When Students Become Terrorists

Sep 7, 2024

Eli Lake, a Free Press columnist and expert on campus activism, delves into the turbulent landscape of American universities today. He discusses the chaos surrounding recent protests, particularly those targeting Jewish students, and historical parallels with radical movements like the Weathermen. Lake highlights how dedicated individuals can drive escalating violence within student protests and examines the financial influences backing these movements. The conversation sheds light on the dangerous potential of youthful fervor morphing into militant action.

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ANECDOTE

Weather Underground Leaders

Bernadine Dohrn, a former cheerleader with a law degree, led the Weathermen, a radical left-wing group.
The Weathermen, active between 1969 and 1974, bombed police stations, courthouses, and the Pentagon.

INSIGHT

Shift from Protest to Violence

The Weathermen's transition from protest to violence was driven by their belief that America was irredeemable due to the Vietnam War.
They aimed to dismantle the system through any means necessary, justifying sabotage, bombings, and even murder.

ANECDOTE

Dohrn's Cuba Trip and Days of Rage

Bernadine Dohrn, a key figure in the Weathermen, visited Cuba and received rings made from downed U.S. aircraft.
Upon returning, the Weathermen planned the "Days of Rage," a large-scale riot in Chicago.

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Last year, at colleges across America, students etched themselves into history, or infamy, with the most dramatic campus protests in a generation.

In preparation for the fall semester, some major universities—from NYU to UCLA—have implemented new rules and decided to enforce old ones to protect Jewish students from activists who had declared sections of campus no-go zones for Zionists. Universities that turn a blind eye to the Tentifada phenomenon now risk violating federal statute.

Nonetheless, the chaos appears to be returning. At Temple University, protesters marched in solidarity with Palestinian “resistance against their colonizers.” Last week, a man attacked a group of Jewish students with a glass bottle on the University of Pittsburgh campus outside the school’s “Cathedral of Learning.” Meanwhile at the University of Michigan, four agitators were arrested during a “die-in.”

So clearly the danger is not yet over entirely for campuses, even though some of the steam may be leaving the movement. The Democratic National Convention, for example, was supposed to be the exclamation mark of rage, but the protests barely registered as a tussle.

But history teaches us that it takes only a few student true believers to make quite a mess once they decide that boycotts and sit-ins aren’t making a difference.

To understand this moment and the risk these student protesters pose, Free Press columnist Eli Lake looks at America’s history with Ivy League domestic terrorists. More than 50 years ago, campus unrest also spilled into the streets and moved off the grid as a small and lethal group of radicals called the Weather Underground took the plunge from protest to resistance. But the Weather Underground railed against the establishment. Today’s campus protesters are supported by it. Call them. . . the Weather Overground.

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