Post-war and uni politics

My stress levels have gone down considerably since the cease fire. I'm not so naive as to think that this is the end of the war; indeed it was just one battle. But still.
Last week I met with a new PhD student who just came here from Israel. We talked about his research and the software he's using. Then he told me how his best friend from uni had died in Lebanon. He was the last soldier to be killed before the cease fire came into effect. He left a wife and 10-month old daughter. Then we talked about his scholarship, and a conference he wants to attend.
Later that day I just couldn't handle the whole surreal situation any more. I had to go out for a walk and a bit of a cry.
Here everything is going on as usual of course, the sun is shining and we're getting beautiful weather after a cold winter. Even the Swedish exchange student was complaining about the cold. Now we have a nice, early spring (thank goodness for global warming!) and flowers are blooming.
Things at the uni are also going on as usual. There are lots of "activists" handing out brochures and putting up posters all over campus. Most are by the Socialist Alliance and usually feature rather histrionic vitriol against Israel, the US, and capitalism. Apparently some Jewish students were harassed, spat on and yelled at. This morning we got an email from the Vice Chancellor warning that offensive behaviour agains Jews will not be tolerated. Not surprisingly, there has been no anti-Muslim behaviour.
I must admit that I sometimes feel scared when confronted with these crazy Marxists and their friends in some of the other student groups. I've heard that some Jewish students choose to wear hats over their kippas so they won't be harassed. I don't "look Jewish" so I don't have that problem, and I don't walk around campus all that much either. But it's sad to think that this is the situation here.