Emory president made the right call
As someone with a long affiliation with Emory University, 29 years teaching and a good number of years retired, I am deeply distressed by the current situation, particularly with the participation of the “cop city” protesters. Their methodology and claim is, “you build it, we’ll burn it.” Recently, they have burned many thousands of dollars worth of police motorcycles and construction equipment. This is not appropriate in a democracy.
There are plenty of methods of peaceful protest. I read that there were a good number of these people on Emory’s campus. I believe it was absolutely within University President Gregory L. Fenves’ responsibility to protect lives and property on the campus. Calling the police was a reasoned response.
The humanities teach that we should try to come together, reasoning and speaking to each other, not shouting and threatening. I support Fenves. I realize that everyone is upset by the situation in Gaza. We all should seek peaceful solutions, not more fighting.
KATHERINE MITCHELL, ATLANTA
Emory protestors wrong about Israel, policing and capitalism
The April 28 AJC included a photo of an Emory University protestor holding a sign demanding that Emory “cut all ties with Israel!” Is this the same Israel that was brutally attacked by Hamas terrorists?
Emory protests also have targeted a new police training facility in Atlanta. Anti-Israel and anti-police sentiments must feel quite “inclusive” to Jewish students, rightfully concerned for their safety. Further, the Emory protestor’s sign includes “Students for Socialism @socialismatemory.” The group’s Instagram page states, “We are a revolutionary Marxist student group at Emory University, organizing for the replacement of capitalism with socialism.”
Do protestors understand capitalism’s enormous positive contributions to Emory (see the Goizueta Business School) or the global fight against poverty and oppression?
In my opinion, campus protestors are not only wrong about Israel but also about policing and capitalism — wrong, wrong and wrong. At least they are consistent.
DANA R. HERMANSON, MARIETTA
Protesters want ‘normal’; it doesn’t exist
Student protesters wail, “We’ve never lived in normal times,” and spout a litany of dire events that they claim have shaped their lives.
I spent elementary school doing duck and cover drills under the threat of nuclear war. I was in high school when race riots ravaged the nation, and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated. I spent my college years during the height of the Vietnam War. So to these students, I say, suck it up, buttercup. That’s life.
GARY SERVICE, WOODSTOCK
College protests justified, are not antisemitic
I am disturbed by the college protests that are being quashed and perceived as antisemitic.
The United States has a lot of issues and doesn’t need to be dragged into a foreign war. I embrace the diversity of religion, origin and color as I enjoy the different perspectives. I am horrified by antisemitism as well as any other racism. This hatred has been fueled by white men who think they are above the law. We must be able to return to civility even if we disagree. We must stop fueling the fire of divisiveness and start working together to address the problems affecting the United States.
I commend the House speaker, who took a small step to act in our best interest despite the loud calls for his ouster.
SUSAN MCLAUGHLIN, HOSCHTON
Protesters’ passion marked by tunnel vision
TV news shows current college protestors — many not even 21 — engage with passion and even vitriol about the Israel-Hamas War.
I recall student protests on my Midwestern campus in the 1960s. What strikes me is that, unlike the Vietnam demonstrations, today’s students have no skin in the game. Despite their passion, few of today’s students have held full-time jobs or served in the military or Foreign Service and have no experience managing a large university’s investment portfolio. They speak knowledgeably on this issue with no life experience and demonstrate to older generations what hubris and tunnel vision look like. Can they even distinguish between pro-Palestinian (concern for the human suffering of Gaza Palestinians) and pro-Hamas? The latter, by their charter, is dedicated to Israel’s destruction as a country. Hamas cares little for Palestinians except as human shields. It’s a plus that Palestinian suffering creates bad PR for Israel. I now appreciate my father’s lament, how youth is wasted on the young.
RICH LAPIN, DUNWOODY
