A legal monitoring organization has suggested that the University of Michigan might have breached state and federal legislation regarding hate speech when it granted permission for a public event that featured incitements for violent revolt against Israel and Jews.
On January 12th, student organizers hosted an event at the university while Vice President Kamala Harris was visiting the school. During the event, there were cries for "intifada revolution" and chants of "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", a phrase used by those wishing for the elimination of the Jewish state. The university has not yet issued a condemnation of the rally, and the International Legal Forum (ILF), a network of over 4,000 attorneys working to oppose anti-Semitism, believes the school may have broken Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which stops discrimination based on race.
The ILF expressed in a letter to University President Santa Ono, which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, that while they strongly uphold free speech and the right to protest on campus, the event that took place was not just a political difference but rather a call to violence that put Jewish students, faculty, and staff in potential danger.
The university is scheduled to host an event next week with Mohammed El-Kurd, a Palestinian writer who claims Jews are like Nazis and alleges that Israelis eat Palestinians' organs. Soon after the El-Kurd event, the university plans to host a gathering honoring Palestinian "martyrs," or those killed in the course of carrying out terrorist acts.
There has been a notable rise in anti-Semitic sentiments among college students in the U.S., as evidenced by a twofold increase in physical and verbal attacks against Jewish students in the 2021-2022 term, as reported by Jewish advocacy organizations. This is further reinforced by the propagation of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories by public figures such as rapper Kanye West and basketball star Kyrie Irving.
ILFs explains that the event was in violation of "the widely accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of anti-Semitism," and "the direct call to violence and hate speech may also be in breach of federal and state legislation, particularly as the University of Michigan is a public institution,"
Ostrovsky, the CEO of the ILF, shared with the Free Beacon that the university has not devised a plan to address anti-Semitic incidents on campus. He further mentioned that his organization will contemplate all potential legal pathways to compel the University of Michigan to address ILFs concerns. He added, "Title VI claims were designed specifically to protect students from such harassment, [which] includes an intent to harm or incite violence, especially when such conduct is pervasive or persistent against a group of students on the basis of their race, shared ancestry, or national origin, as is the case here."
This week, the ILF contacted the university and asked them to condemn the rally that took place on January 12th and to look into Students Allied for Freedom and Equality - the student organization that hosted the rally - and possibly prevent them from putting on more anti-Israel gatherings.
When asked by the Free Beacon for comment about the rally, the university declined to respond, but pointed the reporter to a Jan. 31 statement published on their website that declares students are allowed to use violent language.
"University policy does not and should not dictate or control the ability of students to protest or the content of their protest messages," the statement says.
Ostrovsky said that the school's statement was "woefully inadequate," and he was appalled that the university would not condemn a demonstration hosted on its grounds, which called for violence.
Ostrovsky expressed worry about an upcoming visit with El-Kurd, whose language the Anti-Defamation League deems "unvarnished, vicious anti-Semitism." Students Allied for Freedom and Equality are the ones hosting this event.
Ostrovsky pointed out that "If the University of Michigan believes they have the best interests of the Jewish community at heart, inviting to campus an unrepentant anti-Semite and extremist like El-Kurd, who peddles in the most obscene Jew-hatred and incitement, is not exactly the way to show that."
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