Let me first say that I do not have a dog in this fight. I think that there is enough blame to go around. That being said, I cannot remain silent on what I’ve seen.
On Tuesday, we biked in Forest Park. Afterwards, we both felt the fact that last week we had taken off from biking. There were protesters in the park. WashU students most likely, protesting the latest iteration in the Arab Israeli conflict. About a dozen protesters were standing on the northwest corner of the park. They were as close as they could get to the university without being on the school’s property. This is because over the weekend the police kicked a much larger group of protesters off campus. There was still a police presence today shadowing these diehards. We crossed into the park in front of an unmarked vehicle that was strategically parked to keep an eye on the protests. Later a Mountie cantered by, but by then the protesters had moved on.
This whole cat and mouse game between the cops and the protesters reminded me of similar behavior that had occurred during the Occupy Wallstreet protests years ago. Then police in their vehicles pursued the protesters who were on foot, and who attempted to evade them or at least make them get out of their cars by heading towards more remote portions of the park. I think that unfortunately situations of civil unrest like this only serve to get law enforcement’s blood up and really does not do that much otherwise.
I am struck by the differences between these two protests, both the current Palestinian ones and the past Occupy ones versus the Black Lives Matter protests that started in Fergusson. The BLM protests resulted in real change. They had an effect. Finals will soon be upon us and after them the students will disperse for the summer of their own accord and the police will have to find some new amusement. The Palestinian flag is from March. On Art Hill that windy day Palestinian families came together to be seen and to voice their protests. Their numbers were not that much greater that the students, but their demonstration seemed more effective and more peaceful.
