Protesters chanted anti-war messages and waved Palestinian flags during the University of Michigan‘s commencement Saturday, as student demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war collided with the annual pomp-and-circumstance of graduation ceremonies.
Quick Read
- During the University of Michigan’s commencement, about 50 protesters voiced anti-war messages and displayed Palestinian flags, briefly disrupting the event with chants and a banner stating “No universities left in Gaza.”
- The demonstration at Michigan Stadium, attended by thousands, did not lead to arrests or significantly interrupt the nearly two-hour ceremony.
- U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, the speaker, acknowledged the protesters during his speech, affirming the right to peaceful protest.
- The university had permitted protesters to establish a campus encampment, though police had to intervene in a larger protest the previous night, resulting in one arrest.
- This protest is part of a broader movement where students across the U.S. have set up encampments and called for universities to sever ties with Israel and related companies, responding to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Associated Press has the story:
Anti-war protest ruffles University of Michigan graduation ceremony
Newslooks- (AP)
Protesters chanted anti-war messages and waved Palestinian flags during the University of Michigan‘s commencement Saturday, as student demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war collided with the annual pomp-and-circumstance of graduation ceremonies.
No arrests were reported and the protest — comprised of about 50 people, many wearing traditional Arabic kaffiyeh along with their graduation caps — didn’t seriously interrupt the nearly two-hour event at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, which was attended by tens of thousands of people.
One protest banner read: “No universities left in Gaza.”
U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro paused a few times during his remarks, saying at one point, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you can please draw your attention back to the podium.”
As he administered an oath to graduates in the armed forces, Del Toro said they would “protect the freedoms that we so cherish,” including the “right to protest peacefully.”
The university has allowed protesters to set up an encampment on campus but police assisted in breaking up a large gathering Friday night, and one person was arrested.
Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread across campuses nationwide in recent weeks in a student movement unlike any other this century. Some schools have reached deals with the protesters to end the demonstrations and reduce the possibility of disrupting final exams and commencements.
Some encampments have been dismantled and protesters arrested in police crackdowns.
The Associated Press has recorded at least 61 incidents since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the U.S. More than 2,400 people have been arrested on 47 college and university campuses. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
In other developments Saturday, protesters took down an encampment at Tufts University near Boston.
The school in Medford, Massachusetts, said it was pleased with the development, which wasn’t the result of any agreement with protesters. Protest organizers said in a statement that they were “deeply angered and disappointed” that negotiations with the university had failed.
At Princeton, in New Jersey, 18 students launched a hunger strike in an effort to push the university to divest from companies tied to Israel.
Senior David Chmielewski, a hunger striker, said in an email Saturday that it started Friday morning with participants consuming water only. He said the hunger strike will continue until university administrators meet with students about their demands, which include amnesty from criminal and disciplinary charges for protesters.
Other demonstrators are participating in “solidarity fasts” lasting 24 hours, he said.
Princeton students set up a protest encampment and some held a sit-in an administrative building earlier this week, leading to about 15 arrests.
Students at other colleges, including Brown and Yale, launched similar hunger strikes earlier this year before the more recent wave of protest encampments.
The protests stem from the Israel-Hamas conflict that started on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of Gaza’s inhabitants.
