Why Students Are Rising Up for Gaza

Today we have a documentary episode examining and analyzing the ongoing pro-Palestine uprisings at campuses around the country. We look at the horrifying facts on the ground in Gaza that have caused U.S. students to risk their academic careers in solidarity demonstrations. We discuss how universities have repressed the demonstrations an a manner disturbingly reminiscent of authoritarian states. We expose the myths that the protests are hateful, antisemitic, and pro-terror. And we put the demonstrations in context, looking at how prior generations of anti-war students were similarly motivated to take a stance against violence and injustice. This episode is free to the public and unlocked, because of the subject matter's importance. But Current Affairs is funded entirely by its readers, and can't continue to produce new work without your support, so if you enjoy our work, please consider purchasing a Patreon membership, magazine subscription, or donating to our organization. Jon Ben-Menachem's Zeteo essay is here. Rashid Khalidi's full interview is here. W.D. Ehrhart's full interview is here. More from Dr. Thrasher on what he saw at Columbia is here. The Intercepted episode quoting Yasser Khan is here. Full video of the quoted speech at the Columbia demonstration is here. Further coverage of the protests can be found in the Current Affairs News Briefing. Portions of this radio essay were adapted from the Current Affairs articles "My Date With Destiny" and "Palestine Protests are a Test of Whether This is a Free Country." Script and audio editing by Nathan J. Robinson, who is responsible for any errors.