The following commentary has been submitted for publication by Whitewater Common Councilwoman Brienne Brown.

I spent four hours at the student-led “Day of Action for Palestine” at UW-Whitewater last Thursday, and I was so moved by what I saw that I’d like to share my observations.

The protest started at 9 a.m. Around 50 students from a coalition of six student organizations were set up near the Minneiska Springs waterfall, a high visibility site on the north mall of campus. They’d set up a farmers market tent and folding table piled with donated pizza. Finals week is just around the corner; the campus was quiet, with a few small groups walking to and from the University Center. Some of the protesting students lounged on blankets. Others stood in front of the tent and chanted. 

Their key concern is that thousands of Palestinian civilians have been bombed and that the survivors are starving to death. While there, I learned that many of those who were chanting were refugees themselves, from Myanmar, Palestine, Syria, and Jordan. Others were friends who attended in solidarity.

Our young adults are exercising the most basic American right of the 1st Amendment in order to protest peacefully and make their voices heard. They are not being coerced, and I saw little evidence of radicalization. These students had done their research, and they were challenging the status quo with a depth of understanding that belies their youth. As a former geopolitical journalist myself, one who covered Israel 20 years ago, I half expected a lack of nuance from these young adults especially given their frustration. And, yet, they knew more about the history of the Middle East and Israel than most older adults I know. Not only were they exercising their fundamental rights as American citizens, they understood that the promise of a democratic government requires citizen involvement. I heard no anti-American or anti-Semitic dogma, but a yearning that America live up to its ideals and require the same of its allies. 

Our students are protesting because they are learning about the inconsistencies of how U.S. foreign policy is deployed, and they want the people in charge to listen. My job as a member of Whitewater Common Council, and as someone running for State Assembly, is to hear them rather than blame them for speaking out. 

U.S. Foreign Policy is complicated, and years of policy is hard to reverse. But instead of vilifying our local students who are peacefully protesting – towing some party line that calls for condemnation and fear-mongering – I hope we will do the more responsible thing, the more crucial thing: LISTEN. 

These students are the future. They give me hope that peaceful, thoughtful solutions are possible.