More than 600 University of Michigan students and Ann Arbor community members rallied on the Diag Thursday afternoon, calling on the University to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. The protest — the largest pro-Palestine protest this past year — included a march down East University Avenue, through the Ross School of Business and through the Michigan Union before returning to the Diag.
During the rally, student representatives from each of the U-M student organizations that make up the TAHRIR Coalition, a coalition of more than 90 pro-Palestine U-M organizations, took the stage to demand divestment. Shortly after, the TAHRIR Coalition announced the voting results for the Divest! Don’t Arrest People’s Referendum. The referendum, which was organized by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, outlines three action items: for the University to immediately divest from companies that profit from the Israeli military campaign, provide full disclosure of all University investments every fiscal quarter and drop all charges against student protesters.
According to voting results obtained by The Michigan Daily, there were 3,251 valid votes cast. Of these valid votes, 3,204 people voted yes, 39 voted no and 8 chose to abstain.
The emergency rally was announced after the University sent an email to the campus community Wednesday night asking for feedback on a draft policy that would prohibit U-M community members from engaging in any activities that disrupt University operations. The rally comes after University President Santa Ono sent an email Tuesday evening to the campus community denouncing the interruption at the University’s 101st Honors Convocation.
In an interview with The Daily, Rackham student Garima Singh said she found the draft policy to be hypocritical, given how the University praises past protests that created positive change.
“When universities say that they’re proud of the history of protests, they don’t understand it,” Singh said. “If you go back in time, the protests were disruptive, every single protest on the campus has been disruptive. (The) University cannot take credit for protests that happened in the past, at the same time trying to finish any sort of possibility of protest on campus right now.”
In an interview with The Daily during the rally, SAFE Education Director Zaynab Elkolaly said the University often celebrates change makers in history but does not acknowledge marginalized communities on campus.
“The University loves to highlight change makers and civil rights activists historically when they’re distant enough to distance themselves from their role in the oppression and shut it down,” Elkolaly said. “So to have an event highlighting people like (Cesar) Chavez and Dr. (Martin Luther) King is incredibly hypocritical. They’re gonna look back in 50 years and be embarrassed because they were on the wrong side of history. We won’t let them forget that.”
On the benches behind the Diag, a small group of students held Israeli flags high in protest. One of these students was LSA junior Josh Brown, who said he hoped his actions would call attention to the platform of the SHUT IT DOWN party running in the Central Student Government election.
“I think people should listen to what they’re saying and understand that their message is very clear,” Brown said. “They want to shut down the student government and prevent any funding for any of the services that they provide and to any of the clubs that need it. I think people should understand that they’re holding, they want to hold CSG hostage and so people should vote accordingly in the election.”
In an interview with The Daily after the event, Alex Sepulveda, U-M chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace director of activism, said the protesters specifically chose to enter University buildings to draw attention to their cause.
“We marched into the Ross School of Business because it is imperative for us to interrupt at the highest function of the University operations,” Sepulveda said. “Same for the Michigan Union.”
Daily News Editor Sneha Dhandapani can be reached at sdhanda@umich.edu.