Several pro-Palestinian students at the University of Michigan chanted “intifada” in a video taken on January 12.
The video shows the students saying, “There is only solution: intifada revolution!” and “Long live the intifada!” as they walk through campus. The Algemeiner and Washington Free Beacon reported that the students belong to a group called Students Allied for Fairness and Equality (SAFE), an affiliate of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). They were protesting a speaking event on campus by Vice President Kamala Harris, as the students were accusing her of “committing genocide.” Harris was there to discuss climate change.
Wolverine for Israel, which describes itself as a bipartisan campus organization aimed at enhancing the alliance between the United States and Israel, wrote in an Instagram post that they disagree with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s law banning the public display of Palestinian flags. However, the pro-Israel student group argued that SAFE’s intifada chants amounted to “a call to violence against Israelis and the Jewish state.” “As we have seen over the last year, such violent rhetoric has led to the brutalizing of Jews in the United States as well,” Wolverine for Israel wrote. “This direct call for violence directly affects the lives of many innocent Israelis and is not the solution for peace.”
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Others on Twitter had similar reactions to the intifada chants.
“The first and second intifadas were waves of murderous violence that killed and maimed thousands of Israeli Jews,” writer Avi Mayer tweeted. “Calls for an intifada on an American college campus are a direct threat of violence against Jewish students. Authorities must investigate.”
The first and second intifadas were waves of murderous violence that killed and maimed thousands of Israeli Jews.
Calls for an intifada on an American college campus are a direct threat of violence against Jewish students.
Authorities must investigate.pic.twitter.com/LZuFFUzuNh
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) January 15, 2023
Alums for Campus Fairness said in a statement that they were “appalled” by the intifada chants. “It is long past due that the University of Michigan’s President Santa Ono and the administration takes decisive and immediate action against such deeply appalling antisemitic protests and actions,” they said. “As the unified alumni voice against antisemitism, we hope that the University of Michigan will work diligently to counter antisemitism on campus.”
Columnist Jeff Jacoby tweeted that the intifada chants were essentially expressions of “support of murdering Israelis and Jews who support Israel.” “Imagine the roar of outrage if these were racists calling to lynch people of color,” he wrote. “Where is the outrage at calls to lynch Jews?”
At the U. of Michigan, #antisemites march in support of a new "intifada" — i.e., in support of murdering Israelis and Jews who support Israel.
Imagine the roar of outrage if these were racists calling to lynch people of color. Where is the outrage at calls to lynch Jews? https://t.co/WfHDmcvShg
— Jeff Jacoby (@Jeff_Jacoby) January 15, 2023
Aviva Klompas, a former speechwriter for Israel at the United Nations, similarly tweeted that the students were “calling for the murder of Jews. And not enough people think that’s freakin outrageous.”
Students at the University of Michigan chant “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution”
In other words, they are calling for the murder of Jews.
And not enough people think that's freakin outrageous. pic.twitter.com/5n9YOErE9y
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) January 13, 2023
The university and SAFE did not respond to the Journal’s requests for comment.
