‘Azadi For Palestine’: University Campuses Across the West Erupt in Protests Not Seen Since 1968
Soumashree Sarkar | 28 April 2024 | The Wire
On April 20, an X account which purports to document Jewish hate on campus shared a video of a woman chanting in back-and-forth style the ‘Azadi’ slogan in the Columbia University campus in the United States. Students were three days into the historic encampment – a form of protest calling for freedom for Palestine – where they occupied an open space, peacefully. Within seconds, the video made its way to Indian audiences. Some asked what about ‘we will take our freedom’ is particularly anti-Semitic. Many more wrote that it reminded them of Jawaharlal Nehru University. ‘Don’t return her to India,’ said one, ‘cancel her visa,’ wrote another. Attempts by commentators to explain that the slogan was not really hurtful – unless you are the person impinging on another’s freedom – and that the case of Kashmir found resonances in Palestine were almost drowned out by Indian rightwing participants who were flabbergasted at what clearly looked like an subcontinent-origin student choosing to vitiate hallowed US university space this way….