When human values are pushed into open gutters

The USA by their settlers was flooded with human rights values and ideas of humanity mainly originating from Europe. What the upcoming intellectual elite of today experience regarding these issues determines their future belief and influences their actions to come.

Africans should monitor closely the development of several US university campuses and draw its careful conclusions when moving forward. Dealing with students is not by make-it-or-break-it authoritarian policy but by informed and matured diplomacy.

The student protesters ask their universities to withdraw their support for Israel and voice their concerns about innocent Palestinians being killed or facing severe famine. By nature, Jewish students see this as anti-Semitism, not as a genuine humanistic concern while a small number of Jews do understand the concerns of peaceful protesters.

As time went on more radicals who had an interest in dividing the Americans further possibly influenced by outside forces took over the narrative of the humble protests and tried to radicalize it for their agendas.

University administration out of touch with the students used autocratic means to silence the humble beginnings in a very overall political tense situation in the USA. Election campaign, Donald Trump in court, the Ukrainian-Russian war, the Israel-Hamas war, keeping China in check, and the increasing influence of tech companies in society especially on politics and the economy and with no vision for a renewed great America in place or in sight takes its toll on the American society.

At the humble beginnings of the student protests the administrations of the universities had ample time to react and keep the grievances expressed at low profile. As the "moral" situation in the Middle East is still unclear and can only fully be assessed after the war is over in retrospect with a clear and calm scientific mind it could have been suggested to put a moratorium on the support for Israel in line with many cracked promises of Western leaders advising Israel on their tactics to move forward as much as asking Hamas to accept the ceasefire deal which is on the table. Many students would have been disappointed by such a decision but left the campuses in peaceful protests to clear the way for normal classes again.

University leaders should be filled with independent wisdom, be free, not the instrument of any group but entirely be dedicated to research and education.

The lessons to learn for Africa are as Russia and China in the long run are no better alternatives to helping the continent to establish their human values, and well-designed and executed political, economic, social, and cultural systems in a renewed new African unity to change or to go down under with the rest of the world when it comes to upholding human values and humanity. Harsh words are the foods of truth and prosperity.