Student Union
Bin Laden is Dead - What Did it Mean and What's Next?
Everyone who was cleaning the dining room, studying or just having conversations in that area rushed to the common room next door. Our 40 inch flat screen, which is always playing some sort of sports, was now surfing all the news channels available. At that time nothing had been officially said yet. Most of the news anchors were cautiously saying that President Obama would soon give a speech addressing national security, but weren’t mentioning bin Laden’s name. A few others were speculating about what it would be but still not saying anything official.
The only thing that was certain was that Obama’s speech was going to be delayed for around an hour more. Probably to be aired at the same time of Donald Trump’s show, “The Apprentice” (he he). In the meantime I went back to the kitchen to finish my job, but it seemed like everything else had lost importance. Impressively for a house of 50 or so men, conversations about the NBA playoffs had stopped, and every conversation was guessing at whether Osama had been killed.
That was the first time this incident surprised me – although not the last. It wasn’t the fact that a well-planned and perfectly calculated military movement could have been successfully executed, but the fact that so many people would be waiting so anxiously for someone’s obituary. I finished my chore but I didn’t leave the area. I couldn’t; this was history in the making.
How many people heard the rest of it?
When the president started speaking, everyone went silent as if we were, ironically enough, at a funeral. And when he officially announced that Osama bin Laden was indeed dead, everyone in the room smiled. Some even let a quiet laugh escape out of their mouths.
Immediately most people in the room started typing incredibly fast on their smartphones or laptops, which were conveniently logged onto Twitter or Facebook, or in some cases both at the same time. Everyone was rushing, trying to beat the other guy and be the first one posting the news with a creative, clever or funny commentary. At the same time, fireworks could be heard from houses close to ours, even some people yelling “America” or things like that, all while the presidential speech was still on.
I wonder how many people, besides my hall where people were respectful enough, heard the rest of it. How many people heard that this is indeed a milestone in the war against terrorism but it isn’t over yet? How many people heard the pledge of their president to try and keep in mind that the enemy is not Islam and this is not a platform for hate crimes against other religions? How many people noticed that while President Obama was still speaking, the little scroll across the bottom of the screen read that the U.S. had officially increased the terrorism threat level?
I don’t know - probably too many people were too busy celebrating someone else’s death to care about that. Around midnight when Mr. Obama had just finished his speech, there were already drunk people chanting songs from “Team America.” I guess some college kids find an excuse to drink over anything.
[Read more responses to the reaction on American campuses]
A week later…
That was all nearly a week ago. Where do we stand now? As could be expected, both supporters and critics of the president have expressed their opinions on this matter. Supporters took this moral victory to forget about other important issues like the economy and unemployment….and the fact that the death of Osama doesn’t mean the end of al Qaeda. But still, this victory shows the strength of the U.S. military, and Osama’s death brings tranquility to 9/11 victims’ families and that is reason to celebrate.
On the other hand, the opposition is now showing skepticism over whether bin Laden is even dead! If showing joy on someone’s death (which was surprisingly common right after the president’s speech) isn’t morbid enough, how sick is it to expect that national or even international media show bin Laden’s body as “proof” that this operation was successful? Yes, a moral and patriotic victory for America is, what a surprise, deformed in the political game of who’s right or wrong; a political game blurring the operation that was originally a step forward on the war against terrorism.
But how did the people themselves react? More than ever the power of social networks was shown - how fast they can spread the word. In just the first couple of hours after the news came out, people were rejoicing, full of pride and patriotism, and showing it with new Facebook statuses or Twitter updates.
A brilliant tweet just the day after said something like: “What to expect with Osama’s death? 20% jokes, 50% of the same jokes stolen by others, 20% people sick of jokes, 10% statistics.”
Sure enough, in the days that followed, patriotism or pride were smoothly and slowly replaced by comic commentaries displaying less and less relevant information on the event and more made up (or even copied) jokes. The internet overflowed with these “witty” remarks. A lot of memes popped up either making fun of bin Laden or praising Obama’s action. Flash games emerged featuring Obama as a hero. I don’t have a smartphone but I’m sure someone must have come up with a silly “app.” Then the viral (and virus-spreading) Facebook posts claiming to have the real picture or even the real video of bin Laden’s death.
And now, as the opposition leads attacks against the office and asks for proof of bin Laden being dead, and Obama takes a tour of Ground Zero and tries to extend this well-needed boost of patriotism (right after Superman says he will give up his U.S citizenship), right now, where do we stand?
