Thousands of American students across the country are not protesting, jeopardizing their future and their safety because of some pathological hatred of the Jewish people. They are doing it out of complete denial and rightful outrage at the mass slaughter perpetrated by the Israeli state against defenseless Palestinians in Gaza - Journalist, Editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Ramzi Barud.

At the moment, there are mass protests in dozens of US universities. However, these demonstrations cannot be called simply anti-Semitism.

Thousands of American students across the country are not protesting, jeopardizing their future and their safety because of some pathological hatred of the Jewish people. They are doing this out of complete rejection and rightful outrage at the mass slaughter perpetrated by the Israeli state against defenseless Palestinians in Gaza.

They are angry that the bloody attacks in the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, are fully funded and supported by the US government.

These mass protests began on April 17 at Columbia University and spread across the US from New York to Texas and from North Carolina to California.

In terms of the nature and intensity of the protests, many have compared them to the 1960s and 1970s protests in the United States against the Vietnam War.

While the comparison is valid, it is important to note the ethnic diversity and social cohesion in the current protests. On many campuses, Arab, Muslim, Jewish, black, Native American, and white students are demonstrating to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their Palestinian peers in a united stand against the war.

They are united by one clear priority: ending the war, ending US support for Israel, ending their universities' direct investment in Israel, and recognizing their right to protest. This is not idealism, but humanity at its best.

Despite mass arrests starting in Colombia and violence against peaceful protesters everywhere, the movement is growing.

On the other hand, all US politicians, starting with President Joe Biden, have accused the protesters of anti-Semitism instead of considering their reasonable and globally supported demands.

Once again, the Democratic and Republican establishment have sided in their blind support for Israel.

Biden condemned the "anti-Semitic protests" and described them as "reprehensible and dangerous".

A few days later, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, visited the university under the protection of security and spoke in language that was completely unbecoming of a country that makes grandiose claims that it embraces democracy and respects the right to freedom of speech and assembly.

"We cannot allow this kind of hatred and anti-Semitism to flourish on our campus," he said, adding, "I join my colleagues today in calling on President (Minouch) Shafiq to resign unless he immediately puts an end to this kind of chaos."

But Shafik was a leader in the crackdown on the protests, calling on the New York Police Department to crack down on the protesters, falsely accusing them of anti-Semitism.

The US mainstream media has helped contribute to widespread confusion and misinformation about the causes of the protests.

The Wall Street Journal has once again allowed writers like Stephen Stalinsky to condemn young justice activists for daring to criticize Israel's horrific genocide in Gaza.

"Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and others are supporting protest activists in the United States and throughout the West," he said, turning critical conversations about U.S. support for genocide into strange and unwarranted directions.

As much as US establishment writers want to continue to deceive themselves and their readers, the fact remains that neither Hezbollah nor Hamas mercenaries operate at US Ivy League universities.

All of these distractions are designed to obscure the undeniable changes in American society. At the same time, these changes are likely to cause a long-term shift in popular opinion about Israel and Palestine.

Americans are changing their views on Israel and their country's "special relationship" with Tel Aviv.

There are certain trends of change among independent activists led by Young Democrats and, to some extent, among Young Republicans.

The statement that "sympathy and goodwill in the Middle East is now directed more toward the Palestinians than toward the Israelis" would have been unthinkable in the past. But the latest polls on this new topic, along with Biden's declining approval ratings, continue to confirm that fact.

The older generations of American politicians who made and continue to make their careers based on unconditional support for Israel are shocked by the new reality. Their burro tongue is stuck in the face of reality today. Yet they are willing to slander an entire generation of their own people, even the future leaders of America, in order to satisfy the demands of the Israeli government.

In a televised statement on April 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the protesters as "anti-Semitic gangs that have taken over leading universities" and claimed that the peaceful protesters were calling for "the destruction of Israel." His words should have outraged all Americans, regardless of their politics or ideology. However, many American politicians began to parrot Netanyahu's words.

However, their political actions will have the opposite effect not in the distant future, but in the coming months, especially on the eve of the presidential elections.

It's clear that millions of Americans are fed up with war, government allegiance to a foreign country, militarism, police brutality, unprecedented restrictions on free speech across the US, and more.

Young Americans, who are not indifferent to the interests, historical and spiritual mirages of previous generations, are declaring that "enough is enough." What they are doing today is very important, they are demanding, with one voice, answers to long-standing questions, moral and legal accountability, and an immediate end to the war.

As the US government, instead of taking action, instead supports the Israeli war machine in its assault on millions of Palestinians, brave students rise up against this evil. It is undoubtedly the most shocking event in the history of the United States.

Ramzi Barud, journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle.