Anti-war religious leaders call for accountability and divestment at WSU

About three dozen religious leaders gathered at Wayne State University on Monday to demand the school divest from companies linked to Israel and to admonish campus police for resorting to violence after tearing down a pro-Palestinian encampment in May.

The group — which included Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist leaders — held a news conference, sang, and prayed. All of them cited each of their religion’s beliefs in nonviolence, tolerance, and unity.

“Because of my faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no other place I could be than here this morning with my fellow faith leaders and members of faith communities across this community,” Rev. Paul Perez, lead minister of Central United Methodist Church in Detroit, said. “Together our traditions share in a common wisdom and truth — that there is no peace without justice.”

Perez criticized the university’s decision to forcibly remove pro-Palestinian activists from campus and destroy a protest encampment on May 30.

“Students sanctified the land with their encampment, which was a courageous and beautiful embodiment of our beloved community and an inspiring witness for the peace, justice, and the sacred worth of each and every human being,” Perez said. “The university’s use of violence desecrated that witness and that space”

On June 26, more than 70 interfaith leaders signed a letter to the Board of Governors, WSU President Kimberly Espy, and Provost Laurie Lauzon Clabo, urging them to apologize to activists, meet with Students for Justice in Palestine, and “refrain from militarized use of force against students in the future.”

Bill Wylie-Kellermann, a nonviolent community activist and United Methodist pastor, says the university must stop investing in companies that aid in the bombings of Palestinians, saying the attacks on Gaza have exposed “the moral horror of these weapons.” He added that the encampments at universities across the country have enriched the lives of students and created a platform to call for peace.

“Here, as elsewhere, we have seen with our own eyes, these encampments as beloved communities organized as schools of nonviolence and conscience,” Wylie-Kellermann said. “We fully support them and their call for university financial transparency and divestment from weapons and war-making. … The financial foundation of this university must not be constructed on the obliteration and bombing of another city’s very foundation.”

Kellerman also criticized the university’s decision to not only tear down the encampments, but to violently confront anti-war activists who were peacefully supporting Palestinians.

“It’s possible to treat your own students and alumni, not as enemies or outsiders, but as learned people of conscience worth listening to,” Kellerman said, citing the nonviolent gospel of Jesus.

Steve Mustapha Elturk, imam and president of the Islamic Organization of North America, said the violence by Israel is immoral and unimaginable.

“As human beings, we express our collective outrage at the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Elturk said. “Nothing can justify Israel’s relentless campaign of genocide against Gaza, which has resulted in the tragic loss of at least 40,000 Palestinian lives, more than half of whom are women and children. This figure does not even account for those still trapped under the rubble. The situation in Gaza is dire.”

Faith leaders and students urged the university to sit down and earnestly listen to activists’ concerns.

In June, the WSU Board of Governors turned its back on pro-Palestinian activists and declined to hold its public meeting in person. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Governors met virtually and moved the public comment period from the beginning of the meeting to the end.

“We call for Wayne State University to come and sit and meet with these students and to demilitarize the police and to divest from companies that are profiting from the genocide that is happening in Gaza,” WSU student Ali Hassan said.