In the past couple of weeks, protests regarding the Israel-Hamas war spread across U.S. college campuses. These protesters claim to be freedom fighters, taking a disproportionate advantage of their school administration’s high tolerance for campus speech, exploiting what they call First Amendment rights. Yet, these protests have gone beyond “peaceful”; the students have no clue what they are fighting for, blindly following the wave of antisemitism spread through social media. Additionally, they shamelessly perpetrate vandalism throughout America. They are not freedom fighters; they are a threat to our country. 

The protests are full of hate against the Western world, and the United States and Israel in particular. The protestors have taken to expressing themselves through violent means, including burning the American flag and vandalizing a WWI memorial. These protesters have lost any form of patriotism or love of the land. 

When they shout, “Globalize the Intifada,” they’re calling for the expansion of the violent resistance of Palestinians. The second intifada was marked by terrorist attacks such as suicide bombings and rocket attacks, killing nearly a thousand Israelis. These protestors want that violence against Jews to spread across the globe.

In comparison to the violent pro-Palestinian protests, the pro-Western world protests tend to be more peaceful, singing the American and Israeli national anthems and expressing their humanity and desire for the release of the hostages. 

Pro-Palestinian ideology has become a trend in the U.S. and the world, particularly among Gen-Z, resulting in individuals under-educated about the topic spreading this ideology. Notably, it is supported by a lot of the LGBTQ community, who contribute significantly to those protests. What they are not aware of is that all of them, without exception, would be killed if they were to express their identity in the Gaza Strip. But they absurdly choose to continue to show their support for this terrorist organization. In contrast, Israel is a pro-LGBTQ country, which makes this even more bizarre.

It is perfectly acceptable that one takes advantage of their First Amendment rights. Yet, we must draw a line when those rights are used to threaten the safety and the ordinary lives of the American people. This includes the prevention of Jewish students, professors and even non-Jewish students who just want to live pleasantly from entering school campuses. 

I personally know people who were negatively affected by this barbarism. Both Jews and non-Jews are inherently entitled to fair and equal treatment as paying college students. It is absurd that they now find themselves unsafe and a target for terroristic violence, bullying and disturbance. 

Unfortunately, antisemitism has and always will exist. Those ignorant and dangerous people must be stopped before it is too late by those who have the power to do so: school presidents and the U.S. administration, who allow this movement to continue to exist. It isn’t just a Jewish issue but an American issue, one that can rapidly affect the future of our nation.