Episodes intended to shake up ‘ anger by those who love this country,’ writer says
Several apparently targeted anti-Israel activists in recent weeks, including those whose valuable comic book collection, figures of the founding father, and traditional buildings where great heads like Albert Einstein have taught.
Some have caused massive destruction. National media attention and shock were sprang from images of the University of California at Los Angeles, California State Polytechnic University at Humboldt, and Portland State University ( pictured ).
However, other historically significant things have been targeted as well, including statues of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
This is not a fluke, according to writer Mary Grabar, who spoke to The College Fix.
According to Grabar, “attacks on them are intended to elicit deep-rooted rage from those who love this country,” according to an internet on Wednesday. According to what students are taught,” Israel is acting as a proxy for the bad colonial Western empires that are the root causes of the world’s problems.”
At George Washington University on April 30, activists scrawled the phrases “genocidal” and “warmongering” in aerosol- color across the monument of the university’s predecessor, according to news and social media images.
The statue’s hands was decorated with a pro-Palestine flag, and posters with” Free Palestine” and other words were displayed on the bottom and legs. Two emails from the school asking for an estimated cost to stop the vandalism did not arrive.
The George Washington monument at George Washington University has been Palestinianized and defaced. photograph. twitter.com/asuJ6OUCSr
— Alex Kennedy ( @therealmindman ) April 30, 2024
Just a few weeks before, the University of Pennsylvania’s monument of Benjamin Franklin even was vandalized, the phrases” Zios get fuckt” spray painted across it, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian. A Israeli flag is also visible on one photo’s shoulders.
A school spokesman confirmed to The Fix that they would test the damage’s forecast in an email on Wednesday. A follow-up internet was not received.
A representative for Portland State University confirmed to The Fix that they are still assessing the whole damages allegedly caused by demonstrators who took control of the library building before the May 2 police raid.
Rare archived items, including a Dark Horse Comics set, may have been taken during the protesters ‘ activity, according to reports from OregonLive and people. The cup was smashed on a banner advertising the series, according to a photo from OregonLive.
However, the university’s director, Katy Swordfisk, stated in an email that the alleged fraud cannot be confirmed.
” We’re still working to determine what, if any, elements are missing as labor to file the extent of the damage continues. At this moment, we ca n’t confirm if any archived materials have been stolen”, Swordfisk said.
The library’s interior has been severely damaged, including the words” Blood on your fingertips” written in red ink on a table full of books.
Extra:’ In the millions ‘: Anti- Israel graffiti, garbage costing universities large money
The ancient UCLA Royce Hall was among the harm caused by pro-Palestine protesters abroad. Built in 1929 and one of the first buildings on campus, the service has welcomed fantastic thoughts such as Albert Einstein and entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Leonard Bernstein, and Ella Fitzgerald, college website says.
The hall’s carved arch doorways, brick walls, and wooden doors were covered with” Free Gaza” graffiti April 30, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Hours after police cleared the protesters ‘ encampment, another report from ABC 7 on May 2 revealed even more graffiti on its columns and walls.
In two emails sent last week asking for an estimate of the damage’s value, UCLA’s media office did not respond.
Other significant targets included a march from Hunter College to the Met Gala to New York City’s World War One memorial, as well as American flags from Chapel Hill and Yale University.
According to the Yale Daily News, replacing the one that was torn down from Yale’s Beinecke Plaza will cost roughly$ 10,000.
These events, Grabar told The Fix, remind her of the destruction that took place during the George Floyd riots of 2020. She linked both to the “1619 Project”, a New York Times series that argued America was founded on slavery, not freedom and independence. Many historians, including Grabar, say the conclusion of the series is not based in fact.
According to the 1619 Project,” the false history of slavery was woven into the false narrative about the present situation when George Floyd was depicted as a victim of widespread racism and anti-black police brutality,” she told The Fix. ” I’m afraid that the 2020 riots established a precedent of widespread attacks on cherished American figures and institutions, and even books”.
MORE: Pro- Palestinian Rhode Island School of Design students seize building, barricade themselves in
IMAGE: Andy Ngo/X
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