As peace activists occupied common spaces on campuses across the country, some in corporate media very clearly took sides, portraying student protesters as violent, hateful and/or stupid. CNN offered some of the most striking of these characterizations.
CNN‘s Dana Bash (Inside Politics, 5/1/24) blames the peace movement for “destruction, violence and hate on college campuses across the country.”
Dana Bash (Inside Politics, 5/1/24) stared gravely into the camera and launched into a segment on “destruction, violence and hate on college campuses across the country.” Her voice dripping with hostility toward the protests, she reported:
Many of these protests started peacefully with legitimate questions about the war, but in many cases, they lost the plot. They’re calling for a ceasefire. Well, there was a ceasefire on October 6, the day before Hamas terrorists brutally murdered more than a thousand people inside Israel and took hundreds more as hostages. This hour, I’ll speak to an American Israeli family whose son is still held captive by Hamas since that horrifying day, that brought us to this moment. You don’t hear the pro-Palestinian protesters talking about that. We will.
By Bash’s logic, once a ceasefire is broken, no one can ever call for it to be reinstated—even as the death toll in Gaza nears 35,000. But her claim that there was a ceasefire until Hamas broke it on October 7 is little more than Israeli propaganda: Hundreds of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the year preceding October 7 (FAIR.org, 7/6/23).
‘Hearkening back to 1930s Europe’
“They didn’t let me get to class using the main entrance!” complains Eli Tsives in one of several videos he posted of confrontations with antiwar demonstrators. “Instead they forced me to walk around. Shame on these people!”
Bash continued:
Now protesting the way the Israeli government, the Israeli prime minister, is prosecuting the retaliatory war against Hamas is one thing. Making Jewish students feel unsafe at their own schools is unacceptable, and it is happening way too much right now.
As evidence of this lack of safety, Bash pointed to UCLA student Eli Tsives, who posted a video of himself confronting motionless antiwar protesters physically standing in his way on campus. “This is our school, and they’re not letting me walk in,” he claims in the clip. Bash ominously described this as “hearkening back to the 1930s in Europe.”
Bash was presumably referring to the rise of the Nazis and their increasing restrictions on Jews prior to World War II. But while Tsives’ clip suggests protesters are keeping him off UCLA campus, they’re in fact blocking him from their encampment—where many Jewish students were present. (Jewish Voice for Peace is one of its lead groups.)
So it’s clearly not Tsives’ Jewishness that the protesters object to. But Tsives was not just any Jewish student; a UCLA drama student and former intern at the pro-Israel group Stand With Us, he had been a visible face of the counter-protests, repeatedly posting videos of himself confronting peaceful antiwar protesters. He has shown up to the encampment wearing a holster of pepper spray.
One earlier video he made showing himself being denied entry to the encampment included text on screen claiming misleadingly that protestors objected to his Jewishness: “They prevented us, Jewish students, from entering public land!” (“You can kiss your jobs goodbye, this is going to go viral on social media,” he tells the protesters.) He also proudly posted his multiple interviews on Fox News, which was as eager as Bash to help him promote his false narrative of antisemitism.
‘Attacking each other’
“Security and [campus police] both retreated as pro-Israel counter-protesters and other groups attacked protesters in the encampment,” UCLA’s student paper (Daily Bruin, 5/1/24) reported.
Late that night, a pro-Israel mob of at least 200 tried to storm the student encampment, punching, kicking, throwing bricks and other objects, spraying pepper spray and mace, trying to tear down plywood barricades and launching fireworks into the crowd. As many as 25 injuries have been reported, including four student journalists for the university newspaper who were assaulted by goons as they attempted to leave the scene (Forward, 5/2/24; Democracy Now!, 5/2/24).
Campus security stood by as the attacks went on; when the university finally called in police support, the officers who arrived waited over an hour to intervene (LA Times, 5/1/24).
(The police were less reticent in clearing out the encampment a day later at UCLA’s request. Reporters on the scene described police in riot gear firing rubber bullets at close range and “several instances of protesters being injured”—LA Times, 5/3/24.)
The mob attacks at UCLA, along with police use of force at that campus and elsewhere, clearly represent the most “destruction, violence and hate” at the encampments, which have been overwhelmingly peaceful. But Bash’s description of the UCLA violence rewrote the narrative to fit her own agenda: “Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups were attacking each other, hurling all kinds of objects, a wood pallet, fireworks, parking cones, even a scooter.”
