Buss: Antisemitic 'vibe' persists at UM
Kaitlyn BussBlatant intimidation and maximum disruption are the playbook for the pro-Gaza crowd.
On Sunday at the University of Michigan, anti-Jewish protesters tried to shut down an event on misinformation featuring past Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, chanting “we will not stop, we will not rest, disclose, divest.”
Tensions between Jewish and Palestinian students that erupted in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas in Israel have only gotten worse over the past six months.
“Until my last breath I will utter death to every single individual who supports the Zionist state,” reads comments posted in a story on a social media account that identifies itself as belonging to Salma Hamamy, president of UM’s Students Allied For Freedom and Equality (SAFE). The organization, which helped lead the Sunday protest, calls itself a Palestinian solidarity group.
“Death and more,” her post said. “Death and worse.”
Hamamy’s violent threats are similar to the chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” heard in Dearborn and elsewhere around the country.
But Hamamy wants it both ways, simultaneously decrying the hostility over the conflict and the emotional toll it has taken on her in a fawning Michigan Daily interview from April 2.
“We do receive death threats," Hamamy said. "We do receive threats of all levels wishing for the worst things to happen to us. But even if those things were to happen, it would be worth it.”
The exaltation of martyrdom over civil dialogue unveils a dangerous radicalism in pro-Gaza activism: complete acceptance of their point of view — or else. Does she assume her stated enemies are similarly willing to sacrifice themselves?
That mentality seems celebrated on American college campuses today. But it has made life at UM intimidating and uncomfortable for Jewish students.
A March honors convocation was forced to end early because of pro-Palestinian protesters, who have also interrupted classroom learning. Now there are concerns about the upcoming graduation ceremony and the university is debating a proposal to deter protesters.
“Things have really escalated,” says Ava Ben-David, a senior at UM and press representative for Facts on the Ground (FOG), which hosted the disrupted Sunday event. “It definitely feels more intense.”
Ben-David says she has faced several incidents of discrimination this school year because of her Jewish heritage. She says she has not been vocal politically but acknowledged she posted “R.I.P.” online following the death of her cousin in Israel, Ran Gvili, who was killed in the Oct. 7 attacks.
She has asked the university to reassess a grade from a professor with demonstrated antisemitic sympathies she alleges was assigned lower than it should have been simply because she is Jewish.
“I obviously can’t change my last name,” she says. But that exposure alone makes her vulnerable.
The university said the investigation will take 60-90 days to complete, by which time Ben-David will have already graduated.
Ben-David says FOG is trying to foster connections at a human level that minimizes division, hate and violence.
“That is so lost on our campus,” Ben-David says.
Three of the panelists at the protested event were Palestinian, attempting to share their perspectives and find common ground, a fact many protesters may not have even realized.
But specifics don’t matter; it’s about the narrative.
“That’s just sort of the vibe on campus.”