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

