Anti-Israel Encampment Dismantled at University of Michigan

The University of Michigan on Tuesday morning cleared a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” with the help of law enforcement, confirmed by the school’s president, Santa Ono. This action followed a nearly month-long occupation of The Diag section of campus by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), an anti-Zionist group. During the occupation, both students and non-students destroyed school property, disrupted university business, and gathered outside the homes of school officials.

Local fire marshal's inspection revealed that SAFE’s activities, including overloading power sources and using open flames despite repeated warnings, posed significant fire risks. President Ono stated that these conditions necessitated immediate action to prevent a potential “catastrophic loss of life.”

Footage on social media showed police struggling to enforce the order to vacate, encountering resistance from protesters who locked arms and prepared for confrontation. Officers, clad in riot gear, deployed pepper spray and dismantled the encampment. One non-student was arrested for assaulting an officer.

President Ono reiterated the university’s stance on peaceful protest, stating, “Moving forward, individuals will be welcome to protest as they always have at the University of Michigan, so long as those protests don’t violate the rights of others and are consistent with university policies meant to ensure the safety of our community. To be clear, there is no place for violence or intimidation at the University of Michigan. Such behavior will not be tolerated, and individuals will be held accountable.”

He added, “We must find productive ways to engage with one another. We must leverage facts and reason in a spirit of open debate and find ways to work toward solutions. If we can manage to do that here — a place that is home to some of the most brilliant minds in the country — then our state, nation, and world will continue to benefit from the diverse perspectives that our university brings together on the most important issues of our day.”

Following the clearing of the encampment, SAFE alleged that law enforcement had “brutalized” the protesters and announced a new demonstration outside the Washtenaw County Jail, where the arrested protesters are being processed. “Please meet us there,” the group urged.

The University of Michigan is one of over 100 schools where anti-Zionist groups have occupied campus areas, demanding that administrators condemn and boycott Israel. Footage of these demonstrations often shows protesters chanting in support of Hamas, calling for the destruction of Israel, and threatening members of the Jewish community on campus.

In recent weeks, law enforcement has cleared similar encampments at institutions including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and George Washington University. At some universities, faculty members joined the protests, sometimes resulting in their arrest, as seen at Emory University and Northeastern University.

Asaf Romirowsky, an expert on the Middle East and executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, highlighted the influence of far-left faculty on these movements. He pointed to a historical shift since the 1960s where “scholar activists” have shaped higher education to promote ideological radicalism. This influence, he argued, must be challenged to prevent further erosion of academic integrity and the promotion of extremist ideologies.

“The cost of trading scholarship for political propagandizing has been a zeal and pride among faculty who esteem and cheer terrorism,” Romirowsky stated. “The message is very clear to all of us who are looking on from the outside at this, and institutions have to begin drawing a red line. The protests are not about free speech. They are about supporting terrorism, about calling for a genocide of Jews.”

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