MAY 30 • 2024 | 19

Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Acker 
stressed the importance of “dialogue 
and respectful exchange” with mem-
bers of the leaders of the new student 
government. However, concerning the 
stance of the pro-Palestinian encamp-
ment movement, led by the student 
government, he said: “There appears 
to be no place in this movement for 
us unless we denounce the existence 
of Israel.”
During the May 16 meeting, Regent 
Mark Bernstein, whose property 
was also encroached on, declared 
that nobody should ever encounter 
a masked and hooded man on the 
front porch of their home in the 
early morning making demands that 
the university divest from Israel and 
defund the police.
“It was a dangerous escalation 
that we have rightly condemned,” 
Bernstein said. “I will not be intim-
idated by these provocative tactics. 
Nor will my colleagues on this board. 
Nor will this institution. Our failure 
to address antisemitism literally led 
to the front door of my home. Who 
is next? When and where will it end? 
Enough is enough.” 
Bernstein reiterated that not one 
member of the TAHRIR Coalition, 
comprised of 50 student groups, signed 
up to make a public comment. 
“The rhetoric that we are not listen-
ing is utter nonsense,” Bernstein said. 
“There is a difference between listening 
and agreeing. The fact that listening 
requires agreement is false.”

PROTESTERS DRIVEN OUT
Officers from U-M’s Division of Public 
Safety, dressed in riot gear, cleared the 
pro-Palestinian encampment from the 
Diag in the early morning hours of May 
21. Media reports say the officers used 
pepper spray to push the 200+ protest-
ers away from the Diag. Several arrests 
were made.
According to a statement from 
University President Santa Ono, the 
university fire marshal determined the 
encampment was a fire hazard, which 
forced it to take action. He added that 

the encampment was also a violation of 
campus rules.
“Moving forward, individuals will be 
welcome to protest as they always have 
at the University of Michigan, so long as 
those protests don’t violate the rights of 
others and are consistent with universi-
ty policies meant to ensure the safety of 
our community,” Ono said. 
“To be clear, there is no place for vio-
lence or intimidation at the University 
of Michigan. Such behavior will not be 
tolerated, and individuals will be held 
accountable.”

ELSEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY
In other parts of the country, admin-
istrators at Northwestern, Brown, 
Rutgers, Johns Hopkins, the University 
of Minnesota and the University of 
California Riverside have met some of 
the student protesters’ demands in order 
to dismantle the encampments. 
Several universities have agreed to 
review their investments in Israel. 
Other universities, such as Columbia 
and George Washington, have called 

police to forcibly clear protesters and 
refused to bend to calls for divest-
ment. 
“I can only speak to the University 
of Michigan,” Hubbard wrote. “As we 
clearly stated, we are not negotiating 
with the protesters. We understand 
the very real concerns of the Jewish 
community. We have also received the 
list of demands from the protesters 
and have clearly stated ‘no’ to all of 
them.” 
During the public comment sec-
tion of the regents’ meeting, Claudine 
Vainrub of Miami, Florida, a U-M 
Ross School of Business alumna and 
parent of two U-M students, spoke 
on behalf of many Jewish parents and 
students. She told the board that her 
daughter had been called a “gross Jew” 
by a campus employee. She urged the 
board of regents to make distinguish-
ments between First Amendment 
rights, academic freedom, and indoc-
trination of students based on anti-Is-
rael and antisemitic tropes. 
“While at Michigan, my daughter 
had to withdraw from three courses 
where faculty used their classrooms as 
pro-Palestinian indoctrination plat-
forms,” said Vainrub in an interview 
with the JN. “We are all for academic 
freedom, but these classroom environ-
ments were not places where a respect-
ful interchange of ideas was promoted. 
Instead, professors intimidated students 
and negated historical facts.” 
Vainrub, who is a college counselor 
for high school students, said several of 
her students who were accepted to U-M 
declined their admission and instead 
will attend places like the University 
of Texas in Austin, the University of 
Florida, Southern Methodist University 
and Washington University in St. Louis. 
 “These issues affect our university’s 
integrity and the safety of all students, 
not just Jewish students,” commented 
Vainrub to the board. “As stewards of 
this institution, we trust you to take 
decisive action, fully enforce existing 
policies and consider additional mea-
sures to prevent such behaviors from 
eroding our university.” 

Protesters caught 
on video on Regent 
Acker’s porch.