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

 WIKIMEDIA

