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The current protests are not comparable to the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, says a US expert.
Dramatic scenes at Columbia University in New York: The police stream onto the premises and storm the building into which pro-Palestinian students have broken into. The Gaza War is reverberating across the United States, with the student body divided in their attitudes toward the war and whether or not their university should continue to support companies that have ties to Israel. Political scientist Stephan Bierling classifies what is happening.
SRF News: After individuals were suspended from studying at Columbia University in New York, a group stormed Hamilton Hall. It is the building that students occupied in the 1960s to protest the Vietnam War. Can these two movements be compared?
Stephan Bierling: Not really. The images we see are relatively similar. In the USA, opposition to the Vietnam War came from the large elite universities. We definitely see a parallel here. It’s very politicized, especially in left-wing universities. But this time there is a relatively small group at the universities. The protest against the Vietnam War then intensified into mass demonstrations in which not only students took part.
There is a growing minority of Muslim and Arab citizens in the United States.
Why is the issue currently escalating at certain US universities?
It has to do with the fact that there is a growing minority of Muslim and Arab citizens and therefore students in the USA. They join forces with the socialists, who are strongly represented in the social science faculties of elite universities. They also get a lot of support within the Democratic Party from people like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Legend:
Police arrest students at Columbia University in New York who occupied a building.
Keystone/Marco Postigo Storel
What impact are these protests having on American society?
They are becoming a political bone of contention in the USA. Republicans see an opportunity to attack the Democrats. It was the Democrats who were strongly voted for by the Muslim blacks, by the Arabs in the USA, by the socialists, by the students, by the university lecturers. At the same time, the party was also home to many Jewish voters. The Republicans have tried to drive a wedge between the different groups of Democratic voters, and they are doing it quite well at the moment.
This means that for foreign policy, geopolitical and strategic reasons, the USA cannot take the side of Jerusalem as clearly as it did in the first few days after October 7th.
What impact do these protests have on American foreign policy?
Biden has to maneuver, not only for these domestic policy reasons, but also for foreign policy reasons. Biden is firmly behind Israel, but at the same time the Americans have important Arab allies in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. This means that for foreign policy, geopolitical and strategic reasons, the USA cannot take the side of Jerusalem as clearly as it did in the first few days after October 7th. The longer the war in Gaza continues, the more Americans will be forced to play a mediating role and try to keep Arab allies in line. And there is also this competition for the Third World, which is now called the Global South. It is a competition with China and others who want to drive a wedge between the USA and Israel on the one hand and the developing countries on the other.
The interview was conducted by Ivana Pribakovic.