Beautiful, messy models of a better future

Vol. 43

In This Issue: ESSAY | FREE PALESTINE | NOW READ THIS | LISTEN UP | FINAL FRAME

Justice is a marathon

The Gaza solidarity encampment on UW’s Library Mall came to an end last Friday, nearly two weeks after it went up. It was bittersweet to see that phase of the protest end, but I understood the many reasons that the time had come. You can read my coverage of the first week of the protest here.

Some supporters, particularly in online comments, lashed out at the decision to take down the tents and sign any agreement with the UW that didn’t include disclosure or divestment. This was a loss and a betrayal, they said. What was it all for in the end, if not total victory? 

Anyone involved in political organizing and activism knows, however, that the big fights are seldom, if ever, won overnight (or in two weeks). Justice is a marathon, not a sprint. And truth be told, for all its magic and joy, the encampment was simply not sustainable. It was amazing and impressive that it lasted as long as it did.

I trust, too, that the community and connections that have been built will continue on, that those people and others will take this urgent baton and run with it, because the fight itself is not over. The main organizers behind the encampment, Students for Justice in Palestine, made a clear point of saying just that when they put out word about the agreement with the UW. This is just the first step of many. The slaughter in Gaza continues, the U.S. government (infuriatingly) continues to materially back it and the extremist Netenyahu administration behind the whole thing, and too many American institutions continue to invest in and profit from all of that.

I hope, too, that cooler heads prevail for those who jumped immediately to criticizing and chastising the student negotiators for the agreement. Those of us on the left are too quick to tear ourselves apart with in-fighting over who is or isn’t doing things exactly “right” or like we personally think they should be done. It’s important to think critically and creatively and be unafraid to have hard conversations about how we organize and fight for a better world, yes–but we could all use a lot more compassion and patience and grace with those people who are ultimately fighting for the same things as us.

I was incredibly impressed that something slapped together last-minute by students in the middle of finals held together for as long and as well as it did! In the end, there was educational programming, entertainment, regular free meals, medic tents, safety marshals, nightwatch shifts to keep an eye out for cops, craftmaking, children’s events, and more that students and community members worked diligently to create. There were regular meetings to get group input and make consensus-based decisions on just about every aspect of the protest and camp. These were, necessarily, often messy and exuberant affairs. They were also inspiring. The passion, dedication, and energy on display are exactly what we need to fuel the hard and important work that’s still to come. Young people know all too well that if they want a future at all, they will have to fight for it. We’d all do well to follow their lead.

I was impressed by so much of what I witnessed, like the volunteer safety marshals, many of whom were young students trained on the spot, who stepped in to offer deescalation with counter-protesters and unruly passersby, often working long and/or late-night shifts and sometimes facing serious verbal abuse for it. To a person, protesters largely ignored and didn’t engage with the many insults and harassing comments lobbed at them throughout the two weeks. I was also heartened by how hard the students worked to make the camp a welcoming place for the unhoused folks who inevitably took notice and asked if they could eat a meal and stay in a tent. 

I did what I could to offer support to the students’ efforts, and made sure my partner occasionally got a shower and a good nights’ sleep. It was a little strange not to be in the middle of things, though it felt right to move into more of an advisory role than a leadership one. Something I believe very strongly is that we need our movements to be thoroughly inter-generational–for younger folks to be taken seriously and listened to by those of us with some years on them, and for us “elders” to have our own experiences and knowledge valued and respected by younger people. Everyone has valuable perspectives and ideas to offer. We all have a role to play, and dismissing or diminishing anyone for their age/generation will never serve us.

This wasn’t my first rodeo. Thanks to coming of age during the Iraq War protests and then cutting my teeth as a grassroots journalist during the Act 10 uprising, I am all-too well acquainted with how things like this tend to get twisted and spun by politicians and certain media outlets (when not outright ignored). It was interesting to see others having this eye-opening experience for the first time–bearing witness and then seeing the truth distorted or outright lied about in news coverage and speeches. 

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Gaza solidarity encampments have been and are seething with aggression and violence, if you only watched major and/or right-leaning media outlets or listened to even certain Democratic politicians. But the truth is that 97% of pro-Palestine/anti-genocide student protests have remained peaceful. By and large, the only violence that’s happened has been initiated and carried out by police and counter-protesters. Anyone who visited the encampment on Library Mall could see that.

