Campus protests create a storm

On Oct. 7, Hamas invaded Israel and killed more than 1,100 people, many of them women and children, and took about 240 hostages. Not one condemnation from Palestinians.

Are innocent people dying in Palestine? Absolutely. But if you are illegally on a college campus, breaking in and damaging private or public property, spray-painting property, throwing liquid or objects at police, threatening those who disagree with you, you are not a protester — you are a bully and a coward [“Pro-Palestinian rally briefly renewed at SBU,” News, May 3]. There are many college-age young people who are not as fortunate to get a college education — private or public.

One professor said this is the peace movement of this generation. Really? Breaking in, damaging property and camping give new meaning to the word peace.

Another college department head said the protesters are the future of our country. God help us. Group leaders have “demands’’ of college administrators. If you’re about 19, you don’t demand anything.

Palestinians allow Hamas to control them. Did they not think Israel would defend itself? Hamas could end this by releasing the hostages and returning the dead to their families.

And a year from now, five years from now, Hamas likely will repeat its attack.

— Tom Buonomo, Islip

Zubair Kabir, a spokesman for SB4 Palestine, said that “we’re not doing anything antisemitic.” Such sentiments are heard at campus protests around the country.

On April 7, 2023, Hamas official Sheikh Hamad al-Regeb gave a sermon in a Gaza mosque that was posted online.

In that sermon, he said: “Oh Allah, bring annihilation upon the Jews. Paralyze them, destroy their entity, tear them apart, bring upon them a terrible punishment. Oh Allah, enable us to get to the necks of the Jews.” And: “Oh Allah, bring annihilation upon the infidels, atheists, and polytheists. Count them, kill them one by one, and do not leave a single one of them alive.”

Such statements are legion among Hamas leaders when they speak in Arabic. It is time for the student protesters to realize that when their apparent allies are murderous antisemites, they may be considered the same.

— Louis Sroka, Plainview

The writer is a former vice president of the National Council of Young Israel.

Now, Stony Brook University is another campus to join in the student protests. Billy Joel’s latest song, “Turn the Lights Back On,” has a line that keeps buzzing around in my head: “We’ve been here before.” It was the 1960s, and the campus kids were protesting the war in Vietnam. It was my generation, and I remember it well.

My generation of Americans was actually in Southeast Asia fighting while back here, four college students at Kent State, protesting the war, were killed in 1970 by Ohio’s National Guard.

The war in the Middle East has been going on for thousands of years with a respite here and there. I also clearly remember the “Six Day War” in 1967. I can also hear Joel singing, “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

Such wasted time on hate.

— Susan Hennings-Lowe, Huntington

Matt Davies hit the nail on the head with his political cartoon of the protests [Opinion, May 2]. I am not antisemitic, but I don’t agree with using my taxpayer money to support Israel’s killing women and children.

— Gail Kellner, Calverton

College students are just that — students. They are entitled to a safe and comfortable environment on campus for learning and discourse.

They are not stakeholders in or trustees of the colleges. They are simply passing through on their way to a degree. What makes them think they have a say on where and how colleges manage their finances?

The students’ demand that colleges terminate investments in enterprises having direct or indirect connection with Israel is simply another form of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement that discriminates against Israel. If students are offended by how their colleges manage their finances, they are free to go elsewhere.

— Paul Jacobs, Huntington

I know that protests are legal. But several of these are not campus protests — they are riots. Many of these protesters are young people who apparently do not know the history of the Jewish people. Many try to take over universities with practically no significant repercussions for two weeks.

Where were the noteworthy actions from several of the university presidents and board members? This has been disgraceful.

— Joyce Miller, Jericho

As we watch the anti-Israel demonstrations on our campuses, with calls for the destruction of Israel and Jews around the world, I am enraged. Why aren’t our state representatives doing more to protect Jewish students on our campuses?

— Marty Smulison, Oceanside

Just a thought: Many of the same people condemning the campus protesters praised the Jan. 6 rioters.

— Linda Silverman, Queens Village

From now on, whenever I hear the phrase “college-educated voters,” the words that will come to mind are “indoctrinated” and “ignorant.”

— Robert D’Addario, Commack

On Newsday’s May 2 cover, the main photo included a young woman protesting at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center. How ironic that she was wearing a cross pendant. The cross represents Jesus, whose message was love and acceptance. Oh, by the way, Jesus was a Jew.

— Geraldine T. Quinn, Smithtown