Former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni received loud condemnation during her March 10 appearance at Cornell. That’s nothing compared to the arrests that followed. 17 protestors were reportedly detained at the Cornell Israel-Palestine panel in Ithica after students protested Livni’s participation. Many consider Livni a war criminal for her role in Israel’s 2008’s military offensive in Gaza. Video of the protest shows one activist in Bailey Hall shouting “500 children” at Livni, accusing the former Foreign Minister of their deaths. It’s clear U.S. campuses are only becoming more embattled under Trump.
Pro-Palestine Demonstration Leads to Ithica Arrests
Cops backing corporate interests while suppressing protestors is nothing new at Cornell. As the Trump administration pressures colleges to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism and to crack down on protestors, events like the Cornell arrests in Ithica are becoming more common. Schools have always been battlegrounds under authoritarian regimes, and that’s proving to be just as true under Trump. People speaking up at town halls and universities now stand to get arrested, regardless of the potential injustice or illegality.
A Reddit post on the subject by u/Schoolywooly garnered numerous comments condemning the government and police. “They’ve (somehow) learned from history and are both cracking down on student protests as well as pre-emptively PR painting any student protest as ‘evil,'” said one commenter. Another shared a view shaped by personal experience, saying,
As a Cornell alum, I’m embarrassed and shamed that free speech is eroded. Seems every question, or photo, or protest sign is construed as “obstruction” and therefore a crime.
The Trump admin presumably wants arrests like those of the Cornell students at Ithica to have a chilling effect. Complicity in advance is the goal. With the Cornell arrests already becoming the spark for further protests, however, it seems these arrests have achieved the opposite. Those speaking up against genocide aren’t being quiet.
