A group of pro-Hamas students invaded the offices of Stanford University‘s president and provost Wednesday. The takeover and protest began at the beginning of the last day of classes. Stanford officials said the offices were damaged and a public safety officer was injured “after being shoved by protesters who were interfering with a transport vehicle.”
There was a significant amount of graffiti and additional damage to the building. An Associated Press journalist on campus saw walls spray-painted with political slogans calling for the destruction of the United States and Israel, as well as killing police.
“This graffiti conveys vile and hateful sentiments that we condemn in the strongest terms,” the president and provost said in a joint statement.
This is unacceptable. Anyone who acts in such ways to an area that is their community, such as their college campus, deserves punishment.
You cannot label yourselves as protesting on behalf of the vulnerable and then call for the destruction of countries, particularly a nation such as Israel. The Jewish people deserve to protect themselves from harm, regardless of the debate on the political demographics of the area of the Palestinians.
Following the morning protest, Liberate Stanford’s Instagram account posted a call for a rally in front of the Santa Clara Main Jail. Do the protesters not understand that if you break the law, you will rightfully be punished? Do they not understand that when you damage property, write violent graffiti, or harm law enforcement officials, you will be arrested? This post is an exact illustration of a large part of the problem. We see a group that thinks they should be entitled to freedom from the consequences of their own violence because of a claim that they are protesting violence.
In the hours following the protest, there were several arrests made inside the building, and the seniors involved will not be allowed to graduate. My question is: Did the students believe they deserved anything less?
Even following the logic of civil disobedience, which grants the protesters significantly more leeway than they deserve, they should have prepared to be arrested. That is even understanding that the protest would be completely peaceful, but Wednesday’s actions were anything but peaceful.
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“This was not a peaceful protest, and actions such as what occurred this morning have no place at Stanford,” Stanford spokeswoman Dee Mostofi said.
The protesters took advantage of their right to protest peacefully, they were violent, and they harmed their community. They are being punished for it, and they deserve all the punishment they get.