Achieving equality is a difficult but plausible reality for Jewish students at the University of Michigan. As I drove down Washtenaw this past Saturday, on the side of the street I saw 15 people gathered together in hatred of Israel. Posters ranged from “Boycott Israel” to “The Jews have their homeland, America is ours” to “Israel Apartheid” and a variety of other racial slurs. Among all of the negativity there was one poster that stood out above the rest. It read “I Stand with Israel”.
As many of you may have heard, Central Student Government (CSG) will be voting on whether or not to support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. The BDS movement is led by Palestinians and its mission is to decrease support for Israel across the globe economically, socially, and through the use of military force. Many Jewish leaders on campus, within and outside of CSG, have made strong campaigns against supporting the BDS movement. Hillel chair Josh Blum gave a speech in the Diag this past Tuesday to express why BDS is viewed as anti-Semitic and why and how it makes Jewish students feel unsafe on campus.
Richard Spencer, a notorious White Supremacist, has requested to speak at the University of Michigan. In a speech in Charlottesville, Richard Spencer made several anti-Semitic and racist remarks including “Jews will not replace us” and other Nazi jargon. Hillel’s leadership composed a letter to President Schlissel stating that the Jewish community stands against and might feel threatened by having such a speaker on campus.
It is easy to notice the negativity in our community and to feel discouraged, lost, and alone. With each piece of negativity that has plagued Ann Arbor recently, however, we see a community standing in solidarity for justice. We see that students can and do stand up against racism, anti-Semitism, and in favor of having all students feel safe, included, and welcome at the University of Michigan. Others also have the right to free speech, including those who I have labeled as opposition in this article. They have the right to express their views so long as there is no threat posed to other members of the greater Michigan community.
On the same note, anti-Semitism has the power to beat us down, but we as a community have the power to band together and stand up for our rights and what we believe is right.