When CNN correspondent Stephanie Elam reported, later in the same segment, that the UCLA violence came from counter-protesters, Bash’s response was not to correct her own earlier misrepresentation, but to disparage antiwar protesters: Bash commended the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles for saying the violence does not represent the Jewish community, and snidely commented: “Be nice to see that on all sides of this.”
‘Violence erupted’
“For me, never again is never again for anyone,” says a Jewish participant in the UCLA encampment (Instagram, 5/2/24).
Bash wasn’t the only one at CNN framing antiwar protesters as the violent ones, against all evidence. Correspondent Camila Bernal (5/2/24) reported on the UCLA encampment:
The mostly peaceful encampment was set up a week ago, but violence erupted during counter protest on Sunday, and even more tense moments overnight Tuesday, leaving at least 15 injured. Last night, protesters attempted to stand their ground, linking arms, using flashlights on officers’ faces, shouting and even throwing items at officers. But despite what CHP described as a dangerous operation, an almost one-to-one ratio officers to protesters gave authorities the upper hand.
Who was injured? Who was violent? Bernal left that to viewers’ imagination. She did mention that officers used “what appeared to be rubber bullets,” but the only participant given camera time was a police officer accusing antiwar students of throwing things at police.
Earlier CNN reporting (5/1/24) from UCLA referred to “dueling protests between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and those supporting Jewish students.” It’s a false dichotomy, as many of the antiwar protesters are themselves Jewish, and eyewitness reports suggested that many in the mob were not students and not representative of the Jewish community (Times of Israel, 5/2/24).
CNN likewise highlighted the law and order perspective after Columbia’s president called in the NYPD to respond to the student takeover of Hamilton Hall. CNN Newsroom (5/1/24) brought on a retired FBI agent to analyze the police operation. His praise was unsurprising:
It was impressive. It was surprisingly smooth…. The beauty of America is that we can say things, we can protest, we can do this publicly, even when it’s offensive language. But you can’t trespass and keep people from being able to go to class and going to their graduations. We draw a line between that and, you know, civil control.
CNN host Jake Tapper (4/29/24) criticized the Columbia president’s approach to the protests—for being too lenient: “I mean, a college president’s not a diplomat. A college president’s an authoritarian, really.” (More than a week earlier, president Minouche Shafik had had more than a hundred students arrested for camping overnight on a lawn—FAIR.org, 4/19/24.)
‘Taking room from my show’
“The majority of news since the war began…has been skewed by a systemic and institutional bias within the network toward Israel,” a CNN staffer told the Guardian (2/4/24).
Tapper did little to hide his utter contempt for the protesters. He complained:
This is taking room from my show that I would normally be spending covering what is going on in Gaza, or what is going on with the International Criminal Court, talking about maybe bringing charges. We were talking about the ceasefire deal. I mean, this—so I don’t know that the protesters, just from a media perspective, are accomplishing what they want to accomplish, because I’m actually covering the issue and the pain of the Palestinians and the pain of the Israelis—not that they’re protesting for that—less because of this.
It’s Tapper and CNN, of course, who decide what stories are most important and deserve coverage—not campus protesters. Some might say that that a break from CNN‘s regular coverage the Israel’s assault on Gaza would not altogether be a bad thing, as CNN staffers have complained of “regurgitation of Israeli propaganda and the censoring of Palestinian perspectives in the network’s coverage of the war in Gaza” (Guardian, 2/4/24)
The next day, Tapper’s framing of the protests made clear whose grievances he thought were the most worthy (4/30/24): “CNN continues to following the breaking news on college campuses where anti-Israel protests have disrupted academic life and learning across the United States.”
ACTION ALERT: Messages to CNN can be sent here. Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective. Feel free to leave a copy of your message in the comments thread of this post.
This is what I sent to CNN:
Bash’s show on the supposed violence of the protest encampments against Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza seems very distorted and one sided. Her coverage of a student Tsives supposedly not being able to get in the front door of a building suggested it was because he was Jewish. Other reports in places like FAIR say he was prevented from passing the encampment because of his past antagonism as a counter protester and that he wore a holster of pepper spray. Other Jewish students have not had his problem and some have been a part of the encampment. Bash should not make a big deal about Tsives whining that he has the inconvenience of walking to another door. That does not make it the 1930’s in Germany.