I don’t know about the rest of the people but I am one of the 20% sick of the jokes.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters break through barricades to retake MIT encampment
Pro-Palestinian protesters who had been blocked by police from accessing an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday broke through fencing, linked arms and encircled tents that remained there, as Columbia University canceled its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.
Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group has been at the encampment for the past two weeks and that they were calling for an end to the killing of thousands of people in Gaza.
"Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT's direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense," he said.
Protesters also sat in the middle of Massachusetts Avenue, blocking the street during rush hour in the Boston area.
The demonstrations at Columbia have roiled its campus and officials said Monday that while it won't hold it's main ceremony, students will be able to celebrate at a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next.
The decision comes as universities around the country wrangle with how to handle commencements for students whose high school graduations were derailed by COVID-19 in 2020. Another campus shaken by protests, Emory University, announced Monday that it would move its commencement from its Atlanta campus to a suburban arena. Others, including the University of Michigan, Indiana University and Northeastern, have pulled off ceremonies with few disruptions.
Columbia's decision to cancel its main ceremonies scheduled for May 15 saves its president, Minouche Shafik, from having to deliver a commencement address in the same part of campus where police dismantled a protest encampment last week. The Ivy League school in upper Manhattan said it made the decision after discussions with students.
"Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families," officials said.
Most of the ceremonies that had been scheduled for the south lawn of the main campus, where encampments were taken down last week, will take place about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north at Columbia's sports complex, officials said.
Speakers at some of Columbia's still-scheduled graduation ceremonies include Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames and Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health.
Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. More than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia's green or occupied an academic building were arrested in recent weeks.
Similar encampments sprouted up elsewhere as universities struggled with where to draw the line between allowing free expression while maintaining safe and inclusive campuses.
The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony. Students abandoned their camp at USC on Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest.
Other universities have held graduation ceremonies with beefed-up security. The University of Michigan's ceremony was interrupted by chanting a few times Saturday. In Boston on Sunday, some students waved small Palestinian or Israeli flags at Northeastern University's commencement in Fenway Park.
Emory's ceremonies scheduled for May 13 will be held at the GasSouth Arena and Convocation Center in Duluth, almost 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of the university's Atlanta campus, President Gregory Fenves said in an open letter.
"Please know that this decision was not taken lightly," Fenves wrote. "It was made in close consultation with the Emory Police Department, security advisors and other agencies — each of which advised against holding commencement events on our campuses."
The 16,000-student university is one of many that has seen repeated protests stemming from the conflict that started Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages. Student protesters are calling on their schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel or otherwise contribute to the war effort.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.
Hamas on Monday announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet its "core demands" and that it was pushing ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
"Cease-fires are temporary," said Selina Al-Shihabi, a Georgetown University sophomore who was taking part in a protest at George Washington. "There can be a cease-fire, but the U.S. government will continue to arm the Israeli military. We plan to be here until the university divests or until they drag us out of here."
At the University of California, San Diego, police cleared an encampment and arrested more than 64 people, including 40 students.
The University of California, Los Angeles, moved all classes online for the entire week due to ongoing disruptions following the dismantling of an encampment last week. The university police force reported 44 arrests but there were no specific details, UCLA spokesperson Eddie North-Hager said in an email to The Associated Press.
Schools are trying various tactics from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action to get protestors to take down encampments or move to campus areas where demonstrations would be less intrusive.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago said in a Facebook post Sunday that it offered protesters "amnesty from academic sanction and trespassing charges" if they moved.
"Many protesters left the premises of their own accord after being notified by the police that they were trespassing and subject to arrest," the school said. "Those that remained were arrested after multiple warnings to leave, including some of whom we recognized as SAIC students."
A group of faculty and staff members at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked the administration for amnesty for any students who were arrested and suspended during recent protests. UNC Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine said in a media advisory that it would deliver a letter on behalf of more than 500 faculty who support the student activists.
Other universities took a different approach.
Harvard University's interim president, Alan Garber, warned students that those participating in a pro-Palestinian encampment in Harvard Yard could face "involuntary leave." That means they would not be allowed on campus, could lose their student housing and may not be able to take exams, Garber said.
Columbia University cancels main commencement after protests that roiled campus for weeks
Columbia University is canceling its large university-wide commencement ceremony amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests but will hold smaller school-based ceremonies this week and next, the university announced Monday.
"Based on feedback from our students, we have decided to focus attention on our Class Days and school-level graduation ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, and to forego the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15," Columbia officials said in a statement.
The protests stem from the conflict that started Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.
The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony while allowing other commencement activities to continue.
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The Wall Street Journal’s Steven Russolillo rounds up some of the most important ones. (April 2024)
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