JTA — University of Michigan security broke up an anti-Israel student “die-in” demonstration Wednesday and police arrested four people, in the latest sign that campus activism across the United States is resuming as the fall semester begins.
None of the four people arrested were students, a university spokesperson told the press. One is a temporary university employee. At least one arrested protester got into a physical altercation with police, according to the Michigan Daily, the student newspaper.
The protest was backed by a pro-Palestinian student coalition that includes the university’s chapter of the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace and was staged during a popular outdoor showcase for fall student activities. Members of the collective claimed on Instagram that one student had been arrested and later released.
Many universities, including Michigan, have said they will enforce rules surrounding demonstrations more assertively this term. The school agreed to change its enforcement policies after the U.S. Department of Education determined that it had violated the civil rights of its Jewish students by not doing a better job disciplining protesters. Jewish and free-speech groups had also expressed concern that the demonstrations, and subsequent mass arrests, created a hostile environment on campuses in the spring.
But in Ann Arbor and elsewhere, groups pushing for divestment from Israel have also returned to campus determined to continue their activism. READ MORE
