Woke Dartmouth Students Vacationing in Repressive Countries Speak Up on Social Media: “Had a Blast! :P”

Reports suggest that Dartmouth students with well-developed, intellectually rigorous opinions on state repression, ethnic violence, and gender-based discrimination in countries they vacation in have posted none of these opinions on Instagram.

Suzie Heider ’22, currently on a Birthright trip to Israel, had this to say: “Of course I’ve thought about the illegal occupation and anti-Arab discrimination in Israel. Blindly propagandizing for a violent state, even one you have a deep connection to, is wrong.” At press time, Ms. Heider had posted three pictures overlooking the West Bank with the caption: “west house meet west bank :0”.

Karen Yu ’21, who spent interim touring China and posting landscape photographs, opined: “Yes, two million Uighur Muslims and dissidents are being subjugated and crushed systematically by the Chinese state. That’s so important to get out there.” (Yu posted a selfie from the Great Wall with the caption: “All’s wall that ends wall [peach emoji]”). She continued, “That’s why when I posted a picture from Xinjian province, I tagged #UighursStaySafePls”.

Said Amir Al-Din ’20, a student from Boston who embarked on Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, “Of course it’s horrible how the Saudi state treats women, immigrant workers, and Shi’as. But I found it hard to covey all of that in a single post while doing it justice.” (Al-Din’s posts read “#throwback to the time ur boy went to the Holy Land and everything was amazingggg with no caveatssss. #winterimsux”).

At press-time, Raj Cowasjee ’22 uploaded a Snapchat Story of the police beat-down against Muslim protesters in Delhi with an “ONLY IN DELHI” filter.