Democracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion Clashes on campuses keep missing the key to successful protest

As campus protests continue, we need respect for differing perspectives.

By
May 16, 2024 at 6:45 a.m. EDT
Protesters express support for Palestinians at a rally on the campus of Columbia University in New York on April 29. (Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)
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Ro Khanna, a Democrat, represents California’s 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House. This column is adapted from his speech accepting the “Profile in Courage” award from the Arab American Civil Rights League in Dearborn, Mich.

How can we have a conversation in America that condemns the horrific Oct. 7 Hamas attack and kidnappings, reckons with what has transpired since, and respects the stories and struggles, the trauma and tears, of both Arab Americans and Jewish Americans?