Thank you. I’ve been extremely concerned about what’s happening on campuses and your article is so helpful. I’m a Jewish woman. Never in my life did I think the cautionary words of my father be true, that concern about antisemitism would once again become ignited as it is. (He fought in wwii and his and my moms parents all came from the general Ukraine areas) Still so worried the wrong messages will take hold beyond the universities and extremely pleased to hear about the intense and civil discussions, the best outcome of the moment. Education is the key to peace for everyone. Here’s hoping.🕊️
One concern I have is that protesting students, the media and the rest of us may be falling in to a trap laid by Putin. I have no data to back this concern up, it's just an instinct, based on a "follow the money" type speculation.
Who is benefiting from the Gaza conflict?
Certainly not the Palestinians or Hamas. Obviously not Israel. Netanyahu is being globally branded as an "evil doer". Biden is losing parts of his base. America is looking like a genocide enabler, and has yet one more issue driving internal divisions. Bankrupt Lebanon risks an all out war with Israel. Any plans the Saudis had for making an alliance with Israel against Iran have been put on hold. Everybody involved seems to be losing, except for....
Putin.
You've likely noticed that Putin's rape of Ukraine is being pushed below the fold in all forms of media coverage. Instead of being outraged at the war in Ukraine, public attention all over the world is now focused on Gaza.
University students, our best and brightest young people, have become obsessed with Gaza, and in doing so have largely forgotten that a psychopath with many nuclear weapons has taken up the hobby of invading his neighbors, thus risking WWIII, the last war humanity may ever have. Logic and prioritizing problems in order of importance have been tossed out the window, by the most educated among us.
Did you know that Putin's birthday is October 7, the same date as the Hamas invasion of Israel which kicked off the very distracting Gaza crisis. Coincidence? I don't know. But something is smelling pretty bad here...
I'm sure Dr. McFaul has discussed this already, but as a reminder we might recall how Putin cemented his power in Russia.
It's widely believed, with some proof, that he set off bombs in apartment buildings all over Moscow, and then blamed the attacks on Chechen terrorists. This gave him a pretext for invading Chechnya, laying waste to it, and then branding himself as the great hero who saved Russia.
If Putin had anything to do with the Hamas Oct 7 attack, that sounds like the way that he thinks.
Thank you for a very illuminating piece, one that highlights the necessity and benefit of open dialogue and civil respect all around, even under duress. If our Universities lose their grounding in dialogue to rage, political dysfunction and interference, it will be a very bad day for all of us, both now and down the road.
Makes you wonder what ADL’s method of giving Stanford an “F” for dealing with anti-semetism. One emotional incident from a Jewish student? All your belief in education Michael, have you even finally considered there is no peaceful solution Israel/ Humas/Palestinian situation? Too many parties have too much invested in continued war.
@phil tanney You raise an important issue: this conflict -- like Ukraine -- is not simply a "local" issue or a regional dispute, this is a conflict that involves a large part of the world's nations, populations and resources. Distraction and propaganda are hallmarks of Russian disinformation techniques, and now we have segments in the U.S. who are echoing and compounding Russian propaganda on both conflicts. No wonder Americans are confused, indecisive and losing interest! Russia supports Hamas and Iran, and yet news outlets, politicians, bloggers and reporters continually promote Russia as a potential "partner" and model for the U.S. follow. We need more attention paid to who is aligned with each combantant, and who is benefitting from these conflicts.
Is it believable that Putin has operatives poisoning the social media feeds of Stanford students (whose praxis, in my opinion, is riddled with factual and semantic flaws)?
Thank you. I’ve been extremely concerned about what’s happening on campuses and your article is so helpful. I’m a Jewish woman. Never in my life did I think the cautionary words of my father be true, that concern about antisemitism would once again become ignited as it is. (He fought in wwii and his and my moms parents all came from the general Ukraine areas) Still so worried the wrong messages will take hold beyond the universities and extremely pleased to hear about the intense and civil discussions, the best outcome of the moment. Education is the key to peace for everyone. Here’s hoping.🕊️
One concern I have is that protesting students, the media and the rest of us may be falling in to a trap laid by Putin. I have no data to back this concern up, it's just an instinct, based on a "follow the money" type speculation.
Who is benefiting from the Gaza conflict?
Certainly not the Palestinians or Hamas. Obviously not Israel. Netanyahu is being globally branded as an "evil doer". Biden is losing parts of his base. America is looking like a genocide enabler, and has yet one more issue driving internal divisions. Bankrupt Lebanon risks an all out war with Israel. Any plans the Saudis had for making an alliance with Israel against Iran have been put on hold. Everybody involved seems to be losing, except for....
Putin.
You've likely noticed that Putin's rape of Ukraine is being pushed below the fold in all forms of media coverage. Instead of being outraged at the war in Ukraine, public attention all over the world is now focused on Gaza.
University students, our best and brightest young people, have become obsessed with Gaza, and in doing so have largely forgotten that a psychopath with many nuclear weapons has taken up the hobby of invading his neighbors, thus risking WWIII, the last war humanity may ever have. Logic and prioritizing problems in order of importance have been tossed out the window, by the most educated among us.
Did you know that Putin's birthday is October 7, the same date as the Hamas invasion of Israel which kicked off the very distracting Gaza crisis. Coincidence? I don't know. But something is smelling pretty bad here...
I'm sure Dr. McFaul has discussed this already, but as a reminder we might recall how Putin cemented his power in Russia.
It's widely believed, with some proof, that he set off bombs in apartment buildings all over Moscow, and then blamed the attacks on Chechen terrorists. This gave him a pretext for invading Chechnya, laying waste to it, and then branding himself as the great hero who saved Russia.
If Putin had anything to do with the Hamas Oct 7 attack, that sounds like the way that he thinks.
Thank you for a very illuminating piece, one that highlights the necessity and benefit of open dialogue and civil respect all around, even under duress. If our Universities lose their grounding in dialogue to rage, political dysfunction and interference, it will be a very bad day for all of us, both now and down the road.
Makes you wonder what ADL’s method of giving Stanford an “F” for dealing with anti-semetism. One emotional incident from a Jewish student? All your belief in education Michael, have you even finally considered there is no peaceful solution Israel/ Humas/Palestinian situation? Too many parties have too much invested in continued war.
Bob Langfelder
@phil tanney You raise an important issue: this conflict -- like Ukraine -- is not simply a "local" issue or a regional dispute, this is a conflict that involves a large part of the world's nations, populations and resources. Distraction and propaganda are hallmarks of Russian disinformation techniques, and now we have segments in the U.S. who are echoing and compounding Russian propaganda on both conflicts. No wonder Americans are confused, indecisive and losing interest! Russia supports Hamas and Iran, and yet news outlets, politicians, bloggers and reporters continually promote Russia as a potential "partner" and model for the U.S. follow. We need more attention paid to who is aligned with each combantant, and who is benefitting from these conflicts.
Is it believable that Putin has operatives poisoning the social media feeds of Stanford students (whose praxis, in my opinion, is riddled with factual and semantic flaws)?