University of Michigan Diag Encampment Mostly Seen as Peaceful, Allowed For Now

The U-M Diag encampment to demand a military divestment from the University of Michigan’s endowment is going strong—since April 22. As a result, local Ann Arborites and students alike are taking a greater interest in what is happening in their own backyard.

We gathered opinions from local residents and students on both sides who largely wanted to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal. Lots of different viewpoints were expressed, all calmly and peacefully with many important points, all hoping to promote understanding and peace.

“I support the students' right to protest the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” one anonymous Ann Arbor resident said.

The pro-Isreal side does not call the killings a genocide, but instead casualties of war. They point out the war started with Hamas killing about 1,300 Israelis on October 7. The other side said there are too many innocent Palestinians being killed, nearly 35,000, mostly women and children. United Nations is also citing widespread famine and a humanitarian nightmare in Gaza.

Nationwide and even throughout the world there are reportedly more than more than 400 college and University encampments, sit-ins, and mostly peaceful protests according to many reports, and also growing.

According to a non-governmental report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) Project, an analysis of 553 campus protests between April 18 and May 3 found that demonstrations connected to the Gaza war have been overwhelmingly peaceful. Of the 533, 97% remained peaceful. (Source: Report: Campus protests overwhelmingly peaceful)

Report: Campus protests overwhelmingly peaceful

Josh Moody

An analysis of 553 campus protests between April 18 and May 3 found that demonstrations related to the war in Ga...

Some claim there has not been a student movement this vast since the Vietnam War in the 1960s.

Nationwide to date— but not in Michigan—more than 2,900 people have been arrested affiliated with the encampments at least 61 colleges and universities. Accusations of violence, vandalism, and anti-semitism have been in association with the justification of tearing down some encampments as well as the arrests. In Michigan, at the time of this article, only two pro-Palestinian demonstrators arrested and the encampments have been allowed to exist as a form of freedom of expression.

At the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor commencement there was a brief disruption which was characterized as peaceful where protesters held up signs and chanted, and they too were allowed to continue on the sidelines.

The reason the encampments throughout Michigan have been allowed to continue is also as an expression of peaceful protest according to many. Similarly, a shanty was allowed to exist to bring attention to apartheid in South Africa. And the University of Michigan did divest from South African companies.

The people claiming responsibility for the encampment on the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus, call themselves the “TAHRIR Coalition.” One of their many mottoes is “Divest! Don’t Arrest!” They want all the money that is contributing to Israel’s war against the Palestinians to stop. They claim the war is a genocide because the innocent civilian casualty count is so high in such a short amount of time and mostly women and children.

TAHRIR claims to represent 80+ organizations and believes that no money that the University is invested in should be connected to the “military-industrial complex” and instead should be reinvested in education and in our community.

The term “military-industrial complex” comes from the farewell address of Republican president Eisenhower who warned of an unholy connection between profit through military build-up and ultimately war and the killing of innocents.

“…In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist…” said Eisenhower.

The TAHRIR coalition also calls for a “formal inquiry into anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic racism and harassment that has manifested at extreme levels…” at the University of Michigan.

They cite discrimination is also at the University level “connected by structures in place to uphold systems of white supremacy and press other marginalized communities on the campus.”

Some people do not classify Arabs to be purely white, but instead brown or mulatto. They contend that if over 35,000 people civilians, mostly women and children, had died of white European descent, the Western media would have had more of an outcry.

The 80+ groups that are represented by the Tahir coalition are diverse and numerous and include: “La Casa,” (representing some of the Latino/a community) “Native American Student Association,” “Filipino American Student Association,” “Jewish Voice for Peace.” “Black Student Union,” “Vietnamese Student Association,” “World for Women,” and the “Therapeutic Art Project.”

Opposing voices state that the encampment is misguided and not focused on the correct issues. They state that there should also be a declaration of condemnation of the October 7 unprovoked attack against innocent Israeli citizens as well as a call to release all hostages.

“I think their protest is misdirected,” said one. “Perhaps they should focus on who started the war on October 7.”

Some state that the encampment is anti-Semitic because of its criticism of Israel and accusations of Israel of genocide and apartheid. They believe that the inability to recognize Israel and the history of discrimination of the Jewish people is also anti-Semitic. Many believe the level of anti-semitism on campus and across the country has become too high and even said they fear of another Holocaust.

One academic pointed out that the word Semitic actually relates the both the Jewish and Arab people because it denotes people who speak the Semitic languages, especially Hebrew and Arabic.

Many Ann Arborites who are on neither side are pained by the current situation. They have friends and relations with people who are Arab, Muslim, and Jewish and understand their various perspectives.

According to officials, there is a rise of anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab hate crimes and threats.

Most people interviewed in Ann Arbor support peaceful protest with no violence or intimidation.

President Biden recently addressed a similar sentiment:

“The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld…” said President Biden.

Peaceful encampment on the University of Michigan, DiagPhoto byDeana