Some pro-Palestinian
protesters are unserious, and only hurt their cause
The cause of peace and
an end to the war in Gaza is a serious, righteous and good one, at its core.
But misguided and arguably ineffective stunts like shutting down bridges and
snarling traffic don’t do anything to win people over.
By S.
E. Cupp
Jan 11,
2024, 5:52am CST
“I have a daughter in
Brooklyn! Get the f*** out of the way!”
The exasperated driver, whose
identity is as of yet unknown, had to finally get out of his car in Manhattan
and scream at a group of more than 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters who decided
this week that the best way to draw attention to their cause regarding the
fighting in Gaza was to block traffic and
access to several bridges and a tunnel in the most populous city in America.
As a mom myself, I can
tell you — anyone who came between me and my child wouldn’t get as polite a
warning.
“Our aim today was to
clog the arteries of New York City to draw attention to the ongoing genocide of
the Palestinian people and the people of Gaza,” said Jamil Madbak, the
29-year-old organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement — the same group that has
previously celebrated terrorism against Israel and the murders of innocent
Jews, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“American bombs and
American-made internationally prohibited chemical weapons are being dropped on
Arabs again, financed by American tax dollars and protected by the American
media, again. Those in power think they can get away with this, but us being out
here every week is our way of saying we won’t let them.”
No word yet on whether
this stunt to snarl traffic using the Holland Tunnel and the Brooklyn,
Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, was successful in lobbying the Biden
administration or Israel to change their course in the war against Hamas in the
wake of the terrorist group’s barbaric slaughter of more than a thousand
innocent Jews and the kidnapping of hundreds more on Oct. 7.
But it did end in the
arrest of more than 320 protesters in New York.
Similar protests blocking access to
JFK, LAX, and Chicago O’Hare airports over the holidays — on the busiest travel
days of the year — also resulted in dozens of arrests and delays for legions of
frustrated travelers who couldn’t get to their flights.
If you’re wondering how
these obnoxious, self-important, unserious, and even dangerous antics would be
an effective way of eliciting sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians
suffering in wartime Gaza, your guess is as good as mine. I’m betting that most
weary travelers who couldn’t get to work or missed a flight to see their loved
ones aren’t going to be buoyed by the fact that, “Hey, at least it’s for a good
cause.”
In the wake of that
awful tragedy in October, pro-Palestinian groups like PYM and Students for
Justice in Palestine have embarked on misguided and arguably ineffective stunts
like these to get their point across and try to bring some favorable attention to
their efforts. But harassing unsuspecting bystanders hasn’t done the trick. Nor
has it endeared them to anyone but each other.
Nor have the countless
videos of young anti-Israel activists tearing down posters of Israeli hostages all
over our cities. Nor have the threats against Jewish
students on college campuses. Nor have all the strongly worded letters
demanding various institutions denounce Israel for the death of their own
civilians.
What this all misses is
that there are plenty of Americans who are persuadable on this, who simply want
peace in Gaza, who are sympathetic to the suffering of the Palestinian people,
who might even object to Israel’s political objectives. But holding up their
flight or keeping them from their family is itself a version of indiscriminate
hostage taking, and that is sure to change no one’s hearts and minds.
Neither is blaming
Israel for the murders of its own people, refusing to acknowledge that Hamas is
a terrorist organization, or calling for the
genocide of Jews with signs on college campuses like “Holocaust 2.0.”
It’s stuff like this
that starts to verge on Westboro Baptist Church territory. When the infamous
hate group protests the funerals of gay people and AIDS victims with signs like
“God sent the killer” and “God hates f-gs,” it’s hard to imagine that needlessly
and heartlessly harassing these grieving people is going to win anyone over to
a point of view that is already controversial and offensive to many. And
outside of that small group of activists, it just turns everyone else off.
The cause of peace for
innocent Palestinians and an end to the war in Gaza is a serious, righteous and
good one, at its core. It needs serious voices, and deserves advocates who
promote compassion and clarity, not callousness and chaos. But these unserious
performances — which range from silly to annoying to deeply offensive — are
only hurting that cause.
