Opinion | Shame on the President of Columbia University, salute to the presidents of Hong Kong universities
By Philip Yeung, university teacher
PKY480@gmail.com
In less than ten days, the President of Columbia U Minouche Shafik has released no fewer than four statements to calm a campus in crisis—all to no avail. She has lost the plot, the more empty words she speaks, the more she stirs the pot.
For a highly educated academic, her statements show a low-level lack of logic. She says that keeping her community safe is something "we should be able to do ourselves." And yet, at the first sign of trouble, her knee-jerk reaction is to resort to iron-fist tactics. She proudly cites the bedrock values of "mutual respect and kindness", and the need for dialogue but they mattered little when the police barged in.
This is a leader preoccupied by her fear of suffering the same fate that has befallen her Harvard and U Pen peers. With Congress breathing down her neck, she panicked, sending in the police to brutally dismantle peaceful encampments and arrest her students. Her overreaction, far from silencing the protestors, has cracked open the Pandora's box, unleashing an uncontrollable backlash across America and Europe. At stake is the right to peaceful dissent and compassion for the downtrodden. The question now is whether Columbia's reputation or the US constitution can survive intact. Ironically, it is the students who are upholding Columbia U's institutional honor. Shafik, shamefully, has brought Columbia, home to 103 Nobel laureates, into disrepute. She might still keep her job, but she is damaged beyond repair, having kowtowed to save her own skin. Her strong-arm tactics are in fact a weak-knee response.
Political dogs are quick to smell opportunity, with the likes of House Speaker Mike Johnson rushing to Columbia U to fish in troubled waters.
This much is crystal-clear--only one subject is taboo in America: anti-Semitism. It is a fig leaf that covers all crimes, however heinous. Congress supporters even cite God's covenant with the Jewish people as justification: "If you bless Israel, I will bless you. If you curse Israel, I will curse you." How do you argue against God?
Columbia U, the epicenter of the pro-Palestinian movement, is proudly anchored by students who are the conscience of the nation. They risk arrests and expulsion by battling genocide, ecocide and educide in Gaza. The startling statistics tell the horror. More than 100 famous academics, deans and presidents have been killed by Israeli bombs. Nearly 90% of schools are either damaged or destroyed. Some 625,000 students are left without a school. At least 24 hospitals have been bombed, and over 370, 000 housing units rendered uninhabitable. It may take 80 years to rebuild a Gaza reduced to rubble. Israel, hell-bent on revenge, has waged an all-out war against the Palestinian population. More than a million of them face famine, lacking fuel, water, medicine and shelter, with Israel tightening the noose by stopping the trickle of aid into Gaza. This is an unspeakable crime. Over 400,000 civilians are taking shelter in UN-run schools, but this is not enough to protect them against death by execution.
Congress is complicit in the massacre. It has funneled billion dollars of unconditional military aid to Netanyahu to kill more Palestinians. It goes to the ludicrous length of outlawing the use of the pro-Palestinian slogan: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." I never imagine uttering such noble words can be an ignoble crime in a country where free speech is supposedly sacred.
Compared to what happened in Hong Kong, what transpired at Columbia U is child's play. Here, students occupied campuses by force, using petrol bombs and bricks to keep the police at bay. Multi-million-dollar lab equipment was vandalized and university presidents cowered in fear. They paralyzed the city for nine months, even setting a dissenter on fire. Here, you heard more than the "decibel of disagreement", but plots to topple the government. Yet, at no time did university presidents call in the police to arrest or evict their students. Against such utter lawlessness, Columbia U's encampment is the very essence of peaceful protest, not warranting such a disproportionately draconian response. US politicians like Nancy Pelosi heaped praise on Hong Kong rioters, calling the violent chaos "a beautiful sight to behold." Where is the politician's praise for Columbia U's peaceful protestors now? Is America the land of the lawful now the home of the hypocrite?
Where will all this end? It will end when the slaughter stops and conscience returns to Congress. Israel may be blessed by God, but it is cursed by its inhumanity. The God of Abraham is not the God of bullies and butchers. Even non-sympathizers of Palestine know this. God's Justice dwells in the hearts of humans everywhere. It does not reside on the lips of bigoted politicians.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | From a pariah leader to a pariah state
Opinion | America's China disease
Opinion | The birth of a country of cruelty, and the death of the global 'rule-based' order
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