The Central Student Government elections for the upcoming school year just concluded, with Public Policy junior Meera Herle and LSA sophomore Bipasha Ray of the Forward Together party emerging as the winning ticket. But, even though Herle and Ray won, this election cycle centered around another ticket: MPower. The MPower campaign was an independent bid for the president and vice president candidacies by Engineering senior Zaynab Elkolaly and LSA senior Salma Hamamy, both of whom are Arab and Muslim.
Elkolaly and Hamamy offered what they described as a “revolutionary” platform, earning the endorsement of groups such as Young Democratic Socialists of America and the Graduate Employees’ Organization at the University of Michigan. However, the endorsement that brought the MPower campaign to the forefront of campus politics was that of The Michigan Daily Editorial Board.
Once they were in the spotlight, the smearing began: Elkolaly and Hamamy received numerous accusations of antisemitism for their openly pro-Palestine platform. Their platform called for the University to endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement and to end all University-sponsored trips to Israel due to the country’s ongoing record of human rights abuses and discriminatory policies against Palestinians. The labeling of pro-Palestinian individuals as antisemitic did not come as a surprise; in fact, it was the expected immediate response to any criticism of the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. Instead, in this instance, the antisemitic accusation served as a reminder of the blatant Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment that exists on this campus.
The backlash against Elkolaly and Hamamy’s platform centered around their support for Palestine, ignoring the rest of their platform, a tactic often used to dismiss Arab and Muslims as a monolith with their eyes set on only one goal. Comments on The Daily’s Instagram posts labeled them as “open antisemitic candidates,” offering no proof other than the insinuation that, as Muslims and Arabs who support Palestine, they must hate Jewish people. Another comment claimed that their “awesome proposals” were “bogged down by their openly clearly pro-arab platform at one of the most Jewish schools in the nation.” This comment perpetuates the stereotype that Arabs and Jews are mortal enemies, inherently pitted against each other; it perpetuates the notion that a pro-Arab agenda must obviously come at the expense of Jewish students. One other comment said that “no one who embraces terrorism… should be deemed a leader in the Western World,” playing on the stereotype that Arabs and Muslims are terrorists unfit for the West.
One user, feigning support for Elkolaly and Hamamy, repeatedly posted comments showcasing actual antisemitism, but would then take to DMing actual MPower supporters and deride them for their support with xenophobic comments such as “you can’t be openly gay and exist in an Arab state.” Another student shared on their Instagram story an email they were sending to The Daily voicing their disappointment of its aforementioned endorsement. They claimed, with no basis in fact, that Elkolaly and Hamamy “plan to limit the ways in which Jewish students like me can further immerse themselves in their culture and religion.” Someone else shared a private DM conversation with someone who supposedly went to high school with Elkolaly and claimed that they “are some of the worst most anti semitic people I’ve ever met,” again with no proof to back up this claim. The now-elected Forward Together ticket posted on their Instagram story that they were “aware of some harmful rhetoric circulating in the platforms of some of our opponents” on the final day of the election. Of course, no one could point to this “harmful rhetoric,” but it existed as long as nobody questioned it.
All of these blatant attacks against Elkolaly and Hamamy show that, as long as you are Arab, Muslim or both, no evidence is needed to accuse you of horrible, evil beliefs like antisemitism. The vilification of Arabs and Muslims knows no bounds and needs no concrete support so long as they belong to a presupposed, inherently vile group, even on the apparently “liberal” and “progressive” campus of the University of Michigan.
This double standard has been showcased outside of campus over the past few weeks, as Israel has experienced massive, historic protests and international criticism over the Netanyahu government’s attempted judicial overhaul. There is no need to defame the protestors of the Israeli government in this instance, as they have been noticeably Arab and Muslim free.
The Islamophobic and anti-Arab sentiments on campus emerged in this election as a reminder of their omnipresence. The vilification of Elkolaly, Hamamy and the MPower platform also sent a message to the marginalized groups they inspired and aimed to help: Should you so much as think of challenging dominant narratives in hope of a better world for you and yours, you will also be attacked, smeared and broken down.
The author of this piece requested anonymity for reasons of personal safety, The Daily chose to honor this request, in line with our current precedents for granting anonymity. Any questions can be forwarded to opinion@michigandaily.com.