Yesterday, pro-Palestinian protestors shut down the 405 freeway in Los Angeles. I lived in LA about 30 years ago and the 405 was terrible enough without dipshits stopping traffic for no apparent yield.
Presumably a protest is designed to have a tangible goal. What possible goal that is positive for their cause does pissing people off accomplish? How does enraging Angelenos help Gaza? One answer is that this is all performative for each other within the protest movement. "Look at us, taking it to the man, truth to power." I have no doubt that this is the internal motivation of the individuals.
However, when you take a moment to look at what the rhetoric and tactics are, this really feels like a Russian op. This has been their pattern since Stalin.
The basic idea is that you want to exploit division in your enemies. So you prop up the most outrageous positions and movements with funds and other aid. Today, that means TikTok and other social media outreach.
Full confession, I have a college student in my home clearly moved in part by a steady stream of misinformation about Israel. Now, the IDF and certainly the Netanyahu government have a great deal to answer for. War crimes have been committed. But Hamas have committed war crimes, too. The whole conflict is tragic precisely because the decision makers on both sides are awful. That does not mean that Israel shouldn't exist; it does not mean that Palestinians should not have their own state.
Listening to my son, I'm struck with the vehemence and venom he feels towards Israel - a country that hasn't done shit to him. Some of this is that there are sources of information that are pushing all the same algorithms that drive engagement through outrage.
Sophisticated thinking is necessary to navigate the world from a position of truth. You have to be able to see the Palestinians AND Israelis as victims of a political leadership that is willing even eager to countenance horrors to advance their political agendas. You have to see the humanity in both sides. You have to see that there are very hard limits to what the US can do to bring about a ceasefire. We've been trying for months and there is always one side or the other ready to blow the talks up.
Meanwhile, Russia and perhaps China are eagerly stoking anger and outrage among a cohort of protestors who are going to try and ramp up protests on college campuses and the Democratic Convention. Hopefully both college administrators and the DNC are working to mitigate what are certain to be bad-faith protests designed to divide Americans one from another.
That goal is not in service of Palestinians. It's in service of Russia.
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