A

bill by Michigan
State University’s
student govern-
ment, Associated Students
of Michigan State University
(ASMSU), has been brought
forward to “condemn human
rights violations inflicted upon
citizens of Palestine.”
The bill, introduced May 20
to ASMSU’s General Assembly
legislative body, passed with
a majority vote (17 for the
bill, nine abstentions and four
against).
A Jewish MSU student
who took issue with the bill
after obtaining access to it,
believing it to be one-sided
and biased against Israel and
Jewish people, shared its
contents with the JN. (That
student, fearing antisemitism,
chose anonymity.)
The bill has been signed,

but it hasn’t been posted on
ASMSU’s website or on any of
its social media platforms as of
May 27. No ASMSU statement
has been made on the bill yet,
although an ASMSU represen-
tative said one is in the works.
“It doesn’t bring both views
or many views into the bill,”
the anonymous student said.
“There was minimal to no
solid structure, no facts with-
out bias, and many untrue
claims were made.”
The student also had a
problem with the cited sources
used for the bill, believing it to
be biased with mostly pro-
Palestinian sources.
“This bill is condemning
Israel and I will no longer
stay silent — considering the
recent spike in antisemitism
across the globe,” the Jewish
student said.

TEXT OF THE BILL
The bill begins by stating
there are currently “human
rights violations being com-
mitted against the people
of Palestine by the Israeli
Defense Forces (IDF).”
“There has been an evic-
tion of many innocent fam-
ilies in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood alongside the
suppression of peaceful pro-
tests against these evictions,
which have been followed by
new restrictions placed by
Israeli Defense Forces during
the holy month of Ramadan.
“These abuses have
occurred since 1948 and
have escalated to violence
against Palestinians in a reli-
gious context with the May
8th attacks on the Al-Aqsa
mosque in which the Israeli
military entered Al-Aqsa

Mosque and employed the
use of tear gas and rub-
ber bullets on practicing
Muslims in one of Islam’s
holiest sites, injuring more
than 205 people,” the bill
continues.
The bill goes into more
detail on the recent conflict,
stating that the Israeli Air
Force on May 14 “destroyed
neighborhoods, schools and
a tower in Gaza housing
offices for media organi-
zations like the Associated
Press and Al Jazeera, which
would be widely considered
an attack on press freedom.”
The bill stated that those
actions, which it says
stemmed from “religious
and racial discrimination,”
continue to “violate human
rights and restrict Muslims
and other religious minori-
ties from being present in
the holy month of Ramadan.”
“These same abuses are
ongoing and have now taken
place on the most important
religious holiday for Muslims
— Eid — a time of cele-
brations to commemorate
Ramadan for Muslims that
have fasted the holy month.”
The bill states that the
ongoing violence in the
Middle East continues to,
directly and indirectly,
impact the lives of MSU stu-
dents and families.
The bill then concludes
with its main point and what
else it hopes to achieve.
“The Associated Students
of Michigan State University
shall officially condemn
the human rights violations
being inflicted upon the
Palestinian people,” the bill
states. “ASMSU shall call
upon the administration of
Michigan State University to
release a statement to public-
ly condemn the human rights
violations being inflicted
upon the Palestinian peo-
ple; and, ASMSU shall urge

Divisiveness
on Campus

18 | JUNE 3 • 2021

OUR COMMUNITY

MSU Student Government passes bill to
condemn Israel’s role in confl
ict.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

MSU Campus

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