STANDING STRONG ALWAYS A BETTER MOVE THAN CAVING IN

What a difference a week makes! At this time last week, Brown University, Northwestern University, Rutgers and the University of Minnesota were making deals with Free Palestine protesters to induce them to disassemble their encampments and stop the disorder on their respective campuses.

This appeasement tactic, right of the "The Neville Chamberlain Playbook," (see Munich Agreement 1938) was lauded in the media as a smart way to defuse the tension, as opposed to the less complaisant approach of Columbia U and other institutions that would not be bullied into following the orders of a highly partisan mob. However, once Columbia University and UCLA acted decisively to remove the encampments on May 1 and 2, other universities followed suit, including UVA, USC and the University of Chicago. Even in Europe, authorities have dismantled encampments at major universities including the Free University of Berlin, and Amsterdam University.

Now, Brown and Northwestern look weak and silly for capitulating to a small fraction of the student population, as well as the American public, in a matter in which students have little or no standing, i.e. how these institutions invest their endowments. In the end, Brown, Northwestern and other colleges and universities that have mollified the Free Palestine Movements for now have only negotiated for a cease-fire—and we know, from the history of the Israel-Palestinian conflicts, what those are worth. The last ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was abruptly ended by the massacre of October 7, 2023. By appearing to give in to the activists' demands now, Brown, Northwestern, et al are guaranteeing that they will see a reprise of the same disruptions later on when their trustees or governors decline to accept the recommendations to divest.

Although the demonstrations are waning now, the Divestment and Free Palestine protests have demonstrated a salient fact—a small cadre of vociferous and committed activists can have a disproportionate impact on the general public, if even for a short duration. Already, commencement ceremonies have been cancelled at USC and Columbia.

These short disturbances of the academic peace ought to teach us another invaluable lesson: it is the public's right and duty to ensure that the impact of small groups to undemocratically impact society are minimal and short-lived.