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26 August 2024 |Mahjubah Magazineyet to be seen.The central demand from these actions have been to call for an end to the hostilities in Gaza, for Palestinians to have the right of self-determination, and for universities to disclose and divest from industries that benefit Israel or weapons manufacturers. Protestors have vehemently stated that the protests are not antisemitic or otherwise aimed at Jewish people, but rather against the policies of Israel in Gaza. Institutions and counter demonstrations have similarly stated that their aim is not Islamophobic or against the rights of Palestinians. Nevertheless, as Forbes magazine noted, universities face a %u201ctidal wave%u201d of lawsuits over the Gaza protests. Even a cursory glance of The Chronicle of Higher Education reveals the pressure faced by university leadership and faculty, and government policy makers, in the wake of the student protests. There are fears that the protests will continue and even escalate. There are fears that university administrations will attempt to limit the freedom of speech by faculty and students. There are also concerns that the government will seek to pressure institutions, as was the case for the presidents of Harvard, MIT, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. In my opinion, the students most involved and concerned were those personal connections to those affected by the events in Gaza or to those who joined in the demonstrations. Regardless of how they became involved, one outcome of these actions has been to dramatically increase the political cost of unilateral support for Israel as opposed to a more balanced approach to the Middle East. Some were highly informed and cared deeply about the structural violence experienced by Palestinians over the past 75 years, whether in Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, and elsewhere. Others recently learned about the issues and were greatly disturbed by what they could see. One concern about this newly found zeal, however, is that it draws from a limited understanding of the context and issues. The history of the Middle East is not central to the school or university curriculums. Students know very little about these societies. A second concern is that attention to the region, and the plight of those suffer, can be short lived. Over the past year students have been stirred to care about the needs of others, to think about global issues, and to become informed about how money invested locally %u2013 such as in university endowments %u2013 has repercussions upon the lives of others. They are learning about religious and cultural differences and compelled to measure the cost of taking a stand for one%u2019s commitments. These were linked to the plight of Palestinians, but also to broader social and political issues, and the