Pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupt campus event, clash with police
An anti-Israel protest erupted at the University of Michigan on Wednesday during an event called Festifall, resulting in the arrest of four protesters, none of whom were students.
Approximately 50 protesters interrupted the event, intended to showcase various student organizations.
The demonstrators held signs featuring images of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, waved Palestinian flags, and displayed fabric dyed “blood-red,” according to the Michigan Daily.
University police officers, using a megaphone, informed the protesters that they were obstructing the Diag, a central open space on campus. Despite being asked to disperse, many protesters refused to leave, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The protesters began chanting “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” and marched in a circle around the Diag’s center.
The situation escalated, leading to a physical altercation between some protesters and police, which resulted in the arrest of four individuals. As police detained the protesters, others gathered around, chanting, “let them go.”
Despite the arrests, the protest continued, with participants marching through Festifall and chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
“For more than an hour, they were given multiple warnings that made clear they were blocking pedestrian traffic and violating university policy,” Colleen Mastony, assistant vice president for public affairs, told the Free Press.
“Most eventually dispersed although some refused to leave and, as a result, four people were arrested. None of the people who were arrested were students. Three were unaffiliated with the university, and the fourth is a temporary employee,” Mastony stated.
And Mastony told Bridge Michigan: “Protests are welcome at the University of Michigan, so long as those protests do not infringe on the rights of others, disrupt university operations, or threaten the safety of the community.”
Evan Cohen, a senior and president of Wolverines for Israel, was running a table when the event was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters. He told the Daily about university guidelines for hosting events.
“In order to reserve the Diag, you have to fill out different applications to be approved, and then you’ll get a permit in order to do something,” Cohen said. “So the University has rules in place, and when those rules are violated, they also have procedures in place for those who violate those rules.”
This event marks the first TAHRIR Coalition protest of the school year. The coalition is made up of more than 90 pro-Palestine organizations that have been organizing protests at the University of Michigan following the Oct.7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200-plus civilians.
The newly installed student government president at the University of Michigan has blocked funding to campus groups to protest Israel, The College Fix reported earlier this week. The current student government leaders were elected in the spring as part of a large contingent of pro-Palestinian representatives called the “Shut It Down” movement.
However, UM has vetoed the decision and returned student groups’ funding for the fall semester, “temporarily stripping the student governments of the power of the purse,” the Algemeiner reported.
MORE: Police use pepper spray to help shut down UMich anti-Israel protest
IMAGE: X screenshot / RModrak
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