Episode #222 of Hitting Left: The Student Encampments
Bard College anti-genocide encampment organizer, Lucy Gunderson was our guest.
Bard College administrators and members of the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) have reached an agreement that ended a weekend-long occupation of the college’s main administration building. The Times Union.
Sen. Tom Cotton (AR) — These little Gazas are disgusting cesspools of antisemitic hate full of pro-Hamas sympathizers, fanatics and freaks," Cotton said in a press conference Wednesday.
The Klonsky Brothers, back in the studio with Lucy G.
Brother Fred was back in the studio with me for the last time before he and his wife Ann move to their new digs in Brooklyn, closer to their kids and grandkids, including granddaughter Lucy Gunderson. Of course, he will still be zooming in to HL occasionally.
And who better to take on Cotton’s disgraceful comments than a student organizer at one of the encampments where students protesting Israeli genocide, prevailed in negotiating a set of demands with school administrators?
Lucy is a Bard College senior, brilliant, poised, and articulate. In her interview with us Friday, Lucy explains exactly how the protesting students at Bard were able to organize themselves and win all their demands after 19 days of encampment and protest.
When I asked her about the charges of “antisemitism” being hurled at the students by the likes of Cotton, Biden, and Netanyahu, Lucy laughed and said:.
“You may know this, Uncle Mike, but I myself am Jewish [I did know it, of course] and as were many of the leaders at our encampment. We held Abdallah ceremonies at both Shabbats that occurred while we were encamping…
“Next semester I will be the president of the Jewish Student Organization on campus.”
I asked her if she had heard from any of Bard’s Jewish students who said they felt threatened or uncomfortable by the encampment. She said no, she hadn’t but…
“We did have disagreements with some of the Zionist students on campus, but they were over our rhetoric and phrasing. And some of our rhetoric and phrasing have improved as a result of those conversations.”
You can listen to the entire show right here.
Hard times in New York
At the break, to honor Bob Dylan on his 83rd birthday and Brother Fred's move to NY, we played some Dylan from back in ‘61.
Acorns and trees.
:-)