Campus protests: Passions soaring

With an “overwhelming” vote, Stony Brook University’s Senate Faculty demanded that charges be thrown out against the protesting students [“Stony Brook faculty: Drop protest charges,” News, May 7].

Would their support for free speech extend to a group of white supremacists who engaged in disruptive protests? Would they have the same benevolent attitude?

Certain politicians want to give amnesty to the Jan. 6 rioters. In principle, are these situations any different? If you agree with lawbreakers, then there should be no consequences. Their ends justify their means. This type of thinking usually precedes most human tragedies.

One basic lesson we try to impart to our children is to take responsibility for their decisions. I would like to believe that when the Stony Brook professors educate our children, they would support this principle.

If a person’s behavior is destructive or disruptive, even if that individual believes it is for a good cause, that person must also have the courage to deal with the consequences. This is not a children’s game. These students were taking part in an activity that not only will have real-life consequences for people but for themselves, too. Anything less is imparting an unrealistic lesson in life.

— Martin Pohrille, Glen Head

When these college “protesters” chant “From the river to the sea,” they are calling for the complete destruction of Israel and its 9 million citizens. What do these brilliant college kids plan for these Israelis — death or to be moved somewhere else? Where?

My uncle liberated a concentration camp during World War II and said it was horrible. Do these kids want to bring back the camps?

Israelis flew back to Israel to fight for their country, and I applaud them. What are these college snowflakes doing? It’s easy to protest when you know that the colleges, police and politicians will let you off free. I don’t see any of these students joining Hamas. It’s easier to bully Jewish students who just want an education.

— Kevin Mullen, Holtsville

Sorry, but this is not 1968 or 1969 when people my age were protesting the war in Vietnam. I went to the City College of New York and often connected with Columbia University’s activists. We did not wear masks to protect our identities.

We literally had skin in the game — risking student draft deferments, jail and loss of jobs — on campuses and off. Grades and scholarships, too. Our butts literally were on the line to possibly be sent to Vietnam.

Then there were the police on campus, not being as restrained as today. I still remember the smell of tear gas. And then there was Kent State. Four students were killed by the Ohio National Guard in 1970.

So don’t insult me and those like me. We helped end a war after so many of us died for nothing. I just don’t know what the end game is with these protests — is it the annihilation of Jews like in the Holocaust? Is it like the Inquisition? The Crusades? Until then, if you don’t take responsibility and show who you are, stop being cowards, have some skin in the game, or go home.

— Stew Frimer, Forest Hills, Queens

A reader wrote that she was heartbroken about the media coverage of campus protests [“Views vary over campus protests,” Letters, May 8]. She laments that “they are our children.” So what? Does that mean they shouldn’t be accountable for their actions?

The reader protests that “they are being portrayed as antisemitic or terrorists.” Guess what? When you block Jewish students from attending class, chant death to Israel and America, take over buildings, deface property and support Hamas, then you are antisemitic, and you are a terrorist.

Oh, they are outraged by Palestinians dying and being wounded. How about a little outrage against Palestinian-supported Hamas slaughtering Israelis and gang-raping and torturing women in front of their families — killing children, babies.

The reader wants us to listen to these protesting children. No, the children listen to the adults. Maybe if parents taught their kids better, we would have children who would know the difference between peaceful protest and anarchy, between right and wrong, but most important, about personal responsibility for one’s actions.

— Tim Gallagher, Seaford

How brave is Stony Brook University professor Josh Dubnau? He is a tenured professor and has no threat to his employment or benefits [“Professor details his arrest at SBU,” News, May 4]. He can break the law, break the university’s rules, and guide his students to do the same with no worry of accountability on his part.

Something has to change. Colleges today are being led in part by professors like Dubnau. Are they really educating our kids? Many of the students likely do not know what they are protesting about. They are listing demands that have little to do with the war or hostages.

This is a great teaching moment, and our universities are letting the kids down.

— Tom Dougherty, Huntington

It’s noteworthy that protesters marching against genocide are chanting “From the river to the sea, let Palestine be free,” which itself is a genocidal slogan. This antisemitic chant when used by Hamas calls for the extermination of all Israelis from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

So, these protesters are marching against genocide by suggesting genocide? If these protesters really care about the Palestinian people, they should take off their masks and terrorist outfits, support their own country and protest that Hamas surrenders the fight that it brought upon its own people and has clearly lost.

— Jim Miraval, West Islip

These college students who believe in demonstrating should first ask themselves how they are allowed to get away with demonstrating in public. It’s because they are in the United States, which allows them to do so while seemingly trying to turn the United States into a socialist country.

If living in Russia or China, they would be arrested and put in jail. And these are supposed to be educated people.

— Brian Keane, Patchogue

Antisemitism is insidious. Years ago, the Queens Museum promoted hatred toward Jewish people in the guise of “art” and “freedom of expression” by an “artist” favoring Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [“Protesters sparking divestment debate,” News, May 3].

The BDS movement is now using public emotions about death and destruction in the Middle East, usually omitting the Oct. 7 atrocities, as cover to choke Israel. This is akin to a tiny spark starting a significant conflagration. The sudden reemergence of BDS is the rekindling of yet another wave of antisemitism that must be extinguished post-haste.

— John O’Reilly, Forest Hills