Better understanding recent college campus protests

MADISON, Wis. - The Palestinian casualties in the war between Israel and Hamas have sparked multiple college protests around the country, but to understand why they are happening today, we first have to understand the past.

Some of the early sparks of the conflict between Israel and Palestine stem from movement in the early 1900s.

"It was a movement to create a homeland for the Jewish people. So that particular movement is what's referred to as Zionism. But Judaism in and of itself is a religion. So there are many Jews that are not Zionist. There are other Jews who are Zionist," says David Coury, a Professor with UW-Green Bay.

Fast forward to the October 6th, 2023 attacks by Hamas that have now ignited the most recent events between Israel and Palestine, sending the region in a now 7-month long war.

The Palestinian casualties throughout the war have prompted many people on college campuses across the country to protest, asking for a ceasefire and for universities to divest from Israeli-backed companies, a tactic that has been used in other protests.

"It goes back to the BDS movement, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement that started in the early 2000s. The desire was to model a protest movement on the anti-apartheid movement of South Africa, and that was to boycott Israel, to divest investments, and then to put in place sanctions," says Coury.

Coury believes universities could have used different tactics when trying to break up protests and encampments and alternatives tactics could have been used.

"I think that calling the police was the wrong action to take. It was a mistake... Allow students to talk about their concerns and views as well with counterparts as well from other groups who are opposed," he says.

As for whether or not students' demands will be met, Coury is not sure, but believes they have accomplished the goal of bringing more attention to the war.

"It's on the news every day. One of the things about protest is disruption and calling attention to a particular issue. If the goal with to call attention to the it's certainly succeeded in that."

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