The Plights of Immigrants and Palestinians Intersect at U.S. Universities
A dismal recap of the week and my loss of faith in the American people.
I usually post on Thursdays, but this week I didn’t know what to write about. No, that’s not it. There’s plenty to write about—too much, in fact. I just didn’t know what to focus on. I still don’t.
This much I know: Something’s been gnawing at me, a festering disquiet, a coagulating shadow, something I haven’t yet figured out how to broach or define, but I’m going to try: I’ve lost faith in Americans. No, it’s worse. I’m scared of what Americans are capable of, or maybe what they’re not capable of.
I’m not talking about Trump and his cabal of kleptocrats. Anyone who’s read this newsletter knows full well how I feel about this administration. Nothing they’ve done has surprised me, with the possible exception of the speed—the ruthless, heedless speed.
What has surprised me is how enthusiastically, how gleefully, the American people have underwritten the cruelties of this administration. Sure, there’s the lurid meanness of social media trolls, but while they occasionally catch me off guard, I’m mostly—not entirely but mostly—desensitized to them. I suppose I should be grateful for not being fully desensitized, but what a strange thing to be grateful for.
I’m talking about people I know, some of whom may be reading these words right now, wondering if I’m talking about them. I’m watching people—good people, I thought, friends and former colleagues—avert their eyes or even cheer on the heinous abuse taking place within our borders (and without).
Trump didn’t invent cruelty toward noncitizens and migrants. Democratic and Republican administrations alike have blood on their hands. What feels new to me is this grim species of schadenfreude spreading across the U.S. population. People are happy to watch perceived enemies suffer. If only they knew that to derive satisfaction from the suffering of others, no matter who they are, is a divestment of humanity.
Wanting a strong border is understandable. Supporting the torture of migrants and noncitizens is not. Deploring the actions of Hamas is understandable. Supporting the abduction of students in the U.S. for supporting Palestine is not.
The plight of noncitizens and migrants in the U.S. and the plight of the Palestinian people are intersecting at university campuses in the U.S. with the state-sanctioned kidnappings of Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil, both students (one graduate) and legal immigrants who are critical of Israel. Disagreeing with them is understandable. Accepting their abductions is not.
The summary detainment of Ozturk and Khalil is a product of two lethally effective propaganda campaigns: the demonization and dehumanization of immigrants and of Palestinians. Every unspeakable act committed against a group of people throughout history was preceded by a smear campaign. They’re traitors. They’re criminals. They’re terrorists. They’re animals. Because once you erase their humanity, you can justify anything. And if you can justify anything, you can get away with everything—the keystone of any budding dictatorship.
Millions of Americans have tacitly agreed to the following pact: If you let us do whatever we want, we’ll get rid of “them” for you. Thing is, “them” has a nasty habit of becoming “us.”