If you didn’t get the chance to come down to experience it for yourself, I want you to know that it was beautiful and radical and a tantalizing glimpse of the better world we’re trying to build for everyone. There’s hope in that.

Free Palestine.

This is a list of articles I recommend that tackle the situation on college campuses across the U.S. and right here in Wisconsin, as well as the overall main issue that is the ongoing genocide in Palestine that is being enabled by our government. I’ve included some additional links at the end of this section for different ways to take action/offer support, too.

“The police brought violence to UW Madison’s Gaza encampment” [Scott Gordon for Tone]

Perhaps it was an example of progressive policing or Madison-centric policing or the “Madison Model.” In any case, a pro-Palestine encampment protest on UW-Madison’s Library Mall got through two overwhelmingly peaceful days and nights—full of speeches, chants, praying, reading, sharing food, card games, and studying—before police violently attempted to break it up on Wednesday morning.

“You are being lied to about the Gaza solidarity camps by university presidents, mainstream media, and politicians” [Steven W. Thrasher for LitHub]

What I witnessed at Columbia is what I have seen at all the encampments (and, similarly, in years prior, at Occupy Wall Street at Black Lives Matter encampments): students experimenting with making a society better than the shit one one they’re expected to accept, enter and recreate. They were experimenting with self governance and horizontal organizing. They were experimenting with educating, entertaining, feeding, defending and (quite unusual at elite universities) praying for and with one another. They were figuring out their values, and putting real effort into trying to do what’s right. How beautiful is that? 

“The New Anti-Anti-Semitism” [Rick Perlstein for The American Prospect]

It suggests one of those Talmudic puzzlements, or perhaps the setup for a dad joke: How many Jews have to pray peacefully in a pro-peace encampment (or alternatively, to cite a scene witnessed outside the 116th Street gate of Columbia University, how many black-hatted ultra-Orthodox Jews have to chant, “Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism”) for them to stop being an antisemitic mob?

“Can American Jews step back from the brink of conspiratorial paranoia?” [Rabbi Jay Michaelson for Forward]

…not everything that seems scary is antisemitic. Because of my conditioning, I still shudder when I see a group of masked protesters wearing keffiyehs. They remind me of the terrorists who murdered friends of mine, and the Palestinians who once threw rocks at me when I lived in Israel. But that does not make the incident antisemitic. Nor are our gut-reflex interpretations of events really that reliable. For that matter, are protesters really focusing on Israel because it is the Jewish state? Or because it is the leading recipient of U.S. foreign aid and has killed 30,000 people in six months?

Mutual aid/support:

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots effort to support and amplify verified aid requests of Palestinian families. Also find links to support the Perinatal Project, medical assistance, and more on-the-ground needs in Gaza.

Now Read This.

“What who Trump hires, not what he says” [Gabe Fleisher at Wake Up to Politics]

Reading the transcript, Trump comes off less like a candidate “eager...to implement autocracy in America,” as one critic put it, and more like someone completely unmoored from ideological principle, who still — after nine consecutive years of running for president — has yet to settle on any coherent political philosophy. Many of the ideas he “endorsed” in the interview were actually first thrown out by the reporter; his endorsement merely consisted of him not batting them away. 

Of course, this doesn’t make it any less notable that Trump is open to certain extreme ideas, even if he isn’t outright advocating them. And, obviously, it is concerning in its own right if one of the two candidates for president is refusing to tell voters his policy platform. 

But it does mean that, when trying to deduce what Trump will do in office, the emphasis should not be placed on what comes out of his mouth.

…Instead, the emphasis should be placed on who he surrounds himself with. As was the case during his first administration, the transcript betrays a politician easily molded by whoever is in the room with him…

Listen Up.

I had the pleasure of sharing a stage with two singer-songwriters at a show last week, both of them currently on tour together, and one of whom just released a new album. They were both lovely and their music was wonderful. Highly recommended:

• Sadie Gustafson-Zook: new album = “Where I Wanna Be”
• Brittany Ann Tranbaugh

Final Frame.

I love trillium. Did you know that large white trillium like these take five to nine YEARS before they bloom? Don’t pick ‘em! They work so hard and long to flower and pollinate. Best to take only pictures. xoxo

‘Til Next Time.

Thanks for reading and for standing up for your friends and neighbors! Take care of each other out there.

Always feel free to hit me up with questions, comments, suggestions, and tips on great hiking spots or good books. And please feel free to forward this email to a friend and/or hit that subscribe button.