The events surrounding the flag exhib­ition on the Arts Quad last week brings to light the ongoing debate over provocation and proportionate response. The 1,300 black flags lining the Arts Quad commemorated the Palestinians and Israelis who died in the December violence in Gaza. The administrators and student groups that sponsored the display sought to spread awareness of the humanitarian crisis and generate discussion amongst Cornell students. Though it was not meant to be an anti-Israeli protest, the vandalization that ensued questions the objective nature of the exhibition. Moreover, it was not the protest itself, but the way in which it was implemented that seems to have provoked students to resort to vandalism.