U. Michigan Jewish Student Confronts Pro-Palestinian Students
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A Jewish student at the University of Michigan is under fire for confronting pro-Palestinian student demonstrators.
Representatives from Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, or SAFE — a campus group that aims to promote justice for Palestinians — have called for the removal of sophomore Jesse Arm from serving as a representative on the Central Student Government, or CSG. Arm reportedly appeared before the student government’s ethics committee on Monday.
His conduct also was discussed at a CSG meeting on Tuesday, the Michigan Daily student newspaper reported.
At a SAFE demonstration on Nov. 19, the group displayed a wall representing the security fence between Israel and the West Bank. Arm was filmed confronting and criticizing the demonstrators, according to the Daily.
The demonstration came as news that American yeshiva student Ezra Schwartz was killed in a West Bank terror attack, which university junior Matt Fidel told the student government should be taken into consideration when discussing Arm’s actions.
Arm and Schwartz were from the same community and had many friends in common, the College Fix reported.
“I can tell you from firsthand experience this was a very emotional day in the Jewish community,” Fidel told the student government, according to the Michigan Daily, adding that Arm was not disrespectful but firm in his convictions.
Other Jewish students said the demonstration triggered emotions in them, and added that the student government should not be allowed to tell students what they may or may not stand up for or believe in, according to the Daily.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
