It is a contentious time to be a college student, especially in the nation’s capital. I am a freshman at the George Washington University, which, until police intervened this month, was one of the sites of a growing encampment movement across the country, demanding that America universities divest from companies providing weapons to Israel, among other asks.
I think it is important to preface a few things before I continue. I am not an expert on this topic. I’m not even close. I am a well-meaning student who is trying to take what I am given and come to my own conclusions. To be honest, I hate feeling like I have to write about this. I am just trying to make sense of a conflict that spans thousands of years and, at least to me, is one of the most intractable policy issues of our time.
Before the encampments began, I posted a picture with two of my friends, one of whom supports Zionism. A then acquaintance of mine who identifies as pro-Palestine expressed her discomfort with my association with him, stating that I “lack[ed] humanity” for it. I was shocked to see that someone would attack my character based on a friend’s identity and beliefs. This incident highlighted how entrenched ideologies have caused a categorical intellectual backslide in our society, especially regarding this conflict.
Now, I feel more suffocated than ever, like eyes are on me all the time, waiting for me to comment or say something. I can sense my relationships with people on both sides beginning to tense a little when I do not unequivocally agree with them, a circumstance that worsened during the encampments.
For us to live in a functioning world order and democracy, we need to be able to communicate through our disagreements. That is the only way we can progress effectively as a society. I believe that no matter what, we should never forget the humanity of our political other. That is the opinion I will always hold and one that is missing in the discourse about this conflict. Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA, which encourages a diversity of viewpoints and responsible political discourse, calls the current climate one of the “temperamentally extreme,” and recommends looking beyond the polarizing figures to recognize that most students are “temperamental moderates” — [who] are ideologically diverse, want to freely debate the difficult issues of our time, and disagree productively,” all of which is necessary to provide for tangible change. We need to engage with the pluralistic values that make our country a beacon of freedom, making compromise and civil discourse a priority.
I have been engaged in the bridging space since my junior year of high school, co-founding a nonprofit, the Global Compromise Collective, based on promoting compromise to de-escalate political polarization, so that is the lens through which I try to view everything. After reading journalist Isaac Saul’s lengthy opinion piece on X, “12 Thoughts on the Columbia Protests,” I am even more convinced that there needs to be a greater emphasis on the bridging efforts between Israelis and Palestinians and that those bridging spaces should be a priority.
I think college administrations are mistaken to halt the ongoing demonstrations on both sides of this issue. Instead, the universities must take time to foster impactful conversations and engage in dialogue with the students who are making their voices heard. They are there for a reason. Without at least hearing what they have to say, we will not even begin to chip away at this intractable and we will be moving ourselves closer to an inextricably divided nation.
Preeti Kulkarni (preeti.kulkarn@gwu.edu) is a student at George Washington University.
