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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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Vancouver artist who subverts Barbie and Ken claims antisemitism is behind her removal from a group exhibition

Dina Goldstein received conflicting accounts of the last-minute decision by the gallery.

The post Vancouver artist who subverts Barbie and Ken claims antisemitism is behind her removal from a group exhibition appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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‘I’ll F—k You Up’: A List of Attacks, Threats, Explicit Calls for Violence at Pro-Hamas University Encampments

A statue of George Washington tied with a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh inside a pro-Hamas encampment is pictured at George Washington University in Washington, DC, US, May 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Craig Hudson

Videos from recent pro-Hamas protests and encampments on university campuses show demonstrators attacking and threatening Jewish and pro-Israel individuals, as well as making explicit calls for violence.

On some campuses, administrators have decided to call in police forces to remove the encampments. Others have been more hesitant to do so or have been refused help by the city.

The encampments have reportedly made some Jewish students feel unsafe on campus. The Algemeiner documented an extensive list of pro-Hamas and antisemitic statements made at the Columbia University encampment shortly after it was set up. However, some observers have argued those statements are not representative of the movement as a whole.

Meanwhile, many voices have argued for the removal of the encampments on the grounds that members of them have attacked and threatened pro-Israel or Jewish students. But others don’t believe any physical threats or attacks have taken place. Journalist Glenn Greenwald, for example, called the idea of such attacks “a massive hoax that they’ve been perpetrating for months.”

Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the recent physical attacks and explicit calls for violence on campuses that suggest such fears are not simply a “hoax,” although debate will likely continue over how representative these incidents are of the larger anti-Israel movement.

At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a girl from a nearby school was kicked in the head and knocked unconscious. She had to go to the emergency room. 
A video shows anti-Israel protesters detaining a pro-Israel student at UCLA. When he tried to escape, they chased him down, with at least one person exclaiming “get him,” and surrounded him again — making it impossible for him to leave. 

In this video you can see he’s trying to escape a protestor blockade preventing access. He is running from them and they chase him down and surround him. Like they’re on a hunt. https://t.co/cDG7PVe9p4 pic.twitter.com/mKaIiaUpYz

— Parmis (@ParmisLJavan) May 1, 2024

Footage shows a woman following around a man — who was not engaging with her — and attempting to tase him.
A student journalist at Yale University was poked in the eye with a Palestinian flag by a protester. She had to be brought to the hospital.
At The George Washington University (GW), students acted out a “people’s tribunal,” where they charged the president of the university, Ellen Granberg, along with other members of the administration with various crimes. “Guillotine, Guillotine, Guillotine, Guillotine,” members of the encampment chanted.
A leader of the “people’s tribunal” said, “Bracey, Bracey [referring to school provost Christopher Bracey], we see you. You assault students too. Off to the motherf—king gallows with you.” She also said, “As you already know where I am sending her [to the guillotine], her and her f—kass bob.”

At the George Washington University Gaza Solidarity Encampment today, the protesters held a “People’s Tribunal” where they put President Ellen Granberg, Provost Christopher Bracey, the Board of Trustees, @GWPolice, and many others on trial.

Is it normal for students to want to… pic.twitter.com/M8F543q0MV

— Stu (@thestustustudio) May 3, 2024

Also at GW, when pro-Israel activist and Israel Defense Forces reservist Rudy Rochman came to campus, he was surrounded and people chanted, in Arabic, “God winning, Allah will take your life,” according to his video of the incident.
At DePaul University, an anti-Israel demonstrator displayed “10 fingers, followed by seven fingers [referencing Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7], and then the throat-slitting gesture in front of Jewish students.”
A visibly Jewish person filming an encampment at City University of New York was surrounded by a group and assaulted. When his kippah fell off, a member of the mob  threatened, “Pick up the f—king hat, I’ll f—k you up.”
A group of anti-Israel protesters stole a man’s Star of David headscarf and beat him near the Met Gala in New York on Monday.

At Emory University, a protester threw a sign at the head of a police officer while a group was trying to push the officers back against a door.
Protesters were roaming around UCLA looking for Jews to harass and confront. “Where the Jews at, my n—a,” one exclaimed.
Demonstrators at Columbia University took over a building violently and held janitors there against their will. 

Send information about additional incidents to jelbaum@algemeiner.com.

The post ‘I’ll F—k You Up’: A List of Attacks, Threats, Explicit Calls for Violence at Pro-Hamas University Encampments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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ADL Blasts Emerson College for Bailing Out Pro-Hamas Protesters

Illustrative: Pro-Hamas demonstrators at Columbia University in New York City, US, April 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has implored Emerson College in Boston to enforce its “own policies” and discipline pro-Hamas agitators there who have staged unauthorized demonstrations protesting the Israel-Hamas war and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.

For nearly three weeks, college students have been amassing in the hundreds at a growing number of schools, taking over sections of campuses by setting up “Gaza Solidarity Encampments” and refusing to leave unless administrators condemn and boycott Israel. Footage of the protests has shown demonstrators chanting in support of Hamas, calling for the destruction of Israel, and even threatening to harm members of the Jewish community on campus. In many cases, activists have also lambasted the US and Western civilization more broadly.

At Emerson College, the administration has accommodated protesters, going as far as dispatching staff “to all precincts” to bail out those whom police have arrested for trespassing — according to a statement issued by President Jay Bernhardt. Emerson has also asked the local district attorney not to try their cases and will give free housing to protesters “required to stay in town for court appearances,” where they will live following the conclusion of the academic year.

“The president of Emerson is going out of his way to make sure students who broke the law and violated Emerson’s own policies face no consequences,” ADL chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “This capitulates to the most extreme voices and rewards their disruptive conduct. The Emerson community deserves better. ADL calls upon the president of Emerson to reverse this decision and urges the Suffolk District Attorney to enforce the law.”

Pressure for granting protesters “amnesty” is building at the University Massachusetts Amherst, where the student government recently passed a resolution condemning the school for requesting police assistance in demonstrations there, an action which resulted in over 50 arrests. The student government is also demanding the university adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, a measure which could purge Jews and Zionists from the American academy, experts have told The Algemeiner.

Emerson College is not the first school to excuse the behavior of pro-Hamas protesters.

The University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside) has made major concessions to anti-Israel protesters in exchange for the termination of their anti-Zionist demonstrations on campus, continuing a gradual normalization of the BDS movement against Israel.

Details of the settlement were disclosed by the university on Friday. It includes shuttering UC Riverside School of Business “global programs” in Israel — as well as the US, Brazil, Jordan, Egypt, Vietnam, China, and Cuba — appointing potentially anti-Zionist students to a task force on the university’s endowment, and exploring the possibility of banning Sabra Hummus, which is co-owned by the Israeli food manufacturer Strauss Group, from campus.

UC Riverside’s apparent capitulation followed a precedent set by Northwestern University last week, when the school announced the establishment of a new scholarship for Palestinian students and an investment committee in which anti-Zionists students and faculty may wield an outsized voice.

Brown University has also yielded to anti-Israel protesters, promising to hold a vote on divesting from companies linked to Israel.

Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington agreed to divest from companies linked to Israel, according to a “Memorandum of Understanding Between the Evergreen State College and the Evergreen Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” which the school posted on its website. Per the agreement, the school will issue a statement dictated by the protesters. The statement, a portion of which includes pro-Hamas propaganda, will “be reviewed by negotiators and a faculty representative before it is released.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post ADL Blasts Emerson College for Bailing Out Pro-Hamas Protesters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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