “horrific decision” two weeks ago to call on the New York Police Department to deal with their “own” students and further said that the particular NYPD units involved had a reputation for being some of the most violent units on the force. Of course, she was speaking from hundreds of miles away and there is no credible report that the arrests of the trespassing students were violent.

If there is a tweet war between AOC and the police department, my money is on the NYPD which tweeted this response: “I encourage you @AOC to visit Columbia and do a walk-through. Good SAT scores and self-entitlement do not supersede the law. I’m sure that you will agree that we have to teach them these valuable life lessons.” AOC was not done but it would take two weeks for her to make a reappearance and, once again, made one question if her opinions comport with reality.

The situation in Gaza is difficult to witness. A war is being waged where a civilian population stands firmly in the middle and tens of thousands of innocent people have already died. A cease-fire is necessary, but it probably means that Hamas survives although, unfortunately, I think that it survives anyway as the death of each civilian probably results in the recruitment of another Hamas fighter.

Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States. It has ruled the Gaza for the last 20 years on strict Islamic principles. Having a protest in Gaza on behalf of women or gay rights, like any similar protest in Iran, would and has resulted in extremely harsh sanctions including death and prison sentences. Being a protester in these places requires great intestinal fortitude and a willingness to suffer the worst for your beliefs. The Columbia protesters are not cut out of the same piece of cloth; they have demanded amnesty and an erasure of their criminal records so their future life is not imperiled. There is no such thing as amnesty in Gaza or Iran.

Hamas ignited the current war when it invaded Israel and killed over 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, including the elderly and children. It is well documented that its invasion involved the beheading of people, multiple rapes, setting people on fire and the murdering of children. The current student protesters conveniently forget the precipitating cause of the war. Some are even supportive of Hamas. However, one can be very concerned about the war in Gaza and not be a supporter of Hamas, anti-Semitic or an enemy of Israel.

After the initial arrest of Columbia students two weeks ago, the protesters returned and set up their tents again. The Columbia Administration, relying on hope rather than experience, tried to negotiate its way out of the mess. That did not work as it only seemed to energize the protesters into believing they would win and, hey, why not run out the string. They then occupied Hamilton Hall and began to trash it and set up barricades. Finally, the Administration woke up, realizing there was no pleasing the protesters, and called in the cops again and order was restored. The grounds have been cleaned and now the Commencement can proceed as originally planned.

One of the more humorous demands of the Columbia students occupying Hamilton Hall was that the University provide them with food and water. One of the leaders of the protest told the assembled media that the students occupying the building might otherwise die of “dehydration and starvation or get severely ill. It is basic humanitarian aid that we are looking for” said Johannah King-Slutzky, a 33-year-old PhD student in English and Comparative Literature (her picture above). When a reporter questioned her logic, she noted that, after all, many of the Hamilton Hall protesters had a “meal plan” at Columbia.

You really can’t make this stuff up.

Now that they have been dispersed, they will have to find their own food and drink and have to explain why they have been suspended or expelled from Columbia and, in many cases, have a police record for criminal trespass or destruction of property. There are probably any number of employers who will raise an arched eyebrow when the applicant tries to explain.

If the allegations in a case (Virginia Case) just filed in a federal court in Virginia are true, the so-called student movement at Columbia and the other schools has been financially aided and abetted by network of organizations devoted to spreading the Hamas message calling for the destruction of Israel.

Israel is losing the battle in the court of public opinion because of the civilian deaths in Gaza. There is no easy answer. The destruction of Hamas would benefit not only Israel but the world. Getting there is the problem. Already 30,000 have died and, while many were Hamas fighters, most were not. Israel’s current government seems to have a bad war plan and no sensible plan to resolve the conflict. Hopefully, someone with common sense will convince the Israelis to stop killing innocent civilians.

In a few weeks, this will all die down as the universities shut down for the summer. I am pretty sure we have pretty much seen the end of it. The Democratic National Convention will probably see Gaza protesters, but not at the level that the anti-Vietnam protesters who showed up in 1968 for the simple reason that the 1968 protesters were arguing for themselves, i.e., not to be drafted for a war in Vietnam. The 1968 protesters were right about a war which could not be won and was not won. The1968 protesters, unlike many in the current crowd, did not try to disguise themselves by wearing masks. It’s hard to suspend (or respect) someone who disguises their face behind a keffiyeh.

So, I’ll leave it to the celebrity politician (e.g., when her lipstick shade was publicly revealed, it sold out in a matter of hours) to end this blog. A few days ago, after Columbia had been restored to normal, AOC complimented the Columbia protesters and others for their “peaceful” protests. Apparently, her newspaper did not report on (1) the vandalism at Hamilton Hall (2) the pitched battles at UCLA which resulted in police intervention and a clearing of the encampment to restore UCLA to normalcy or (3) the cancellation of the Southern California commencement due to security concerns.

Sometimes, people only see what they want to see.