Thing is, we as a society are the ones who make something effective or not. Now, personally, I wouldn’t call those violent protests as “effective” because ultimately, these people didn’t achieve anything. At least nothing positive. Did they help even one palestinian? Did they gather any sympathy for their cause? Did they manage to erase Israel off the map? They were completely ineffective, they were just notorious and for all the wrong reasons. Those kids on campus hijacking and vandalizing buildings, making ridiculous demand of vegan, gluten free (and totally free!) food and going into a hunger strike that went from “indefinite until our demand are met” to “paused while we eat something because we feel sick” just achieved becoming laughingstocks, a source of ridicule. The universities who sided with them? They just managed to lose prestige, applicants and donations.
In reality the pro Israel rallies have been more effective because they weren’t about intimidating or bullying people into joining our side. They weren’t meant to force anyone into taking action for us. The purpose of these rallies has basically been to make Jews around the world feel united and connected, to show the world that we’re here and won’t be scared into hiding like it happened during the Holocaust, and to show the differences between the attitudes of both sides. In that sense, they have been very effective!
Quorra2.0 wrote: ↑Thu May 16, 2024 11:57 am
That’s why I said it’s an argument against the effectiveness of peaceful protest. Peaceful protests and rallies don’t draw as much attention, it’s like the homeless. The ones with signs or just there don’t draw news or public attention. The ones encamped in on the outer fringes of the community, don’t make news. The ones committing crimes, encamping in neighborhoods, defecating in peoples yards these draw attention and then people are outraged at the homeless problem. Now I’m not advocating for non peaceful protest, I’m just saying that they don’t draw the attention. A few published articles about these rallies when they coincided with the 1 yr anniversary of Amini’s murder, but as far as I ever saw, none really reported much if anything on the protest rally outside the UN when Raisi was there last September let alone any others.
Momto2boys973 wrote: ↑Thu May 16, 2024 11:23 am
That’s the point. People are unaware of any support for the Iranian people because it doesn’t make the news or social media. Deranged anarchists in keffiyahs destroying elite campuses across America deserve all the attention. I wonder why…
And BTW, there isn’t anything to divest, boycott or sanction there either. And if that’s what they want, then they should at least do it properly.
Quorra2.0 wrote: ↑Thu May 16, 2024 11:16 am
No Protests? No outrage?
Either you are unwittingly making a strong argument against the effectiveness of peaceful protests OR this matters so little to you that you are oblivious and incorrectly using it to counter activism you disagree with.
There was just a woman life freedom rally in support of Iranian women a few weeks ago in NY. Were you unaware of this? I’ve participated in a few rallys including a small one here not long ago.
If you think we should amp these up, what do you propose? Should we demand the US takes militaristic actions? They’ve placed heavy sanctions already and have been trying diplomacy for over 2 yrs…There really isn’t anything left to boycott, divest, and sanction.
עמ׳ ישראל חי 
