12 | FEBRUARY 6 • 2020
P
ro-Israel organizations condemned
a conference held on the University
of Michigan campus aimed at con-
necting young pro-Palestinian students
across the Midwest. But on campus, the
University of Michigan’
s Jewish commu-
nity had mixed feelings about the event.
Palestinian Youth Movement and
Midwest Students for Justice for Palestine
held their second annual Youth for
Palestine conference in Ann Arbor Jan.
25-26. The conference was hosted by the
University of Michigan chapter of SJP,
known on campus as Students Allied for
Freedom and Equality.
The conference aimed to connect
young people interested in Palestinian
rights from various universities and
schools across the Midwest through “two
days of powerful talks,” according to a
page on the conference website.
A schedule of events for the weekend
was not made public, but the website
advertised workshops on community
organizing and a culture night featuring
an Arab folk-dance competition. The
conference also included a rally Sunday
afternoon on the University of Michigan
central campus Diag, attended by about
20 people, to protest imperialism world-
wide. One chant at the rally called Israel a
“terrorist state.”
Representatives from Palestinian Youth
Movement, Midwest Students for Justice
for Palestine, and Students Allied for
Freedom and Equality didn’
t respond to
interview requests from the Detroit Jewish
News. The JN could not confirm how
many people attended the conference or a
list of speakers.
Several international pro-Israel orga-
nizations including StandWithUs and
Students Supporting Israel condemned
the conference prior to this weekend.
Ilan Sinelnikov, president and founder
of Students Supporting Israel, told the
Jewish News Sydnicate SSI “expects the
University of Michigan to condemn and
cancel such a hateful conference.”
In a statement on its Facebook page
Saturday morning, Midwest SJP wrote
they believe in the right to use higher
education spaces as “mediums for social
and political change.”
“We release this statement in the midst
of an era characterized by the systemic
censorship of campus activism in order
to uplift the important work we do and
reaffirm our fundamental right to free
speech,” the post reads.
CAMPUS REACTION
On campus, U-M’
s Jewish community
viewed the event differently. Meghann
Norden-Bright, a senior at the university
and a member of J Street UMich — which
advocates for a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict — said she was
happy to see students supporting self-de-
termination.
“I think I’
m pleased that there are peo-
ple advocating for this because it feels like
an important cause,” Norden-Bright said.
But “I am aware that campus politics tend
to get really nasty around this issue, and I
was definitely a little wary of that happen-
ing and sort of bringing out strong voices
on both sides of the issue that like can be
less than [productive].”
Tilly Shames, executive director of
Michigan Hillel, said she worried about
the content being taught at the confer-
ence, but hadn’
t heard students expressing
their concerns.
“They recognize this conference would
not be stopped as others were calling
for, so our leadership students and staff
focus their attention on bringing positive
Israel programming to campus, building
relationships with other campus groups,
and focusing on the needs and interests of
our Jewish students,” Shames wrote in an
email to the Jewish News.
For his part, David Zwick, U-M sopho-
more and president of the campus group
Wolverines for Israel, said the conference
highlighted the need for pro-Israel stu-
dents on campus to organize and work
together to make their voices heard.
“Regarding the recent Youth for
Palestine conference, I feel that every-
one, student and non-student alike,
should inform himself on the proper
methods for reacting to such a gathering.
It goes without saying that such events
should not be taken lightly,” Zwick wrote
in a statement.
“I believe it is appropriate we encour-
age greater communication within our
camp and better coordinate our col-
lective response. This commands both
detailed education regarding the event
itself as well as a deep familiarity with
the resources at our disposal.”
The university’
s Jewish community felt
the reactions of off-campus organizations,
as portrayed in news reports leading up
to the conference, were disproportionate.
“I was deeply disappointed to see how
our campus was depicted in the press,”
Shames wrote. “We wish the news of all
of our positive Israel and bridge-building
programming would spread as wide as
the news reporting about one anti-Israel
program so that our Jewish community
could feel the same sense of pride that we
do about our campus.”
Norden-Bright agreed, saying she felt
uncomfortable with these internation-
al groups’
interest in the University of
Michigan.
“That’
s not how we are and that’
s not
who we are. That’
s not what we align
with,” she said. “I wouldn’
t want some-
body to look at the StandWithUs view-
point and think that speaks for all Jews
on campus.”
MAYA GOLDMAN
Campus Jews had mixed reactons about
the Youth for Palestine conference.
MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The rally at the Youth for Palestine conference was sparsely attended.
Much Ado About
U-M Activists
Jews in the D