Ann Arbor — Hundreds of protesters demanding that the University of Michigan stop investing in companies that fund military operations in Israel swarmed the university’s administration building late Friday afternoon.
Chanting with bullhorns to the beat of drums and waving banners and signs that read “Anti-Zionism does not equal Anti-Semitism,” dozens of demonstrators descended on Ruthven Hall, where President Santa Ono’s offices and the university’s central administrative operations are located. Demonstrators could be heard in rapid succession doing call-and-response chants: “Ono, Ono, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide” and “Fund our education, not the occupation.”Police officers from several agencies could be seen flanking the building and blockading the entrance to the building late Friday.
The Palestinian advocacy group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality this week advertised the emergency protest “to demand that the university divest from companies that fund and participate in the genocide of the Palestinian people.”
“President Ono, it’s been over 40 days of us trying to contact you. When will you meet with the 54+ student organizations demanding humanity for Palestinians?” read a video caption posted to SAFE’s Instagram Stories during the protest. Another photo posted to the group’s Instagram stories Friday night showed students taking a selfie “from inside Ono’s office,” the caption read.
A university spokesman said the building had been safely evacuated.
“Late this afternoon, a group of pro-Palestinian protesters forcefully gained access to a locked Ruthven Administration Building,” spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said in a statement. “U-M Police report building occupants have safely left the building and officers are working to restore order to the building.”
Michigan State Police and Ann Arbor Police did not immediately respond Friday for comment. UM Police said in a statement that UM Police, Ann Arbor Police, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, Eastern Michigan University Police, Michigan State Police and Pittsfield Department of Public Safety were on site at Ruthven.
Post-baccalaureate medical student Paige Feyock said student protesters had been demonstrating since 2 p.m. Friday across the campus, starting at the Diag before marching to Ruthven Hall.
“(Police) would not let us in, however, various people who showed up to the demonstration were able to get inside the building,” Feyock said. “As time has gone on, they swept people out of the building.”
Feyock said protesters were met with “brutal and violent” police force as students were removed from Ruthven Hall.
Protestors remained outside of the building as of 9 p.m. Friday. A live feed hosted on Instagram by the UM chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace showed a small group of protestors occupying an office on the third floor of the building seeking a meeting with President Ono. Speaking on the live feed, a student said that the group had been in the office since 4 p.m. After the group was given a five-minute warning to leave the building or be subject to arrest, at 9:18 p.m., police officers began to escort the students from the office.
SAFE organizers were joined Friday by a coalition of 54 student organizations across UM’s campus who criticized the university for not divesting its capital in Israel amid the county’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Some protestors accused the Ann Arbor school of having “double standards” for not mirroring its response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In March 2022, the school announced it would stand in solidarity with Ukraine and would divest from Russia as the country’s invasion of Ukraine escalated.
UM had about $40 million invested with a group called Russia Partners, spokesman Rick Fitzgerald had said. The investments were made in 2009 and 2012 and represented less than 0.25% of UM’s total endowment.
“They divested from Russia within a week of Russia invading Ukraine; they have double standards. Tonight, they need to accept or acknowledge at all that what’s going on in Palestine is not good,” said UM senior Eissa Haydar.
It was not the first time campus protestors rallied at Ruthven: On Oct. 25, as part of a national walkout, students left their classes and gathered on the Diag before marching to the administration building and demanding to meet with Ono, as reported in the Michigan Daily.
The protest comes as tensions have been rising on Michigan universities over the Israel-Hamas war.
“There are a lot of students who do have family members in Palestine, myself included,” said Salma Hamamy, a Palestinian-American and president of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality at UM, told The Detroit News recently. “You can’t mentally check your phone and see our family members kind of being blown up into pieces, and then go right back to doing your reading for your next class.”
At the same time, some Jewish students say there is a heightened sense of fear and stress on campus and view some anti-Israel messages as anti-Semitic.
“I feel like every emotion is very heightened. Whether it be like a frustration and sadness, or the kind of that sense of community or … the desire to be with other students,” said Yitzi Zolty, a senior and member of the UM Jewish Resource Center. “I think there’s a built-in fear, for sure, that’s been exacerbated recently… on campus.”
In addition to divestment from companies like Lockheed Martin that manufacture Israel’s military equipment, SAFE has demanded that the UM administration recognize Israel’s attacks on Gaza as genocide.
On Oct. 10, Ono sent a message to the campus community in which he condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, saying “Violence is never the answer.”
“Yet today our campus communities are reeling in the wake of the horrific attack by Hamas terrorists on Israeli citizens and the immense loss of civilian lives.
“This violence has caused profound pain within the internationally and culturally diverse University of Michigan community. It is almost certain that more innocent civilians will lose their lives as the fighting escalates.”Ono added: “Many members of our university community are personally affected by these events, and we encourage students to be conscious, kind and compassionate to their peers during this difficult time. We encourage faculty and staff to demonstrate understanding and accommodation for those affected by this violence.”
Staff writers Anne Snabes and Hannah Mackay contributed.
David Turner is a globe-trotting journalist who brings a global perspective to our readers. With a commitment to shedding light on international events, he explores complex geopolitical issues, offering a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
