Internationally, the state of politics has grown increasingly chaotic over the last several years. In early 2022, the nation of Russia invaded Ukraine, bringing war back to eastern Europe for the first time since the end of world war two. Over half a million casualties have been estimated to have occurred since the commencement of hostilities. In the pacific, the nation of China continues to act in an assertive manner, and recently launched an aerial military maneuver over the island of Taiwan in which over 103 planes were present. In North Korea, continuously bombastic military parades in the capital city of Pyongyang have been routinely held- recently, a demonstration was held in which civilian vehicles had been repurposed for military usages. In the middle east, war has erupted in the historically volatile region. In early October, Israel was attacked by the Muslim terrorist group Hamas. Over innocent 1,000 civilians were murdered, and Israel has retaliated by taking offensive military actions in Gaza.
In the aftermath of this attack, the response in the United States amongst the general population has been mixed. Despite the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization, and numerous other Islamic groups in the region- including Hezbollah and Al Qaeda, have threatened to get involved, many leftists and young students in America are against Israel’s actions that the nation took to defend itself following the attack. In New York City and on several college campuses, there have been massive protests in support of Hamas. Supporters of the terrorist group include many members of the LGBTQ community; ironically, in Islamic extremist countries, the gay lifestyle is outlawed, and those deemed as engaging in it are usually killed.
In the face of these demonstrations, a small group of some 5,000 students from 650 colleges signed a joint pledge to support Israel and engaged in open peaceful demonstrations of their own. These students are bravely vocal in a hostile environment.
