Despite the recent wave of anti-Israel incidents at the University of Michigan—and following the deadliest attack on Jews in history of the United States—the school’s Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies held a town-hall program fostering BDS on Monday, featuring advocates of the anti-Israel movement.
The event was held 48 hours after a gunman shot and killed 11 Jews in Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning, leaving six other injured.
In an email sent to CMENAS faculty and students on Tuesday, department director Samer Mahdy Ali said the event, which was organized “on short order in response to the current crisis,” and featured 45-minute long “teach-in” portion that “is decidedly pro-BDS.”
Speakers included Anna Baltzer, director of organizing and advocacy at the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement—both professional BDS advocates.
The panel was altered on Friday to include just Arraf, in addition to author Susan Abulhawa and University of Michigan master’s student Daniel Kaplan, both of whom have been involved in BDS activism, according to The Algemeiner.
Moreover, Tom Pessah, an Israeli sociologist who is also a pro-BDS, also served as a panelist.
