May 2

May 2 Cosplaying at DePaul

Demonstrations, Protest, Public Declarations

On Wednesday night, I stopped by the DePaul University Gaza Solidarity encampment, organized under the auspices of DePaul Divest Coalition and Students for Justice in Palestine. I returned on Thursday afternoon, at a time when the students were holding a teach-in of sorts.

Reiterating from a prior pose, one Gaza Solidarity encampment looks just like another—the same colorful tents, pantries on tables and in tents stocked with the same types of food, the same plastic tarps, and the same sense of organized chaos. The DePaul encampment did add one important feature—two porta-potties. Presumably, the University locks the surrounding buildings at night.

When I began to photograph the scene on the Quad, three students approached me, one telling me that photography was not permitted. I could photograph the encampment while standing on the public sidewalk running along Fullerton, as if the students also had the power to stop constitutionality-protected photographic activity on a public street. Given the helicopter parents who raised the current generation of college students, I would not be surprised if the students claimed to possess that power; these kids are entitled to safe spaces and trigger warnings for the remainder of their lives.

Indeed, I am not certain that the students had the legal right to stop photographic activity within the encampment. I was told by one security guard that the Quad is normally open to the public. Unless university officials contractually ceded legal control over the Quad to the students, the students lack jurisdiction over public activity on the Quad. Members of the public are not subject to the student-imposed rules posted on a tree, as was evident when I could smell the distinct odor omitted by a blunt held by someone who was near the Quad. Rule 4 states, “No Drugs or Alcohol.”

A pro-justice Jewish friend of mine characterizes the student encampments as cosplay. Dress up in a keffiyeh, pitch a tent, and demand divesture, environmental justice, transgender rights, compensation for indigenous people, affordable housing, and higher wages. But don’t allow photographers or news crews from the local television stations to capture images because after ‘you’ are done role playing radical chic, ‘you’ don’t want obstacles placed in ‘your’ career path. See, Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers, for Tom Wolfe’s original take on similar hypocrisy that permeated the Sixties. “Don’t photograph our faces because then we might be denied employment at white-shoe law firms, lucrative hedge and private equity funds, or McKinsey & Company, where 23-years without any practical business experience offer their carefully crafted solutions to the organizational and branding issues that plague major businesses.

Speaking of McKinsey & Company, I would be interested in learning how they would structure the student protests to achieve the desired result—ending Israel’s assault on Gaza, rebuilding all the destroyed infrastructure, and resolving the decades long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. I simply do not understand how pitching a tent on college grounds translates into addressing the issues that the students have legitimately raised.

In fact, a good case can be made that the students’ efforts are counter-productive. The media spotlight has shifted from Gaza and the Palestinians to the student encampments. Will college administrators call in the police? Will the students be disciplined? Will there be counter-protestors? Will there be violence? How will the encampment activity affect the U.S. presidential election? Will commencement ceremonies be canceled? Never mind how many people died in Gaza today.

I am not the only one raising these questions. My pro-justice friend has asked that I set two-hours aside during the upcoming week to discuss what forms of protest might better bring about the desired result. He specifically referred to the civil rights movement during the Sixties, pointing out that during that era, there was a clear nexus between the form of protest and the desired outcome.

On Thursday afternoon I took a few minutes to listen to two speeches delivered during an encampment meeting. The speakers addressed Gaza, but they also covered the standard plethora of left-wing issues and grievances. When one of the women read her speech, I heard every multiple syllabic “ism” imaginable. I wasn’t hearing a speech, but rather, a book report sandwiched between shiny covers. Sadly, she never uttered an original thought.

A block or two from the Quad, I encountered a group of demonstrators calling for wage increases, stronger union rights, and the end to the war in Gaza. I’ve raised the same issue when it comes to abortion-rights demonstrations. Speakers often add unrelated issues to their brew, such as limitations on guns, affordable housing, and student-loan forgiveness. Those who make the unrelated demands believe that there is 100% intersectionality when it comes to the issues they raise. If there were only such uniformity in life, but how can someone be expected to know that when their parents have shielded them from anything that might be upsetting or disagreeable?

Returning to the world we reside in, there are Jews, Christians, Muslims, Republicans, Democrats, suburban housewives, poor people, rich people, and people from all other walks of life and persuasions who are appalled by what is happening in Gaza. The students, and more importantly, the people residing in Gaza, need these people to coalesce into a vocal coalition if the students are to succeed in changing U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza. Yet, the students only alienate potential supporters by assuming that everyone is in agreement with them on all the extraneous issues. Not a smart strategy.

In closing, I want to highlight one notable incident that occurred Wednesday night. A white car pulled up to the curb on Fullerton near the entrance to the encampment. I guy got out, demanding that several pro-Palestinian women standing nearby view a video on his iPhone. He rattled off a name in Hebrew, which I assume was the name of a kibbutz that was attacked on October 7. They asked him to leave them alone, but he persisted. Several people in the SUV were yelling about the atrocities that Hamas had committed. The pro-Palestinian demonstrators briefly responded in kind, but they had the good sense to back away from the confrontation. The pro-Israeli folks eventually left.

Regrettably, tensions are high throughout the world. It would be nice to see everyone calm down, but the world is not a safe space. Many advocates on both side of the debate are playing for keeps rather than cosplaying.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]