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The lead story on the Chronicle of Higher Education‘s news blog this morning is the destruction of two buildings at the Islamic University In Gaza by Israeli airstrikes.
Israeli bombing runs in Gaza are in their third day, and Israel charges that the university is a “research and development center for Hamas weapons.”
There were no casualties in the attack on the university, as it was evacuated at the start of the Israeli campaign. The two buildings destroyed housed science laboratories and women’s classrooms.
Meanwhile, Israeli media is reporting that competing protests opposing and supporting the Gaza airstrikes were held at the campuses of Hebrew University and Haifa University on Monday.
Via Arts and Letters Daily comes an Atlantic essay on the causes and implications of the Greek youth and student riots. Why are they happening? Why now? And what can we expect in 2009?
Excerpts:
“Youth unemployment is high throughout the European Union, but it is particularly high in Greece, hovering between 25 and 30 percent. With few job prospects, rampant poverty in the face of nouveau riche prosperity, a public university system in shambles, a bloated government sector in desperate need of an overhaul, and a weak, defensive conservative government with only a one-seat majority in parliament, it is a ripe period for protests…”
“The first real crack in the military regime came in November 1973, when protests at the Athens Polytechnic led to the downfall of one junta leader and the ascension of another, whose regime was toppled the next year with the reinstitution of democracy. From then on, student protests in Greece have had a particularly poignant legitimacy to them, as well as a distinctly leftist edge, laced with the left’s uniquely effective ability to question authority…”
“Yes, youth alienation in Greece is influenced by a particular local history that I’ve very briefly outlined here. But it is also influenced by sweeping international trends of uneven development, in which the uncontrolled surges and declines of capitalism have left haves and bitter have-nots, who, in Europe, often tend to be young people. And these young people now have the ability to instantaneously organize themselves through text messages and other new media…”
“Pay close attention to Greece; at a time of world-wide economic upheaval, it might eerily presage disturbances elsewhere in 2009.”
On Saturday I linked to an essay on the New School occupation that had been written by an anarchist student who participated in the takeover. This morning I see that there’s a post up at the New School In Exile blog taking issue with some of that student’s claims, particularly regarding the role of the Radical Student Union in the sit-in. Go read ’em both.
The morning also brings a piece on the demonstration from Inside Higher Education, as well as a shorter piece from the Chronicle of Higher Education blog.
Links from the student protest at the New School:
The website and blog of “The New School In Exile,” organizers/participants in the recently ended sit-in and associated actions.
A roundup of media coverage of the protests.
The text of the agreement between the protesters and university president Bob Kerrey.
An essay by one of the protesters on the lessons he learned in the sit-in.
A clip from Brian Lehrer’s talk show on New York public radio, in which he talks with one of the protesters’ media liaisons.
A Flickr slideshow of the protest, and another set of photos. (Several other photosets are up at NYC Indymedia.)
New School president Bob Kerrey’s new blog.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for more resources and links. Feel free to pass additional ones along in comments.
Students at NYC’s New School have ended a 30-hour sit-in at a campus dining hall, after winning concessions from university president Bob Kerrey.
The students had initially demanded Mr. Kerrey’s resignation, but after internal discussions they replaced that demand with four others: student participation in the selection of a new provost, establishment of a new campus committee on socially responsible investment, changes in use of space in university buildings, and amnesty for all student protesters.
The protest ended at 3:30 this morning, an hour after the students got word that Kerrey had accepted their demands.
Saturday Update: I’ve posted a roundup of resources and information on the New School protests.
studentactivism.net 
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