AMCHA’S Responses to Antisemitic Activity at University of Michigan
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1. A campus group, “Students Allied for Freedom and Equality” calls for a Jewish student’s removal from student government simple because he exercised his right to free speech and objected to the timing and appropriateness of SAFE’s anti-Israel display.
- INCIDENT: Members of the campus group “Students Allied for Freedom and Equality” (SAFE) called for a student, Jesse Arm’s removal from his position in the student government simply because he exercised his right to free speech and objected to the timing, taste and appropriateness of SAFE’s anti-Israel display in the center of the campus on November 19th, which was set up on the very day that two terrorist attacks occurred in Israel, killing five people. CSG became complicit in SAFE’s vendetta, forcing Mr. Arm to appear before the CSG’s ethics committee to determine whether punitive measures should be taken against him simply because he voiced his objection to SAFE’s actions.
- 12/4/15 – AMCHA’S RESPONSE: AMCHA Initiative signed onto a ZOA-initiated coalition letter (including ZOA, StandWitthUs, Simon Wiesenthal Center Campus Outreach, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Lawfare Project, American Center for Law and Justice, American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists and AMCHA Initiative) which urged President Schlissel “to: (1) notify SAFE and CSG that Mr. Arm cannot be penalized for the exercise of his constitutional right to free speech, and that Mr. Arm’s exchange with SAFE members on November 19th cannot jeopardize his service as a CSG representative; (2) notify CSG that its ethics investigation of Mr. Arm is unlawful and must be terminated immediately; (3) require that CSG and SAFE issue a full apology to Mr. Arm, which should include their acknowledgment that they acted wrongly and in violation of Mr. Arm’s rights; and (4) issue a statement to the campus community explaining that Mr. Arm exercised his right to free speech on November 19th for which he should never have suffered any adverse consequences, that Mr. Arm’s CSG position remains intact, and that every student has the unfettered right to free speech which no student or student group can obstruct or impair.”
- 12/7/15 – STUDENT GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Student government issued a report absolving Jesse Arm of any wrongdoing.
- 10/20/16 – ACTIVIST GROUPS: Activist Groups Join ZOA Letter to U. of Michigan: Condemn Anti-Israel Display on Rosh Hashanah