Metro
Anti-Israel
Propaganda
President Addresses
Detroit Jewry
Text of letter from WSU President Irvin
Reid to JN Editor Robert Sklar:
Jewish and Zionist supporters counter claims
that Israel is an apartheid state.
Spurred by a
student leader
named Khalil,
protesters
rally to urge
Wayne State
University to
divest from
Israel. Pro-
Israel activ-
ists are in the
background at
left.
Don Cohen
Special to the Jewish News
A
gainst the backdrop of anti-
Israel programs and speakers,
a Wayne State University rally
last week advocating divestment from
companies doing business with Israel and
calling for dismantlement of the "apart-
heid" Jewish state has raised concerns
about the campus environment for Jewish
and pro-Israel students.
Oftentimes, proponents of divestment
and boycotting Israel suggest they are not
anti-Israel but simply pro-peace. However,
ARA-WSU (Anti-Racist Action-Wayne
State University), a campus-based organi-
zation not registered with the university
and tending toward anarchist politics,
makes no such claim.
"We work towards the dismantling of
the apartheid state of Israel;' it said on the
group's flyers posted around the Detroit-
based campus.
The flyers called Israel "the frontline of
[the] U.S. empire in the Middle East," and
slammed the WSU Board of Governors
and WSU President Irvin Reid as "defend-
ers of white supremacy and [the] Empire,"
citing Reid and Detroit Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick as proof that "it is not only
Whitey who carries out white supremacy
these days."
Some 25 supporters and 25 counter-
protesters as well as campus security and
a few administrators were at the Oct. 12
rally outside the Adamany Undergraduate
Library. The ARA-organized group
appeared to be mostly students. Those in
opposition were students organized by
Students for Israel and the Jewish Law
Students Association as well as commu-
nity members organized by StandWithUs-
Michigan, a pro-Israel educational and
advocacy group. Campus-based Arab,
Muslim and "peace groups" did not co-
sponsor the event.
Students passing by during the cold
lunch hour largely ignored both groups.
One student, Khalil, who had been
identified in the Dearborn-based Arab
American News as the organizer, was
defiant as he addressed the rally, telling
them they "stand on the footprint of his-
tory."
"We will continue and forge our own
future and our own society," he said,
yelling into a bullhorn. "We don't need
permission to organize on our own uni-
versity"
He claimed victory for refusing to regis-
ter as a student organization and claimed
the university backed down from a threat
to not allow the event. He claimed that
registering would result in the university
turning over their names to the FBI.
"Threats of violence and police brutal-
ity will not make us compromise," he said,
calling for "student power and student
control of the university"
Following the rally at the library, the-
protesters marched around campus carry-
ing signs and chanting slogans. They were
turned away from entering the Faculty
Administration Building, where President
Reid has his main office.
Jonathan Schwartz of Farmington Hills
Leading Up
It was four years ago this month when
Wayne State students presented President
Reid with a petition requesting divest-
ment from companies doing business
with Israel; the president promptly reject-
ed the idea.
In April 2003, pro-Israel students were
caught off-guard when, at the last min-
ute, the WSU Student Council added a
strongly worded divestment resolution to
its agenda. The vote took place two weeks
later on the second night of Passover,
effectively eliminating any official Jewish
representation. By a divisive 9-7 vote,
WSU became one of the first campuses in
the nation to pass a student-based divest-
ment resolution.
In response, Reid and the board deci-
sively and officially rejected the recom-
mendation, unanimously adopting an
April 30 resolution that criticized the
divestment resolution, noting "accusa-
tions, acrimony and demands of this
nature are counter to the traditions of
intelligent dialogue and free discourse for
which this university stands."
joins the pro-Israel counter-rally.
Anti-Israel on page 22
A
s a public institution that
encourages learning and
the free expression and
exchange of ideas, the Wayne State
University campus has recently been
the site of a speech and protest by
individuals opposed to Wayne State's
investment in Israel. Such events are
not a new uncommon occurrence. In
fact, in 2002, I was presented with a
petition signed by a number of stu-
dents and other individuals, urging that
Wayne State University divest itself of
holdings [of] companies that do busi-
ness in Israel.
Now, as I did then, I wish to state
that Wayne State University opposes
divestiture and has no intention of
divesting itself of stocks in companies
doing business with Israel or any other
legitimate state.
As all American universities, we
encourage our students to use their
right to free speech, their right of
peaceable assembly and their right
to petition for the redress of griev-
ances. But accusations, acrimony and
demands such as divestiture are coun-
ter to the traditions of intelligent dia-
logue and free discourse for which this
university stands.
In a complex, international economy,
divestiture is by no means a depend-
ably responsible approach to influence
either political or economic policy.
Political beliefs, especially in a fluid
global community, are not a practical
basis for investment decisions. Rather,
it is my obligation as president of
Wayne State University to pursue legal,
rational and productive investments on
behalf of the institution.
We are a diverse community. Our
faculty, staff and students have many
different opinions regarding ways to
achieve peace and justice around the
world. It would be wrong and unfair to
confuse dissatisfaction that some may
feel with the policies of one govern-
ment or another with the very legiti-
macy of a state.
I hope that this letter effectively
clarifies Wayne State's position and
actions with respect to the concerns
about these recent events.
Irvin D. Reid
president
Wayne State University
Detroit
%IN
October 19 • 2006
21