This is a very good letter to CNN you sent, in my opinion. Thank you for sharing it. I like that and am doing these things since many years, even if it at times is hard to stay as polite as we should be.
Speaking from Germany something gave me to think. Our (fake) Left “TAZ”, a Berlin paper, after the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and other killings by the US Police, was very much for the “Defund the Police” idea by BLM and others.
Now this same “Left” paper (which is nothing of the sort, but in Germany still millions think it were) applauded (!) the US Police for their actions against the peaceful demonstrations at US campuses… A complete U-turn which tells a lot.
Nobody is even discussing this flagrant violation of the most basic rules here. There are too many who first asked to defund the Police and later shout they needed more police forces, or openly jubilate like the horrible TAZ does. This fake-Left paper is not really big, but it is often quoted in many bigger media and has a certain influence. If Fair would cover Germany they would quite often talk about them^^. That “TAZ” goes “yellow press” and openly applauds the Police which hurts innocent people who just use their democratic rights under the pretext of “fighting Antisemitism” tells a lot. I experienced Antisemitism in my youth and would fight it while I can – but from all we know from here these are just demonstrations full of empathy for the poor people trapped in Gaza. Nothing in that is “Antisemitism”, I think.
So – thank you for sharing your letter!
Back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s college protestors urged the president to stop the war. Currently protestors are urging the current president to support Hamas. What a difference in values we have these days as it’s another kind of Marxism.
“protestors are urging the current president to support Hamas” is a bizarre and presumably intentional distortion of reality. Few protestors are urging any such thing, although they should have every right to do so given that Hamas (notwithstanding its crimes committed on 7th October 2023 that Israel refuses to be investigated) is a legitimate resistance, political and social organisation. Even a cursory viewing of the demands by protestors finds little if any mention of Hamas but plenty demanding a ceasefire, open doors for aid to the Gaza Strip, no military assault on Rafa and a long-term peaceful resolution that includes equal rights for all in a democracy.
Caitlin Johnstone succinctly describes your position with a quotation: “A liberal is someone who opposes every war except the current war and supports all civil rights movements except the one that’s going on right now.”
Support Hamas. LOL. Go back to sleep, Steve Blankbrain.
Oh come on now … “CNN continues to following the breaking news on college campuses where anti-Israel protests have disrupted academic life and learning across the United States.” Seriously now, is there anyone who disagrees with the above CNN quote ?? There are so many people who are chanting slogans they don’t really understand or who are determined to make this into a one-sided story. It’s not, of course. Listen, I mostly understand in today’s world there is only ONE truth and ONE side of a given issue, with no room for a middle ground, no nuance, in effect, a zero sum game. Kinda another Kind of Marxism I assume.
I’m shocked! Simply shocked to find that gambling is going on in here. Hey you kids! Get off the front lawn and stop pushing people on electing Donald Trump! The kids answer – “OK, Boomer!” It is truly popcorn time, a 180 degree circular firing squad and hence there is nothing to see here.
“stop pushing people on electing Donald Trump”. This British reader simply doesn’t understand what that phrase means. Stop pushing people who are intent on electing him? Stop pushing them where, exactly? What that has to do with the corporate media’s unashamed lying about the pro-Palestinian activities is unclear. Perhaps you mean that the media’s lionising of Joe Biden is contrarily making Donald Trump appear the lesser of two weevils…
“Please allow me to introduce myself I’m a man of wealth and taste, I’ve been around for many a long year…….” Rolling Stones.
The media is deliberately ignoring the peaceful resolution of protests at places like Brown and Northwestern that were handled extremely well by their administrations which negotiated with students and have agreed to make public all their investments. The students have peacefully packed up their tents. Those that do portray divestment as too difficult to do and neglect to inform the public that the push for divestment in South Africa was an important factor in ending apartheid.
