For US universities, Arab and Muslim lives do not matter

The university’s hypocrisy became apparent to me and other Palestinian students almost immediately after October 7, 2023. On October 9, students at the Michigan Law School used the public law-open server, an email chain that connects everyone at the law school, to describe Palestinians as “animals” and their Muslim and Arab classmates as “rejoic[ing] in mass murder” and supporting rape. This language was reported to the administration, who took no action.

As the greater Michigan student body started organising and protesting on campus, the university’s discrimination against marginalised students became even more apparent. It repeatedly sent campus police to disperse our protests and sit-ins, with students being physically assaulted, pepper-sprayed and arrested, while hijabs of female students were ripped off.

It also ramped up surveillance. Police presence and the number of surveillance cameras around the Arab lounge on campus noticeably increased.

The administration never issued any apology for nor condemnation of the extreme acts of police violence against students who were protesting a genocide that the university funds.