U. of Michigan Students Demand Cutting Israel Trips and a 'Police-Free Campus'

A coalition of students at the University of Michigan (UMich) called the “Students of Color Liberation Front” is demanding that the school end all university-sponsored trips to Israel, along with replacing Sabra hummus in the cafeteria with an “Arab-owned brand.” Additionally, the students demand to work towards a  “police-free campus.”

“We, the Students of Color Liberation Front, unwavering in our commitment to liberate all peoples on campus, call for the University of Michigan to realize our collective demands,” states the coalition at the beginning of its statement, titled, “Anti-Racist Demands.”

The statement goes on to say that the university “cannot expect to foster an equitable, inclusive, and diverse campus community and environment while continuing to provide financial support to harmful and exclusionary institutions.”

“Rather than be purely profit-driven, the University’s investments must be built upon ethical and moral considerations for sustainable investment,” the statement adds.

Among the demands include a call on the university to remove “Sabra hummus from dining halls/campus shops and replace with locally sourced, Arab-owned brand,” and “end the Central Student Government’s trip to Israel/all University-sponsored trips to Israel.”

The coalition is also demanding that the university “cultivate a safe campus climate” for students by cutting all ties with the Ann Arbor Police Department in order to work toward a “police-free campus.”

“In order to minimize police interactions on campus, we have drafted the following list of non-negotiable action items for the University of Michigan to implement widely as on-campus policies,” says the coalition in its statement.

“These action items will cultivate a safe campus climate for all students, especially Black and Brown students who are disproportionately placed at risk when the University relies heavily on police presence on campus,” the statement adds.

From there, the coalition demands that UMich “cut ALL ties” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Ann Arbor Police Department, as well as “disarm” the university’s Division of Public Safety and Security.

Among its demands, the coalition is also calling on the university to “reassess the ways Palestine is taught and represented” in curriculum, and to establish a Palestine Studies Scholar/Chair who “will be consulted about how Palestinians are portrayed in curriculum not taught by a Palestinian/Arab professor.”

“And a deliberate effort will be made to include and uplift Palestinian narratives in these cases,” the coalition adds.

The Students of Color Liberation Front is a coalition made up of the Black Student Union, the United Asian American Organizations, La Casa, the Arab Student Association, Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), the Native American Student Association, and the Student Community of Progressive Empowerment.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.