MORE STRIFE AT UCLA: My Thoughts Regarding The Pro-Palestinian Protests

Royce Hall on the UCLA campus, where pro-Palestinian protesters recently camped and clashed with pro-Israeli students and authorities…

RECKONINGS REGARDING THE TENSIONS AND CLASHES AT MY COLLEGIATE ALMA MATER

Entering the last week of May next week,

I was fully aware that I had only posted two pieces on this blog for this month.

I wasn’t sure of what to post, being I had already recently written and posted stuff that pertained to me.

Then, while I was on my Twitter, or X, page, I saw that UCLA was trending.

Being a graduate of that number one public university in this country and an over thirty-year member of Bruin Nation, I clicked on the UCLA trending spot,

Only to find out that the protesters of what Israel has done to the Gaza Strip after Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group whose ultimate goal is to wipe the state of Israel and all Jewish people off of this planet, attacked and killed 1,500 Israelis this past October 7th,

Have returned to the Westwood campus to create a “Liberation Encampment” among other things;

I just saw a video of a large group of police walking to apparently get the protesters out, hearing one person remark “The Calvary has arrived!”

Which they apparently were as they ultimately broke up the protest.

There’s another video I saw showing food being blocked from the protesters’ camp.

And yet another video of a mob pushing a cameraman down some stairs while chanting, “NEE-O-NUTZI!”, a take-off of a certain term.

And from what I’ve gathered,

All of this was triggered by Chancellor Gene Block testifying before Congress in Washington, D.C. that the previous encampment between Royce Hall and Powell Library was dismantled;

I saw a video on X of a new encampment being raised, then another clip of a large group marching on Murphy Hall, the administration building, after they were threatened with arrest while at their new encampment.

Along with yet another group of pro-Palestinian students taking over Dodd Hall, one of the prominent classroom buildings.

My prevalent thought regarding all of this, after the clashes on that campus a few weeks earlier, can be summed up in three words…

THIS. IS. NUTS.

I remember writing, either on this blog or elsewhere, that the only thing I want, hope and pray for regarding this longtime conflict and clashes between the Israelis and Palestinians comes down to one word as far as I’m concerned…

PEACE.

I still feel that way, obviously.

I also support the right to protest, as UCLA has had a long history of such from students protesting the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s, to protesting the first Gulf War in 1991 (which I saw as that was during my student days), to now this current polarizing issue.

But I can’t help but wonder if all these clashes at my alma mater, as well as on college campuses across this country,

Can ultimately get the skirmishes and attacks in the Gaza Strip, which has cost nearly 35,000 lives, to end.

Like I said, all I want, hope and pray for is peace.

And for all this strife and tensions to stop.

I’m sure that only God will be able solve this conflict.

Like Forrest Gump said in his 1994 Oscar-winning movie,

“That’s all I have to say about that.”

The iconic Bruin bear statue in the center of the UCLA campus…

CAN THERE EVER BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST? My Thoughts On The Attacks and Retaliations in Israel and Gaza

Protests in West Los Angeles over the Hamas attacks. Photo courtesy of dailynews.com

MY LAMENTATIONS OVER WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON NOT ONLY REGARDING TO THE RECENT HAMAS ATTACKS AND ISRAELI RETALIATIONS,

BUT ALSO REGARDING THE PRONOUNCED ANIMOSITIES IN THAT PART OF WORLD THAT HAS BEEN ONGOING FOR SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS

It’s been all over the news, to state the extreme obvious.

And it should go without saying how my heart absolutely broke when I heard about how women and children, along with men, in those kibbutzes in Southern Israel were slaughtered, with babies’ heads chopped off, by those terrorists in what President Joe Biden called the largest mass murder of Jewish people since the Holocaust.

Which is definitely saying something.

My other prevalent thought here is that these animosities between the people of Israel and the people in pretty much all of the other countries surrounding Israel have been existing like oil and water since that country was founded in 1948, the bulk of the Arab countries wowing – if I recall correctly – to wipe Israel off the map in their extreme conviction of that part of the Middle East, which was previously known as Palestine before, belonging to Arab Muslims.

Indeed,

Except for that big peace agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1977 when I was ten, brokered by former President Jimmy Carter,

I can’t remember any other time when Israelis and Palestinians have really co-existed peacefully in my lifetime,

And it’s hard for me to recall when those extremists ever had any fondness for the U.S. or Americans in general;

Those 9-11 attacks in 2001, along with other various terrorist attacks on the U.S. and Americans over the years, at least partially stemmed from Muslim extremists’ (read: Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in 9-11’s case) resentment of America’s longtime support of Israel.

An anti-Israeli Palestinian protest. Photo courtesy of bbc.com

A vehicle burning during these latest animosities. Photo courtesy of afternoonvoice.com

I think this entire Israel-Palestine conflict stems from the conviction of no compromise from Muslim extremists, Hamas (who did all the carnage) in particular, with regard to having peaceful co-existence with Israel and Jewish people;

Notice how I specified Muslim extremists, as I’m both certain and fully aware that the bulk of that community and the bulk of Palestine’s population denounced those attacks, hostage taking, and murders.

I’m also fully aware of the mistreatment that those Palestinians suffered from in the Gaza Strip for decades as I feel that the whole situation has been the hottest of messes for over seven decades, and those who were killed in this war;

And that’s what this is – a war.

I reckon some are asking what side I’m on in this biggest of animosities;

Here it is, which is completely summed up in one word…

PEACE.

I AM ON THE SIDE OF PEACE.

PEACE – A PERMANENT PEACE – IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD IS WHAT I WANT.

PEACE IS THE ONLY THING THAT I WANT.

Period.

Enough Said.

Drop The Mic.

If there’s any clearer way to express these convictions, I’m both open to them and all ears.

Because what could happen if these extreme hostilities (GOD FORBID!) continue and spread are unthinkable and induce shuddering in me.

In the meantime, my sympathies and prayers go out to all of those individuals and families who lost their homes, were taken hostage, and killed.

And to answer the question in this post’s title of whether of not I feel peace will ever come to that region…

I HONESTLY HOPE SO.

AND I PRAY FOR THAT TO HAPPEN.

BECAUSE I’M CONVINCED THAT ONLY GOD CAN BRING PEACE TO THAT REGION.

#PrayForPeaceInIsraelAndGaza

An Israeli (left) and a Palestinian (right) youngster coming together at a soccer camp aimed to unite children from the two nations; THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO PERMANENTLY SEE REGARDING THOSE TWO COUNTRIES AND THOSE TWO GROUPS! Photo courtesy of huffingtonpost.com