By Mark W. Fowler

“As we are, so we do; and as we do, so is it done to us; we are the builders of our fortune.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

To the protesters on college campuses: Your passion, however well-intended, is misguided. It is true that thousands of Palestinians have perished in the latest conflict initiated by Hamas. It is also true that atrocities have been committed by and against all sects of the Abrahamic faith in the very home of that faith. That is a tragedy as well.   All decent people desire peace and prosperity for everyone regardless of where they live, their skin color, or the manner and content of their worship. All decent people lament and mourn cruelty and death wherever it occurs.

All of that said, you are not unique in feeling anger about what is happening in Gaza. Hamas is an organization whose charter is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the Jews. Fattah, the political rival of Hamas, is deemed less violent but also has a history of murder and assassination, including Hamas members. The last election held by the Palestinians resulted in Hamas gaining control with 44% of the vote compared with 41% for Fattah. That was in 2006. Since then, Hamas has refused to hold elections or cede power. The Palestinians do not have a strong record of self-governance.

The world has not forgotten them, as Western nations have contributed millions of dollars to help the Palestinian people. But the European Union has found it necessary to sanction the Palestinians several times for publishing textbooks containing hatred for Jews. Textbooks meant for school children.

Hamas took Western aid and used it in part to buy and build rockets, tunnels, and weapons to use against Israel. Hamas started the latest conflict months ago by invading, slaughtering, raping, and mutilating noncombatants. To this day, they hold hostages who were noncombatants. They attacked women, children, and the elderly. Hamas picked a fight they could not hope to win. Now Israel is defending itself. You say too aggressively, but how do you negotiate peace with an enemy sworn to kill you? Hamas can end this conflict today by laying down its arms and surrendering the hostages.

You scream phrases such as “From the river to the sea,” which is code for the elimination of the Jews. You chant “Death to Israel,” “Death to Zionists,” “Death to America.” You should be reminded of the fact that the hatred that fueled the Holocaust originated by identifying Jews as the “other.” Your chants put you ahead of the Nazis in spewing vitriol. In the 1930s, Jews were forced to self-identify, then wear the yellow Star of David. After that, they were moved off to ghettos. The “Final Solution” resulted in the death of six million Jews, two-thirds of the entire world population of Jews at the time. Jews refer to this indescribable event as “Shoah,” which means calamity. Others call it “Holocaust,” which means wholly burned. Is this really what you want?

The morality of your peaceable protest is belied by the fact that, even now, you block the passages of Jews on campus. You interrupt campus proceedings while your colleagues are preparing for final exams and graduation. Some of you insist on the college supplying you with food and water as you break into and vandalize university property. Neither the university nor your colleagues on campus have anything to do with this conflict. You are a clanging cymbal full of sound and fury signifying nothing.

You loudly proclaim your right to “free speech,” which has nothing to do with a private college like Columbia that may set its own code of conduct. You proclaim the right to peaceably assemble when your actions deny any intent to act peaceably. You ask for hammers, zip ties, gas masks, and helmets. None of these are accoutrements of peaceable activity.

You should be reminded of the phrase “Never Again,” the call for Jews to return to their traditional homeland and the right to defend themselves from the evil that was visited on them by the Germans while much of the world stood by and denied them entry as refugees, including the United States and England. Jews have earned the right to a homeland and self-defense because of the Holocaust.

One more thing: Inasmuch as you carry signs saying “Death to America,” will you still reach out your other hand for student loan forgiveness, demonstrating the depth of your hypocrisy?

Mark Fowler is a board-certified physician and former attorney. He may be reached at [email protected].