When it comes to the explosion of college campus protests in recent months, widespread and unapologetic acts of antisemitism have received most of the attention. And don’t get me wrong, they absolutely should.

The notion that American institutions of learning should be home to the sort of virulent anti-Jewish hatred that would make 1930s Nazis swoon is completely unacceptable. When Jewish students are told to hide in the attic to avoid violence, are barred from entry to their own campus, or are beaten unconscious in the street for the apparent crime of being Jewish, something is immeasurably wrong.

But there’s another layer here that is going unnoticed: that so many of these student activists think this is a game.

It goes without saying that this doesn’t apply to everyone in the self-described pro-Palestinian anti-war camp. There is a tiny minority who are actually anti-war but whose ignorance blinds them from the sheer hypocrisy of their own side.

There’s a slightly larger minority whose allegiance to the spread of radical Islam is the foundation of their bloodthirsty desire to destroy the West.

And then there are the others. Children for whom a bohemian summer spent frolicking in the sunshine while wearing those super-cute keffiyehs is just too much of a treat to pass up. What sounds better than spending time with your best friends and fighting for the latest cause (or so you think)? If this helps you skip your upcoming final exams, even better!

Not only are these people becoming useful idiots — human versions of the ideological Trojan horse that is the injection of radical Islam into the Western world, exploiting radical leftism and our own tolerant weaknesses until it’s too late — but they have yet to wake up to the fact that this isn’t a game.

Burning your degree in solidarity (on TikTok, of course), posting lists of demands (including requests for dental dams and HIV tests, but no bagels), and engaging in hunger strikes might seem like proof of their true dedication to the cause. But in reality, all they’re doing is cosplaying victims.

They are a collection of privileged, rich young people playing the part of the oppressed right up until it gets slightly uncomfortable.

Here’s one particular example of this clownish behavior at the $76,000-per-year Princeton University.

“My peers and I, we are starving. We are physically exhausted. I am quite literally shaking right now, as you can see,” one student announced. “We are both hot and cold at the same time. We are all immunocompromised.”

Why are they doing this? There are two simple reasons that tell us far too much about the decline of our civilization.

The first is the narcissism that has been bred into younger generations: the unquenchable thirst for attention that drives them to make every travesty and disaster, real or imagined, about themselves. You might think women and children have it bad in Gaza, but Molly in Princeton’s tummy is rumbling because she missed her morning eggs Benedict (gluten-free, of course).

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The second is the obvious outcome of our society’s decision to make oppression and victimhood the new currency. Pesky things such as behavior, knowledge, or ideology no longer matter in a world in which your social worth is measured by one metric alone: victimhood.

So, no wonder students across the country are seeking out safe and coddled ways to make the undeniable suffering of others about themselves. All we can do now is hope they eventually wake up to the reality of the terrorist groups they are supporting — terrorist groups that don’t have any space in their schedules for a catered lunch.

Ian Haworth is a columnist, speaker, and host of “Off Limits.” You can follow him on X at @ighaworth. You can also find him on Substack.