8 | DECEMBER 19 • 2024 J N A nti-Israel antagonists in the early hours of Monday, Dec. 9, vandalized the Huntington Woods home of University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker. In offering a fully transparent account of the event that included pho- tographs of the damage, Acker wrote on his Instagram site that the sound of breaking glass woke his oldest of three daughters at around 2 a.m. When she ran into the bedroom where he and his wife were sleeping to wake them, he then ran downstairs to find the windows of the front of his house were shattered and his wife’s car was graffi- tied. The vandals threw mason jars filled with urine into the Acker home to break the windows. His wife’s car was painted with the words: “Divest” and “Free Palestine” with an upside-down red triangle. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the inverted red triangle has come to signify support for Hamas and glorifies its use of violence against Jews and Israelis. “This is the third time that I — and now my family — have been the target of these Klan-like tactics, ” he wrote. “We all need to call out this cowardly act attacking my family and my home for what it truly is — terrorism. And like we always do in this great nation when we’re confronted with terrorism — I will not let fear win. ” Acker’s home was attacked on May 15, when a masked protester came to his home to deliver a list of demands that included that the university divest from companies involved with Israel’s war in Gaza. In June, vandals spray-painted obscenities and anti-Israel graffiti across the entrance to the Goodman Acker law firm in Southfield where Acker is a senior partner. The Huntington Woods Department of Public Safety also released a state- ment that two individuals wearing masks and hoods were caught on the Ackers’ security camera fleeing the scene. The department is urging res- idents in the neighborhood to check surveillance footage and report any findings to the Huntington Woods Public Safety Department at (248) 541- 1180. FAMILY IS TERRORIZED In an interview with the JN on the eve- ning of the attack, Acker put it bluntly: He and his family were terrorized. He said this deeply disturbing behavior can be attributed to the groupthink that has taken over on the campus, unaddressed mental illness, and the “naked antisem- itism that is constantly pushed on peo- ple through their social media feeds. ” Acker also called out the silence of the University of Michigan Faculty Senate and the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA) when it comes to antisemi- tism. The body has released numerous statements in support of pro-Palestin- ian activism on campus and called on the university to divest from financial holdings in companies that invest in Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. “SACUA makes statements about Gaza, but fails to mention how this semester, a Jewish professor (Marc Dollinger) was shouted down and asked to leave because he was a Zionist as he gave a lecture on Black-Jewish relations during the Civil Rights Movement, ” Acker said. “They chose not to make a statement about that or the other times my home or my office has been attacked. Those are inten- tional choices. It is clear that a small but loud group of faculty members are encouraging the worst behaviors of our students. ” Acker added that he is “extremely disappointed” with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Eastern Michigan for not being able to uncover one lead on these acts of vandalism against him as well as the attack this summer on the home of President Santa Ono and the October vandalism on the Jewish Federation building in Bloomfield Hills. “They are seen as cases of proper- ty damage and are not being taken seriously enough, ” Acker said. “Five months have gone by since my home was first attacked and there are still no suspects on that. It is very concerning. ” Acker said many of his friends and colleagues have privately reached out to him in support but are hesitant to go public about it. “There is a monster that has been created, ” Acker said. “ And that monster is antisemitism. No other regent at the University of Michigan has been U-M Regent Jordan Acker once again hit with antisemitic vandalism. A Night of Broken Glass continued on page 10 STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER OUR COMMUNITY PHOTOS COURTESY OF JORDAN ACKER U-M Regent Jordan Acker Mrs. Acker’s car was painted with the words: “Divest” and “Free Palestine” with an upside-down red triangle.