Small anti-war protest ruffles University of Michigan graduation ceremony
Protesters chanted anti-war messages and waved Palestinian flags at the University of Michigan commencement Saturday, as student demonstrations against the war between Israel and Hamas clashed with the annual pomp and pageantry of graduation ceremonies.
No arrests were reported and the protest — consisting of about 50 people, many of whom wore traditional Arabic kaffiyeh along with their graduation caps — did not interrupt the nearly two-hour event at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, which was attended by tens of thousands of people. serious. from people.
A protest banner read: “There are no more universities in Gaza.”
U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro paused several times during his remarks, at one point saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you could please return your attention to the podium.”
As he administered an oath to armed forces graduates, del Toro said they would “protect the freedoms we so cherish,” including the “right to peacefully protest.”
The university has allowed protesters to set up an encampment on campus, but police helped break up a large gathering on Friday evening and one person was arrested.
Tent camps of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread across campuses across the country in recent weeks, in a student movement unlike any other this century. seeing is. Some schools have reached agreements with protesters to end the demonstrations and reduce the possibility of disruption to finals and commencements.
Some encampments have been dismantled and protesters arrested during police crackdowns.
The Associated Press has recorded at least 61 incidents of arrests at campus protests in the US since April 18. More than 2,400 people have been arrested on 47 college and university campuses. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
In other developments Saturday, protesters overran an encampment at Tufts University near Boston.
The school in Medford, Massachusetts, said it was pleased with the development, which was not the result of an agreement with protesters. Protest organizers said in a statement they were “deeply angry and disappointed” that negotiations with the university had failed.
At Princeton, New Jersey, 18 students launched a hunger strike in an attempt to push the university to divest from companies linked to Israel.
Senior David Chmielewski, a hunger striker, said in an email Saturday that it started Friday morning with participants, including some doing “24-hour solidarity fasting,” consuming only water. He said the hunger strike will continue until university officials meet with students about their demands, including amnesty from criminal and disciplinary charges for protest participants.
Princeton students set up a protest camp earlier this week and some staged a sit-in at an administration building earlier this week, leading to about 15 arrests.
Students at other colleges, including Brown and Yale, launched similar hunger strikes earlier this year before the more recent wave of protest camps.
The protests stem from the Israeli-Hamas conflict that began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled area, including about two-thirds women and children, according to the Health Ministry. Israeli attacks have destroyed the enclave and displaced most of Gaza’s residents.
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Marcelo reported from New York. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit and Nick Perry in Boston contributed to this story.