Posted on Dec 20, 2023
At UMKC, pro-Palestinian students struggle for university support as they advocate for peace
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Members of Students for Justice in Palestine table on UMKC's main campus in November.
Students for Justice in Palestine, a newly-recognized student group, has led efforts at UMKC to call for a Gaza ceasefire. Leaders say they're making inroads with their fellow students, but argue the university is not doing enough to protect them from Islamophobia and potential retaliation.
One sunny day last month, a group of student activists took over a central sidewalk on the main campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Between the library and the recreation center, the group invited passersby to take a piece of colorful chalk and write the names of people killed in Gaza.
Mahmoud Kutmah, a Louisville native who’s a student at the UMKC School of Medicine and a leader of the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, greeted people walking to and from class.
“This is a good way to just raise awareness of what's happening,” Kutmah said, “and to force every student walking by to see just how many names there are.”
Over the course of about four hours, the chalk list grew to nearly 200 feet long — representing just a fraction of Palestinian lives lost. At the time, more than 11,000 Gazans had been killed; according to NPR, that figure is now greater than 18,000.
Students for Justice in Palestine, a newly-recognized student group, has led efforts at UMKC to call for a Gaza ceasefire. Leaders say they're making inroads with their fellow students, but argue the university is not doing enough to protect them from Islamophobia and potential retaliation.
One sunny day last month, a group of student activists took over a central sidewalk on the main campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Between the library and the recreation center, the group invited passersby to take a piece of colorful chalk and write the names of people killed in Gaza.
Mahmoud Kutmah, a Louisville native who’s a student at the UMKC School of Medicine and a leader of the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, greeted people walking to and from class.
“This is a good way to just raise awareness of what's happening,” Kutmah said, “and to force every student walking by to see just how many names there are.”
Over the course of about four hours, the chalk list grew to nearly 200 feet long — representing just a fraction of Palestinian lives lost. At the time, more than 11,000 Gazans had been killed; according to NPR, that figure is now greater than 18,000.
At UMKC, pro-Palestinian students struggle for university support as they advocate for peace
Posted from kcur.org
University of Missouri
Kansas City
Israel
Palestine
Peace
Posted 5 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Strong opinions, but bigger worries
In conversations with Iowa voters over the last few months, few brought up education or schools as a top priority. However, when asked about the issue directly, many did have strong opinions.
Dave Meggers is a farmer who came out to see Trump in Davenport in September. He said the price of fuel is his top concern. But when asked about schools, he talked about working with other parents to influence this local district.
"We're tough on our school board down there on different such situations," he explained. "One thing was, you know, the books in school and stuff like that. And we we were one of the first ones down there to get our kids out of masks, too."
Lori Tiangco was volunteering for DeSantis at a November rally in Des Moines. Unlike Meggers - and many Republican voters - cultural issues in schools are a top priority for her. She spoke about her grandson and how his parents reacted to the school's teaching about LGBT issues.
"They pulled him out and homeschooled him because they didn't want that be enforced on them, which goes against our, you know, the Christian moral values that we have," she said.
But there's a wide range of opinions. At a recent Nikki Haley event in Clear Lake, Stacey Doughan – the president of the city's Chamber of Commerce – said the focus on culture war issues leaves her cold.
"I think that when you take it down to race and gender, you're really missing the point," she said. "Whatever we need to do to make it so our kids are able to go to school, to enjoy going to school and to learn what they need to learn to be competitive in an international market today is what's really important."
Indeed, that Haley event had at least one voter who disagrees on a key Republican culture war issue.
"This is my only point of contention that I have with her," said Michelle Garland, a psychology professor at nearby Waldorf University, of Haley. "The suicide rate among gay teens is the highest of all groups, and they have a right to be called by whatever gender they prefer to be called by. It's not our business to tell somebody who they are."
That makes Garland unusual among GOP primary voters. But then, this is the thing about prioritization – trans kids aren't her top priority. Israel is. And she likes where Haley stands on Israel.
Moreover, Garland is, simply put, a Nikki Haley superfan.
"I fell in love with Nikki the first time she spoke from the U.N.," she remembered. "And then when she announced she was running for president, it just made my day."
So to the extent that Haley is using education to tell voters who she is, voters like Garland don't need to hear it. Garland already liked her from the start."
..."Strong opinions, but bigger worries
In conversations with Iowa voters over the last few months, few brought up education or schools as a top priority. However, when asked about the issue directly, many did have strong opinions.
Dave Meggers is a farmer who came out to see Trump in Davenport in September. He said the price of fuel is his top concern. But when asked about schools, he talked about working with other parents to influence this local district.
"We're tough on our school board down there on different such situations," he explained. "One thing was, you know, the books in school and stuff like that. And we we were one of the first ones down there to get our kids out of masks, too."
Lori Tiangco was volunteering for DeSantis at a November rally in Des Moines. Unlike Meggers - and many Republican voters - cultural issues in schools are a top priority for her. She spoke about her grandson and how his parents reacted to the school's teaching about LGBT issues.
"They pulled him out and homeschooled him because they didn't want that be enforced on them, which goes against our, you know, the Christian moral values that we have," she said.
But there's a wide range of opinions. At a recent Nikki Haley event in Clear Lake, Stacey Doughan – the president of the city's Chamber of Commerce – said the focus on culture war issues leaves her cold.
"I think that when you take it down to race and gender, you're really missing the point," she said. "Whatever we need to do to make it so our kids are able to go to school, to enjoy going to school and to learn what they need to learn to be competitive in an international market today is what's really important."
Indeed, that Haley event had at least one voter who disagrees on a key Republican culture war issue.
"This is my only point of contention that I have with her," said Michelle Garland, a psychology professor at nearby Waldorf University, of Haley. "The suicide rate among gay teens is the highest of all groups, and they have a right to be called by whatever gender they prefer to be called by. It's not our business to tell somebody who they are."
That makes Garland unusual among GOP primary voters. But then, this is the thing about prioritization – trans kids aren't her top priority. Israel is. And she likes where Haley stands on Israel.
Moreover, Garland is, simply put, a Nikki Haley superfan.
"I fell in love with Nikki the first time she spoke from the U.N.," she remembered. "And then when she announced she was running for president, it just made my day."
So to the extent that Haley is using education to tell voters who she is, voters like Garland don't need to hear it. Garland already liked her from the start."
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Justice in Gaza? The first thing they have to do is have a recall election to kick Hamas out of power before they do anything. Good luck with that since over 70% of Palestinians support Hamas. If anything these students need to be leading an effort in Gaza to throw Hamas out of power. I don’t believe we will see that. MHO
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