Students were betrayed/ peaceful protests were suppressed with batons

Mehr News, International Group: Judy Armor, Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Southern California, in an exclusive interview with Tehran Times , by providing details about the repression of protesting pro-Palestinian students in American universities, led us to a deeper understanding of the security environment of universities in this country these days.

Students who had camped and sat down on the campus of American universities with the request of establishing a ceasefire in Gaza, received a large amount of harsh and negative reactions, including insults and expulsions. They have faced suspension, physical attack and arrest. In addition, some professors also faced a similar fate while trying to protect students from police violence on campus.

In an exclusive interview with Tehran Times, Professor Armor revealed the visible and hidden aspects of this open attack on freedom of expression. . You can read the details of this conversation below.

Politicians and presidents of the protesting students, supporters Palestinian rights have been accused of anti-Semitism. Do you agree with this approach?

Absolutely not. This is an unreal and unfair claim against students. I was there and talked to the students many times. Many of them are Jewish, and there are other students with all kinds of religious beliefs among them. I am Catholic myself. There is no connection between the slaughter of children and anti-Semitism. Anti-Zionism should not be confused with anti-Semitism. These students are simply against the war, and the accusations of anti-Semitism against them are an attempt to suppress them. I believe that this will only intensify the activities of the students and make them more determined to support peace.

We spend a lot of time teaching these students to think independently and when they learn practice, we suppress them! In addition, to justify the suppression of students, other lies such as “attacking people and passers-by” and “blocking important university buildings” have been attributed to them. Of course, the people who are present in the protests are easily able to deny these slanders and lies. As a witness, I can testify to the peaceful and respectful behavior of the students during the demonstration.

University asking the police to intervene And adopting other measures such as suspension or dismissal, the sword is closed. Have the professors been forced to remain silent?

Personally, as a full professor, if I say something that does not please the management, I am immune to their pressure. . But in response to your question, I must say that there is a kind of subtle pressure that forces and encourages the members of the executive board to follow the management’s position!

The first threat we face is not directly from the central administration of the university, but from their decision to send Police arrive on campus. The president of Columbia University took the lead in bringing the police to the university, and other universities followed suit. However, some universities, including the University of California, resisted the move, and their presidents and executives decided not to use police forces. Security forces can never enter university buildings without the direct permission of the head.

This decision is not only against faculty members but more importantly, it is a betrayal of students. University officials constantly emphasize the friendly atmosphere of universities and that the university is the home of students, but at the same time, they use repression forces to mistreat their family members! The university claims to be “student-centered”, but when students hold peaceful protests against the brutal killing of civilians, they are approached by riot police armed to the teeth, batons, handcuffs and pepper spray!

In such a situation, can we claim without hypocrisy that educational food is provided for these students?

mainstream media since the start of the war Gaza constantly presents narratives in support of Israel. Universities across the United States have adopted a similar position. Considering these conditions, how did the students manage to understand the reality of the situation in Palestine?

Many American universities are funded by pro-Israel donors; People who find any kind of criticism of Israel unacceptable, and this issue overshadows the governance and supervision of these institutions. In fact, the truth is that this is how our universities are managed and we should acknowledge it.

However, despite being only exposed to pro-Zionist narratives in the academic environment, American university students Through virtual space, especially “TikTok” and at a lower level “Twitter (X)”, they have achieved independent thinking. Using these platforms, the young generation succeeded in “circumventing” the official narrative (inverted). For this reason, American authorities are currently trying to ban TikTok. They intend to limit the access of young people to alternative sources of information.

You as one of the famous defenders Racial equality, do you see any parallels between the current protests on American universities and previous movements in support of the rights of African-Americans?

Many of the students participating in this uprising in support of Palestine, when the Black Lives Matter movement He died, they were 10 to 13 years old. These youths of today and teenagers of yesterday witnessed with their own eyes the importance of challenging the authorities in the face of oppression and systematic violence against disadvantaged groups. During the “Black Lives Matter” movement, African-Americans were the marginalized and marginalized group, and in today’s uprising, Palestinians are the marginalized community; And once again, the protestors who are looking for justice are met with a violent response from the police.

Historically, the defenders of the rights of racial equality have also extended their efforts towards fighting wars. Martin Luther King also spoke openly about the Vietnam War and supported its end.