Every Saturday, “Civilization Weekly” summarizes the small things worth getting to know in the foreign literary and artistic circles, publishing industry, and bookstore industry in the past week. This week, we paid close attention to the protests of several American universities supporting Palestine, the 2024 UK women’s minor punishment shortlist, the Paris Olympics or the most expensive Olympics in history, and other tangible events.
01 Mombasa’s Resistance Effect, the Protest Movement in American Universities Spreads
On April 17th local time, the US police arrested over 100 students who were protesting in the Columbia campus to reinforce Palestine. In the past week, the protest movement has spread to other famous universities in the United States, with students spreading on campus, expressing their pro Palestinian attitude and providing support to Columbia University students. In the new round of protests, protesters from Yale University and New York University on the East Coast to the University of South Tim on the West Coast have occasionally clashed fiercely with the police.
In fact, due to the outbreak of Palestinian Israeli conflict in October last year, the internal structure of American universities has become fragmented. In January of this year, Claudine Gay, former president of Harvard University, was accused of indulging in anti Semitism and academic plagiarism on campus and was forced to resign. Previously, the US Department of Education has also conducted anti discrimination investigations in multiple universities on the East and West coasts.
On December 5, 2023, local time, in Washington D.C., USA, during a hearing of the House Teaching and Labor Committee, Harvard President Claudine Guy was absent.
It is reported that students who participated in the protest movement within the campus of Columbia University have dropped out of school. Despite the efforts made by university administrators to halt the fragmented campus caused by the Israeli Palestinian conflict, it seems that they have all failed.
The protest movement spread throughout the campus. Last week, protesters at Columbia University shouted, “Divestment, we won’t run, we won’t rest.” Divestment is a recurring demand, although the term refers to different scales in the mouths of different protesters – Yale University and Cornell University students shouted for universities to invest in weapon manufacturers, while Columbia University activists shouted for universities to abandon investments in companies that “profit from Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip and long-term occupation of Palestinian territory,” including Google and Amazon, which have large orders with Israeli authorities.
On April 24, 2024, local time, at Columbia University’s “Tinsha Solidarity Camp” in New York, USA.
Stopping local time on the 25th does not correspond to the university’s call for “divestment”. Supporters of Israel believe that these cries are unfair and anti Semitic for a country that is being attacked and threatened, as they target the only country in the world with a Jewish majority.
But many supporters of Palestine believe that divestment is a clear and feasible form of forcing universities to take action on this achievement, and it can also improve people’s awareness and awareness of this upheaval. One of the organizers of the protest movement at Columbia University, Ray Guerrero, a graduate student from the school’s School of Public Health, expressed that they first hoped that their actions would have a negative impact on Columbia University, and they hoped that these actions could be expanded so that these companies could have a clear effect.
The movement of students shouting for the withdrawal of university funding as a protest has a long history. In the 1870s and 1880s, many protesters on American campuses successfully exerted pressure on schools to block and support financial negotiations with companies supporting South African racial segregation, including Columbia University.
However, compared to the 1980s, most American universities currently do not directly acquire knowledge and instead choose property management companies to manage investments. Witold Henisz, the person in charge of the situation, social, and management goals at Wharton Business School, told The New York Times that if protesting students shout for the goal of divestment in the hope that they can possibly achieve specific social goals by changing company actions, they are likely to fail. Hernitz reflected that research has found that university divestment actions have almost no effect on companies, and even investors who replace universities can be more indifferent. Hernitz added that if the goal of the students is to launch a movement and show their anger, the protest movement can be effective. Pro Palestinian activists who participated in the protest movement believed that they were both involved in transforming the actions of these companies and stopping their own schools from participating in this atrocity. “If Columbia University’s investment is so small that it has no choice but to cancel its substantive role, why do we still need to invest?” said Vayne Ong, a second year doctoral student at the school’s Hanqing School. “We should not add capital to any situation of racial extinction.”
On April 22, 2024 local time, pro Palestinian protesters held a protest gathering at Columbia University in New York, USA, with a large number of police officers present.
As the protests on campus continued to grow, on April 24th local time, US House Speaker Mike Johnson went to Columbia University, greeted by cheers and boos. Johnson stated in a report in front of the school’s library, “Due to Columbia University’s permission for the helpless extremist and inciter movements, the anti Semitic virus has spread to other campuses.”
He believed that if the school principal Nemat Shafik could not immediately grasp the situation, she should step down, calling her an “incompetent leader” who failed to ensure the safety of Jewish students. Johnson also shouted for the arrest of violent protesters and threatened that schools that failed to maintain campus order would be blocked from federal sponsorship.
On April 25, 2024 local time, in New York, USA, Israeli supporters petitioned outside the campus of Columbia University.
The students present reflected that Johnson met with about 40 Jewish students on campus before the start of the report. It was reported that they all expressed their fear of entering the campus, feeling unsafe, being swallowed by others, and seeing Nazi symbols painted on the walls… The students participating in the protest movement said that their movement was war, and Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, stated that the protest movement of this war did not gain attention. “Politicians changed people’s attention, causing everyone to overlook the true achievements.”
