Two years ago, National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston came to campus and called our generation one of the most apathetic in American history.
He was wrong then. The day Heston came to campus, students protested?against him personally and against his stance on gun control. And he’s even more wrong now, when students protest much more than that.
This past Friday, members of the Young Arab Leadership Alliance and the Georgetown Solidarity Committee protested Israel’s recent actions against Palestinians in the West Bank. They also condemned America’s support for Israel, using vivid and graphic mock demonstrations of Israeli weapons?which read “paid for by U.S. tax dollars”?killing screaming Palestinians. YALA organized a similar demonstration last Wednesday, calling Israel a terrorist state and lashing out at U.S. support for Israel.
On Monday, the Georgetown Israel Alliance and Jewish Students Association members took similar actions by joining a massive, city-wide pro-Israel demonstration at the Capitol. These students heard speakers lambast Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as a terrorist and roundly condemn the actions of Palestinian suicide bombers.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, however, is just one area of interest for students. On Monday, GU Right to Life placed 3,643 blue and pink flags on Copley Lawn, a form of silent protest against abortion, which flyers posted around campus said kills 3,643 fetuses daily. H*yas for Choice, which the University does not recognize, set up its own informational table on the edge of Red Square nearest the lawn.
Some might say these protests misrepresent the whole truth, don’t adequately address the underlying problems or are inappropriate and distasteful. But, for these same reasons, they spark debate?sometime acrimonious debate, but debate that gets people talking about important issues.
No doubt even visitors are talking about campus protests. Prospective students, in particular, might be seeing a more active student body than in recent years. Supporters of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students chalked Red Square to coincide with recent Georgetown Admissions Ambassador Program weekends. And on Monday, one student sitting at the GSC table in Red Square called out sarcastically to a tour group coming out of ICC, “Make sure you pay your taxes today … Support Israeli bombings in Palestine.” Hopefully, they come to see Georgetown as place of free and vibrant intellectual discourse?and, of course, decide to enroll.
Agree or disagree with the protests, they serve a large purpose: They spark dialogue. Those who agree might be encouraged to join similarly minded students. Those who disagree might be encouraged to rethink their own views?or, maybe, find ways of better strengthening their own counter-arguments. And those unsure might be be encouraged to enter the intellectual fray?or at least think about things a little harder.
Hopefully, Charlton Heston comes back to campus soon?he’d be shocked at what he finds.
