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University of Michigan Cancels Anti-Israel Resolution Vote After ‘Inappropriate Use’ of School Email System
Pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan. Photo: Screenshot
The University of Michigan announced on Thursday that it halted a campus-wide vote on an anti-Israel resolution accusing the Jewish state of “genocide” and “apartheid.”
In a note to the campus community, the university said the decision followed an unauthorized communication sent to the entire undergraduate student body at the request of a graduate student in what the school described as an “inappropriate use” of the university’s email system.
Another resolution, which condemned Hamas as well as bigotry targeting both Jews and Muslims, was also canceled. The student body on Wednesday was considering and began voting on both resolutions when the email was sent. The message, which the university described as a “significant violation” of its rules, called on students to support the anti-Israel resolution and to vote against the other measure.
“That communication irreparably tainted the voting process on the two resolutions,” university vice president and general counsel Timothy G. Lynch wrote in a statement obtained by The Algemeiner. “We do not know, and never will know, the voting results on these two resolutions. But, under the circumstances, the university has been left with no alternative but to cancel the portion of the election process for these two resolutions.”
Lynch noted that the Central Student Government (CSG), which was overseeing the voting, “declined to address this threat to the integrity of the election results” when the university immediately brought it to the attention of the body.
“We take this action with deep reluctance,” he added. “But the extraordinary, unprecedented interference with the CSG ballot process requires the significant action we take today.”
In addition to accusing Israel of genocide and apartheid, one of the resolutions — titled Assembly Resolution 13-025: University Accountability in the Face of Genocide — demanded that the university establish a committee for investigating its “investments in any apartheid regime in the world.” It also said that the university failed to acknowledge the deaths of Palestinians in a statement addressing Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The other resolution — titled Assembly Resolution 13-026: CSG Response to Atrocities in the Middle East — aimed at addressing “opportunities to bridge students together in this time of increased division and tension.”
The false claims of Israeli genocide and apartheid are typical of the misinformation that has been spread by anti-Israel voices about the ongoing war between the Jewish state and the Hamas terror group, according to Jacob Baime, CEO of the Israel on Campus Coalition.
“While criticism of Israeli policies can be valid, the claims that Israel is committing genocide or apartheid are patently false. Reasonable people can disagree on complex geopolitical issues, but we must reject efforts that single out or delegitimize one side,” Baime told The Algemeiner. “The campus climate at Michigan and on campuses nationwide continues to be deeply concerning. However, the university’s stand against this inflammatory referendum is a step in the right direction. I hope it marks the start of a return to nuance and fact-based discussion regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), commended the University of Michigan’s decision.
The school “made the right decision to cancel the student vote today,” he wrote on X/Twitter. “Students violated University of Michigan policies, and the university must conduct a thorough investigation. From the beginning, this effort pitted students against one another and intensified hate at a time when Jewish students on campus were already vulnerable. The University of Michigan must now focus on bringing the community together.”
The University of Michigan has long been a hub of anti-Israel activity. In January, anti-Israel student protesters there chanted, “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide,” during Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to campus, where she was scheduled to discuss climate change. They also chanted, “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution” while waving Palestinian flags. A student who appeared to be leading the demonstration condemned the Biden administration for approving aid to Israel, which she referred to as “the Zionist entity.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post University of Michigan Cancels Anti-Israel Resolution Vote After ‘Inappropriate Use’ of School Email System first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.