JULY 1 • 2021 | 13
F
ollowing the May
conflict between
Hamas and Israel,
University of
Michigan students,
parents and alumni were
astonished at an onslaught
of one-sided statements con-
demning Israel from student
organizations such as the U-M
Central Student Government
(CSG), the College of
Literature, Science and the
Arts (LSA), an email sent by
the Ross School of Business
BBA Council to all its con-
tacts, and dozens of others.
All echo the same accusa-
tory language that Israel is
committing acts of apartheid,
genocide and settler colonial-
ism. The statements’ language
focuses on Israel’s displace-
ment and violence toward
Palestinians but did not con-
demn Hamas’ firing more than
4,000 rockets into Israel with
intent to kill civilians.
In support of the boycott,
divestment and sanctions
movement (BDS) against
Israel, the U-M CSG demand-
ed that the university cease
academic and financial rela-
tions with Israel and called
upon students to pressure
Congress to cut military aid to
the Jewish state.
On June 9, days after the
words “F*** Israel” were writ-
ten on the large, iconic Rock
at Washtenaw
and Hill, and
the Michigan
Hillel building
across the street
was defaced
with red hand-
prints, University
President Mark
Schlissel released a statement
acknowledging “the tre-
mendous pain and suffering
experienced in the University
of Michigan community stem-
ming from the violence of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
“I condemn these acts. Any
actions motivated by anti-
Black or anti-Asian racism,
xenophobia, antisemitism,
Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian
bias or any other form of big-
otry have no place in the dis-
course of a great university.”
Some parents, students
and alumni said they felt that
Schlissel’s statements about
Jew-hatred are vague and not
strong enough to curb the
rising tide of anti-Israel and
anti-Jewish hostilities on cam-
pus. On a parent’s Facebook
page, dozens of parents
expressed their concern. Some
of them who are paying out-
of-state-tuition threatened to
unenroll their students unless
the Schlissel administration
takes a stronger stance.
Stephanie Stoloff of Palm
Beach Gardens, Fla., mother
of U-M student Samii Stoloff
who painted over the deroga-
tory language about Israel on
the Rock with a pride flag (see
the June 17 JN), secured one of
the 15 public comment slots
to address the U-M Board of
Regents on the issue at their
June 17 meeting. She would
like to see Schlissel specifical-
ly call out antisemitism and
wants more security cameras
in the area where the Rock
and three nearby Jewish build-
ings, Hillel, Chabad and the
Jewish Resource Center, are
located.
“The university is showing
lack of leadership, and I think
this is enabling [the hatred
toward Jewish students on
campus], and that’s not leader-
ship,” Stoloff said.
“This conflict is 6,000
miles away. Why should it
jeopardize the security of
our students on campus?
Who is enabling this hatred
toward them? If Northwestern
University has a security cam-
era on their ‘rock,’ the same
should happen in Ann Arbor.”
GEO STATEMENT
What is troubling to others
is a statement released by
the Graduate Employment
Opportunities, a labor union
of graduate students, declaring
that they stand “in full solidar-
ity with the Palestinian people
facing the onslaught of Israeli
State terror.”
Dana Miles of Grosse Ile,
who is not Jewish, has one
daughter who is a senior and
another who is a graduate of
U-M. She said she is disturbed
about the one-sided anti-Israel
stance the GEO has taken and
how it will impact conversa-
tions on the Middle East in
the classroom.
“By GEOs taking one side
on an issue, I fear they will be
teaching our students from
that one side,” said Miles. “I
think [university leadership] is
very weak as evidenced from
the vague statement Schlissel
put out after the Rock was
painted with those anti-Israel
slurs. So [anti-Israel activists]
see the weakness and are
exploiting that.”
Graduate student and
One-sided diatribes against
Israel cross the line.
continued on page 14
Fighting
Antisemitism
at U-M
STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER
A war of
words has
broken
out on The
Rock.
SAMMI STOLOFF
Mark
Schlissel
Samii and
Stephanie
Stoloff
SAMMI STOLOFF