SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- In the afternoon of April 9, 1969, word spread virally that University Hall in Harvard Yard was being occupied by students in protest of the Vietnam War and the alleged complicity by Harvard. The occupying students were a rather small group of radicals numbering about 200 out of a student body of about 6,500. In addition, there were another 200 students, of which I was one, who supported the issues being protested, but not the tactics, and who were naively thinking their presence would protect the occupiers from police violence when they were removed.

After an all-night vigil, state troopers amassed at the gates of Harvard Yard and conducted a brutal pre-dawn assault that dispersed everyone and arrested the occupiers in a matter of minutes. The troopers used tear gas and beat the “uppity” students with their batons as they cleared the area. The shock of the unexpected violence led to an eruption of anger and heightened determination, which resulted in a weeklong student strike.

Ultimately, the initial student demands were largely unmet, but there were intangible results. Many students became more educated about the war and invested in action to bring it to an end. Students also learned something about the limits of protesting, while the university came to recognize the negative effects of relying on excessive external force.

Largely unnoticed, perhaps, was the deepening of class resentment between college students and police. The killings of students protesting at Kent State University and Jackson State University a year later likely reflected this heightened animosity.

Over 50 years later, we hear history rhyming, if not repeating itself, as Mark Twain is alleged to have deftly noted. We had students with limited knowledge about a serious social concern raising their ire and frustration in destructive and disturbing ways. We had universities being criticized for not taking control more quickly of behavior that was not readily foreseeable. We had protests that spread wildly, and animosity between classes and groups of people that metastasized, including the unleashing of antisemitism with a virulence that had been long dormant in this country.

Change often requires disruption to awaken people to critical issues. The protests surrounding the Israeli-Hamas war raised legitimate concerns about the mistreatment of Palestinians and the threats to the existence of Israel. What has been lost in the way the protests were conducted and in the way the media largely focused on the dramatic actions more than the underlying substance is the opportunity to enlighten each other about the very complex factors that led to the conflict.

There is a longstanding history to this conflict that helps explain its intractability. In 1948, Britain was determined to end its role of managing Palestine. In trying to make their exit, the British made promises of statehood to the Israelis and independence to the Palestinians. These were promises that were impossibly in conflict and made worse by the honoring of only one commitment, i.e., statehood for Israel. The resulting inherent tensions led to subsequent misunderstandings, failed efforts on both sides to achieve a peaceful resolution, and periods of excessive violence that have done severe damage to the way Palestinians and Israelis view each other.

The Biden administration has taken an approach that recognizes the challenging history of the problem and the differing needs of each side of the conflict, rather than simply siding with one protagonist at the expense of the other. Yet, they have been skewered by people on both sides of the discord who want to see one side victorious over the other.

The path to any lasting peace in the Middle East will require the collaborative engagement of multiple countries and factions and an ability to move our vision beyond the drama of tent encampments and shouted slogans. We need to understand the broader history of the conflict to see a workable path forward.

Barry Gordon is a retired psychologist and writer living in Shaker Heights. He is a Harvard graduate and a frequent contributor to the Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com.

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