APRIL 11 • 2024 | 27

it so they know what to expect. Some 
students will take classes with these 
professors but are hesitant to express 
that they are Jewish or pro-Israel in 
class discussions. Some students 
notice that some professors lace ele-
ments to demonize Israel into classes 
that have nothing to do with Middle 
Eastern history or culture. 
B* is a sociology student. She knows 
she is within an extremely progressive 
department, where 29 faculty members 
signed the Oct. 11 letter. 
Last semester, B took a small elec-
tive seminar on the sociological impact 
of statues and monuments in public 
spaces in our society. The professor 
assigned a piece about Yitzchak Rabin, 
his grave and a monument dedicated 
to him in Tel Aviv that put the late prime 
minister in an unfavorable light. It was 
the only reference to a monument in 
another country outside the United 
States, said B. 
“When I spoke out and said I dis-
agreed with the writing, my professor 
was appreciative that I did so,” B said. 
“I have been to Rabin’s grave. This is 
a small seminar class, and I spoke up 
explaining the times I lived in Israel and 
my experience of visiting Rabin’s grave. 
I was shaking because I knew I was 
one of only two Jewish students in the 
class. I feel like there is such a lack of 
knowledge about Israel and professors 
single out Israel in unrelated course-
work.” 
This March, faculty member Hannah 
Douglas, who signed the Oct. 11 letter, 
encouraged students in her women’s, 
gender and psychology class to attend 
pro-Palestinian rallies instead of attend-
ing class. 
Douglas asked her students to fill 
out a skewed survey to see if students 
would rather discuss the genocide in 
Gaza and the university’s response to 
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations and 
“Disruptive Activity Policy” instead of 
sticking to the syllabus coursework. 
The JN was informed that after a stu-
dent filed complaints with the Michigan 
ADL, the Dean of Students addressed 
the situation directly with the professor, 
and the professor issued a retraction, 
removed the survey and stuck to the 
syllabus. 

continued from page 24

Palestinians called “Division to Dialogue: 
Bridging Perspectives on the Middle East.
” 
This event aims to foster understanding 
and dialogue surrounding the complex 
issues of the Middle East.
But Brown said there has been minimal 
talk between pro-Palestinian and pro-Isra-
el students. 
“Maybe the only minimal success at 
dialogue was when the Times sat Hamamy 
and me down for a discussion,
” Brown 
said. “I spoke not for Wolverines for Israel 
but myself. That’s the extent of dialogue. 
And there’s also been dialogue invited by 
J-Street (an Israel lobbying group) in the 
form of a podcast. Both SAFE and JVP 
were invited to be on the podcast, but 
they refused. And there has largely been 
a refusal from the other side to have dia-
logue and this extends even before Oct. 7.
”

PROTEST AT ROSS 
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Down the street from where the Israel 
week activities were happening on the 
Diag on March 28, the University Board of 
Regents stated they would not divest from 
Israeli company holdings as they met in 
the Alexander G. Ruthven Building. 
According to reports, Regent Chair 
Sarah Hubbard said the administration 
will “continue to shield the university’s 
endowment from political pressures.
” 
Regent Mike Behm stated that less than 
one-tenth of 1% of U-M’s $18 billion 
endowment is invested in Israeli compa-
nies involved with the country’s defensive 
military efforts. 
Outside, over 500 pro-Palestinian 
protesters waved Palestinian flags, chanted 
“No rest until divest” and “We are all 
Palestinian.
” The protest lingered and 
eventually the protesters made their way 
into the Ross School of Business. There 
were reports on parent groups on social 
media that students had to elbow their 
way through the doors to attend class. 
Rosen added that he discourages Jewish 
students from countering 
these protests for their mental 
well-being. 

Senior Jonah Gilan, a 
sports management major, 
has class on Thursday 
afternoons at Ross. Gilan 
said there have been pro-

Palestinian protests several times in the 
business school, which makes it difficult 
to concentrate and conduct lectures and 
student presentations because of the 
shouting and chanting. 
“I take the class with my roommate, 
who is also Jewish,
” Gilan said. “The pro-
testers were even louder and more hostile 
(than they were at a previous demonstra-
tion at Ross) in January. The professor 
didn’t do anything, and he called off class.
”
Gilan said leading up to and after Oct. 7, 
he has always been proud to be Jewish and 
supportive of Israel. Now, fearing for his 
safety, he said he is always worried about 
“what is going to happen next on campus.
” 

“You can’t avoid (the protests),
” Gilan 
said. “One morning, I was woken up to the 
chants of the protesters because where I 
live is near a campus administration build-
ing. And then later in the day, it is our 
classes being disrupted or the bus routes 
are being blocked. It is really upsetting 
to see the university that you love being 
infiltrated.
” 
A fixture for years in the Davidson 
Winter Garden in Ross is 
Rabbi Fully Eisenberger, 
director of the Jewish 
Resource Center. Jewish 
students can find him there, 
offering group or one-on-
one Jewish text lessons, 
or just offering words of 
support and inspiration to Jewish students 
throughout the week. Since Oct. 7, he has 
witnessed “loud, disruptive and vulgar” 
protests storming through the building. 
A few times, the protesters have cursed at 
him and given him the middle finger. 
But still, Eisenberger remains. He said 
he has tremendous support from the 
Ross School of Business dean, and his 
schedule is “packed” with meeting with 
Jewish students there on a small group or 
individual basis. 
“I know the majority of the Jewish 
students who take classes in the business 
school, and they say hello or sit down and 
talk with me every time they are in the 
building,
” Eisenberger said. “The events 
and aftermath of Oct. 7 have brought 
us together. And while 1,000 protesters 
angrily walked past us, the Jewish students 
and I just danced and sang ‘
Am Yisrael 
Chai.
’” 

Rabbi Fully 
Eisenberger

Jonah 
Gilan

