On October 7, the Tahrir Coalition, a coalition of pro-Palestinian organizations at the University of Michigan, posted on social media what it said was a recording of the university's President Santa Ono.
In the audio file, a man’s voice can be heard talking about pressure from “powerful groups” and threats to withhold federal funding if university officials don’t commit more or less to combating anti-Semitism.
He said: “The government could call me tomorrow and say that universities are not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism in a very disproportionate way, and in combating Islamophobia. You could say it’s not doing enough, and that’s not what they want to hear.”
The Tahrir Coalition did not explain how it obtained the recording, or when or where it was made, but neither Ono nor the university disputed its authenticity. Instead, the university administration issued a statement to local newspaper Metro Times, saying: – Opportunities to learn and grow. ”
The problem is that universities are not committed to the safety and support of Muslim and Arab students. Of course, we didn’t need the leaked recordings to know that, but it does explain to the public the university’s utter failure to support marginalized students.
Over the past year, we have watched shockingly as genocide unfolds in Palestine and, since September, in Lebanon. Israel has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, including more than 16,000 children, and more than 2,300 Lebanese, including more than 120 children.
For Palestinian and Lebanese students, the pain is acute. We have seen our homeland destroyed and our people massacred, tortured, and starved to death. But even as we, along with many allies, have tried to process this trauma and advocate for human rights, we have been vilified and silenced on campus. Our existence has been called into question, our grief has been weaponized, and our calls for justice have been criminalized.
The same cannot be said about students who have actively advocated Israel’s “right of self-defense.” This right does not apply to resistance from the peoples it occupies.
As a result of this “disproportionate” approach, Muslim and Arab students today face increased harassment and discrimination, and attackers know there will be no consequences for their actions. That’s why it’s becoming bolder.
The university’s hypocrisy became apparent to me and other Palestinian students almost immediately on October 7, 2023. On October 9, Michigan Law School students used the Public Law Open Server, an email chain that connects everyone at the law school, to explain: Palestinians are “animals” and his Muslim and Arab classmates “delight in mass murder” and support rape. This statement was reported to the government, but the government took no action.
The university’s discrimination against marginalized students became even more apparent as Michigan State’s student organizations began organizing and protesting on campus. Campus police were repeatedly dispatched to break up our protests and sit-ins, students were physically assaulted, pepper sprayed, arrested, and female students’ hijabs were stripped.
Surveillance has also been strengthened. The number of police presence and surveillance cameras around the Arab Lounge on campus increased significantly.
The university never apologized or condemned the police’s use of extreme violence against students who were protesting university-funded genocide.
It also didn’t work because accusations of anti-Semitism began to be used as weapons against us. He did not go into distinguishing between hatred of Jews and legitimate criticism and condemnation of Israel, which committed genocide. It did not protect our right to protest and freedom of expression. Instead, it seems to have accepted a false equivalence between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.
Over the summer, the Department of Education released a report calling out the “failure” of universities to act on accusations of anti-Semitism. These included claims that anti-genocide protests had created a “hostile environment,” which the university did not investigate.
Universities easily succumbed to pressure and unilaterally changed campus policies to facilitate the crackdown on students participating in pro-Palestinian activities. Faculty and student organizations were not consulted regarding these matters.
The university authorities have done their best to address the sentiments of Jewish students on campus, but they have yet to say a single word against us Palestinians. One wonders how many more Palestinians we have to exterminate before Ono and others in the university leadership recognize our suffering, or before they see us as human beings. There may be some.
Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students increasingly feel that the government is completely condoning the slaughter of their people and the carpet bombing of their country.
This attitude is not unique to the University of Michigan. Nationwide, more than 3,000 people have been arrested for pro-Palestinian activities on university campuses in just six months. Universities that once championed free speech have become hostile environments for Muslim and Arab students and their allies.
The chilling effect this has had is obvious. Many Muslim and Arab students now feel anxious about expressing their identities and opinions, fearing repercussions for their studies, laws, and employment. This silence is especially traumatic for Palestinian students, who are denied the right to publicly mourn and seek justice.
Adding to our suffering is the fact that our tuition fees are invested in companies that support violence against Muslims and Palestinians abroad. Despite protests, the University of Michigan maintains investments in companies linked to Israel, even though it quickly pulled out of companies linked to Russia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In response to the audio leak, the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan Chapter (CAIR-MI) filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. The complaint seeks an investigation into whether the University of Michigan has fulfilled its “obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and under the consent resolution the university entered into with the Office of Civil Rights in June of this year.” .
However, given the pressure on universities to focus on the welfare of Jewish students, it is doubtful that the allegations will have any significant effect.
Ono’s leaked comments reveal a widespread abdication of moral leadership by university administrators across the country. By bowing to outside pressures, we fail to protect all students equally and send a clear message that some lives matter more than others.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.