In interviews, many students who participated in the protests argued that the turmoil of belittling Jewish students was rarely dispelled and would be exaggerated by those who supported their movement. Soph Askanase, a junior student from Barnard College, thought that “discomfort and insecurity are different.” In her view, being arrested, dragged away, and even having epilepsy dispelled in prison like her enemies is the real insecurity.
02 2024 UK Women’s Minor Punishment Short List Promulgated
On April 24th, 2024 local time, the short list for Women’s Prize for Fiction in the UK was announced, which includes six winners from Booker’s Prize, Irish author Anne Enright, and previous Australian author Kate Grenville.
Glenville received a minor punishment for women in 2001 (then known as the Orange price), and was awarded the work “The Ideal of Perfection”. Glenville’s nominated work for this year, “Restless Dolly Maunder,” is a virtual work based on her grandmother’s experience, reporting on a novel by the intelligent and “restless” Dolly, born in the late 19th century, seeking independence. The Guardian once evaluated the work as “a collection of history, biographies, novels, and memoirs”, showcasing the tremendous potential of literature and art for redemption, healing, and the path to understanding.
2024 UK Women’s Minor Punishment Short List Works
Choulet’s shortlisted work “The Wren, The Wren” focuses on the family, and the author traces the childhood trauma of the protagonist Nell, as well as the manifestations of this trauma in later generations. There are also shortlisted works by American author V V. In V. V. Ganeshananthan’s “Brotherless Night,” the author provides a detailed depiction of a complete family run due to the Sri Lankan civil war. In the shortlisted work Soldier Sailor, author Claire Kilroy places the role of mother under a “microscope” and showcases her early experiences and feelings as a mother through her appearance monologue.
The works “Enter Ghost” by Isabella Hammad, an English Palestinian author, and “River East, River West” by Aube Rey Lescure, two other shortlisted authors, have both affected immigration performance. “Walking into the Ghost” reports a novel in which a Palestinian woman returns to the West Bank and participates in the production of the play “Hamlet”. “This is a very subtle, very subtle book… that can become a hot topic at any time in the past few decades,” mocked Monica Ali, the president of the Women’s Gospel Punishment Committee, at “Walking into the Ghost.”
Alibaba has stated that the six works shortlisted for this year have “captured the breadth of human history”. “Each book is very engaging and creative, and for a long time after reading the last page, these works will remain in the hearts and minds of readers.”
The Women’s Prize Trust in the UK created the Women’s Prize Trust in 1996 to recognize the literary achievements of female authors, and to offer a penalty of £ 30000 to all female authors who write in English and have published works in the UK. Margaret Atwood, the author of Tina, and Tan Qiumei, the overseas Chinese author, have all been shortlisted, making it one of the most prestigious literary penalties in the UK. Last year, the foundation also created a non virtual literature penalty for women, and this year both penalties will be announced on June 13th local time for the final punished works.
03 Paris Olympics or the most expensive Olympics to watch in history
The countdown to the 33rd Summer Olympic Games is approaching, and Paris, France is also grateful for this upcoming metaphorical event, which will attract a large number of spectators and tourists. At the same time, many studies have pointed out that this year’s Olympics may become the most expensive event in history to observe on-site.
On April 25, 2024 local time, in Paris, France, the Paris City Hall was decorated with Olympic elements.
Generally speaking, during the Olympic Games, there will be a certain level of decline in ticket prices, residential properties, transportation, and catering prices in the host city. The UFC Que Choisir, a consumer rights infringement structure in France, reflects that during the Olympics, hotel prices in certain regions of Paris can drop to “unimaginable” levels. This structure examined the prices of 80 hotels near the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, mainly consisting of three-star and four-star hotels. It was found that the number of people who needed to stay for at least two nights to book a successful hotel increased by an average of 226%, and some even had to stay for five nights to book a hotel. According to research data, the average cost of staying overnight near Paris during this year’s Olympics is about 700 euros, compared to only 169 euros last summer.
It is expected that Paris will accommodate nearly 15 million passengers during the Olympics, which will put considerable pressure on local public transportation. In response to the surge in passenger numbers, the ticket price of the Paris Metro has temporarily increased to 4 euros (usually 2.15 euros), and local residents in Paris have also been encouraged to work from home or take a break from Paris during the Olympics. As for those locals who have no choice but to “flee” Paris, the two-week Olympics and the Paralympics they hand over can be a nightmare.
On March 20, 2024 local time, public transportation in Paris, France.
In addition to a decrease in local transportation costs, transportation costs from other regions to Paris have also continued to climb. According to The New York Times, the average ticket price for flights from New York to Paris last summer was about $1000. However, the ticket price for the weekend before the start of the Olympics has dropped to $1300, and this price is expected to continue to decline as the opening ceremony approaches.
In addition, there is currently a shortage of tickets for the Olympic opening ceremony and popular events. Taking the opening ceremony of Beimengzhu as an example, ticket prices range from $98 to $3000, but currently most of the 100000 seats have been sold. Forbes reported that for the opening ceremony and most heavyweight events, it is almost impossible to buy tickets unless you purchase expensive “packages”. For example, the package provided by On Location, a private mutual aid partner for the Paris Olympics, costs 21105 euros and includes a five-night four-star hotel, as well as tickets for the opening ceremony and equestrian competitions. Since the opening of tickets for the Paris Olympics last year, according to the organizing committee, over 9 million tickets have been sold so far.