The Israel-based NGO International Legal Forum sent a letter to the University of Michigan leadership on January 26 urging the university to condemn chants of intifada that occurred on campus on January 12.
As the Journal previously reported, students belonging to Students Allied for Fairness and Equality (SAFE), an affiliate of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), chanted, “There is only solution: intifada revolution!” and “Long live the intifada!” as they walked through campus when Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on at the university.
“Although we firmly believe in the principle of free speech and right to protest on campus, this event was not a mere expression of difference in political opinion, but rather a direct and unadulterated call for violence, placing Jewish students, faculty and staff, in harm’s way,” ILF CEO Arsen Ostrovsky wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Journal. “The first and second intifadas were brutal Palestinian terrorist uprisings, during which many Israelis were murdered, whereas the chant ‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,’ has become a common euphemism for a call to arms to destroy the State of Israel. This kind of pervasive discourse and incitement directly contributes to a climate of fear, harassment and violence against the Jewish community.”
Ostrovsky also argued that such rhetoric “may also be in breach of federal and state legislation, particularly as the University of Michigan is a public institution.”
“Your university has as one of its guiding principles, the goal to make sure that all people on campus ‘not only are safe, but actually feel safe,’” Ostrovksy wrote. “Accordingly, we respectfully call on the University to issue an immediate and unequivocal public condemnation of the events of the 12th January 2023, to reiterate that such rhetoric and calls to violence have no place on campus and to take appropriate disciplinary measures against those involved.”
When asked for comment on the ILF’s letter, a university spokesperson told the Journal that they “will respond directly to this organization.”
