Graduation 2024 is going to be all about Israel-Gaza war

This week’s University of Southern California valedictorian speech controversy, where university officials canceled their anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian speaker due to security concerns, is more than a mere news item — it’s a foreshadow things to come.

As parents and loved ones gear up for the annual dose of pomp and circumstance, this spring’s commencement season promises to be chaotic, loud and nasty. 

There isn’t a space too sacred, an event too significant that pro-Palestinian “river to the sea” chanters won’t co-opt for their cause.

Witness the worshippers harassed as they leave synagogue, the city council and board of ed meetings ambushed, the rush-hour traffic brought to a standstill.

Make no mistake, they are licking their lips in anticipation. 

Here’s a glimpse of what that will look like: in late March, the University of Michigan abruptly ended its Honors Convocation, an annual tradition that recognizes the school’s top academic performers, after a hundred or so protestors interrupted the proceedings with shrieks, chants, and banners demanding the university divest from Israel.