There is also a lot of claims of outside agitators but no mention of the fact that in the past outside agitators have been plants by the right and by government agencies to push destruction and violence so that the protestors can be painted as out of control and therefore illegitimate. The FBI had planted a COINTELPRO informant, , Terry Norman, at Kent State. Norman was secretly allowed to carry a gun by campus police who were in on it. According to an investigation commissioned by the CLeveland Plain Dealer a recording of the shooting has the sound of a gunshot from the same caliber gun as Norman was carrying that day. That shot was fired right before the National Guard opened fire.
https://www.cleveland.com/science/2010/12/kent_state_shootings_does_form.html
COINTELPRO may have been dismantled but not its tactics. In recent years the FBI also planted an informant/agitator inside a Black Lives Matter group. That man encouraged members to engage in destructive acts.There are enough rightwingers still in powerful positions at the FBI that I wouldn’t be surprised if they have planted agitators in these protests, too, but our mainstream “liberal” media doesn’t want to know about that.
I quit watching cnn long ago. Get great coverage daily on Democracy Now.
Us lefties opened the door to Islamic radicals and then the Islamic radicals get rid of us leftists and establish the caliphate. It happened everywhere. (Afghanistan, Iran, EU etc etc)
“Us lefties opened the door to Islamic radicals”… you mean like the CIA supplying the Afghan Mujahideen, including a certain Osama Bin Laden, with vast amounts of dollars and weapons to fight the evil secular communist government. Then those Islamists turned into al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Great strategy, American neocons.
There are activists and then there are anarchists, from what I observe here, many now appear to fall into the latter category. Good luck with HAMAS as your guiding light.
Anarchism is a political philosophy with a long and respectable history, even if I don’t share its goals. It is surely preferable to the vicious brutality of capitalism and imperialism that we see enacted by fanatical Zionists.
Hehehe … Spoken (and confirmed) by the proclaimed Marxist herself – Rebecca!! Why wouldn’t it surprise me to discoverer you are some trust fund individual who hasn’t worked a day in your life.
Everyone knows that, the same thing that happens when everyone on the planet flushes their toilet at the same time.
I’m deeply sympathetic to the argument that Israel has over-reached, over-bombed, and certainly over-reacted in its overkill of Palestinian civilians in the wake of Oct 7th invasion horrors.
The thing is preventing students from attending classes, taking exams and even walking around their own campus freely is frankly not a protest; it’s a crime. So is the destruction of property and the use of physical intimidation and violence against dissenting students. The use of masks to conceal identity is reminiscent of the Klan, and antithetical to non-violent civil disobedience. It’s a way for outsiders to easily infiltrate and a way to escape responsibility and accountably. It’s menacing and cowardly.
I’m kind of bummed by how many (presumably post-university age) commenters and commentators assume that student activists (“kids these days!!!!”) “don’t understand” what they’re protesting….
I mean, do these commenters not realize that maybe *they*, not the protesters, are the ones lacking insight?
…For one thing, said commenters’ conflation of support for Palestinians with “supporting Hamas!!!!” seems to betray *their* ignorance of the issues at hand….
Ahhhh …. The public cost of morons and there is an abundance of idiots attending university these days.
Ahh the humanity or is it Anti Semitism.
The students and professors are reacting to unverified Hamas Propaganda.
Why were there no protests when Assad from Syria murdered tens of thousands and forced millions of Syrians into exile.
There were no protests about the death’s and refugees in South Sudan.
Where were the protests when the Taliban killed thousands and put the women into the first century.
Where were the protests on the campuses when Iran killed women for not covering their hair?
THe difference is that Israel is the Jewish state.
the difference is the scale and the USG complicity in it
Please explain, then, why so many of the pro-Palestinian protesters are Jewish.
LOL
No. The difference is that none of these colleges and universities are heavily invested in Syria, Sudan or Afghanistan – or the weapons and taxpayer money sent to those states by the USG, you ninny.
Both of CNN’s remaining viewers are getting tired of the network’s bias
TO CNN: Cover Gaza more accurately and fairly.
Jake Tapper claims that student protests were preventing him from covering more substantive issues about Gaza. “This is taking room from my show that I would normally be spending covering what is going on in Gaza, or what is going on with the International Criminal Court…”
CNN, not protestors, control CNN’s coverage of Gaza.
CNN staff have noted “…the censoring of Palestinian perspectives in the network’s coverage of the war in Gaza.”
Please take responsibility. Respectfully.