ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In the early hours of Monday morning, approximately 40 University of Michigan students advocating for Palestine set up camp on the Diag, a central open area on campus, marking the beginning of a determined protest – on a day that is also the beginning of the Jewish holiday of “Passover.”

Arriving as early as 6 a.m., the protesters erected tents, adorned the area with Palestinian flags, and brandished signs urging the university to sever financial ties with companies linked to Israel and advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Protesters set up for camp with supplies and signs.

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Photos of the encampment show piles of supplies including water, food, bricks (which are seen holding up the tents) long pieces of wood in buckets, a fire extinguisher, camping chairs, as well as banners that read “No $ For Genocide,” “Fund our Education Not the Occupation” and “Encampment for Gaza! Divest Now!”

“Death to America” among the rhetoric.

Also among the encampment are photos of pamphlets that say “Death to America” and “The struggle for the liberation of Palestine is here. The Third Intifada is beginning. There is no more time for arguing with zionists or appealing to their liberal-fascist associates.”

State Senator Lana Theis went on X and said to the University of Michigan, “Your students should not feel threatened while on campus & their safety is your responsibility. Further, if, these protests affect your students’ ability to attend classes or study, I believe a tuition refund is in order.

She added, “These are not peaceful words” and then linked to a photo of the pamphlets.

Coalition of anti-Israel forces came together at U-M encampment.

The protest at U-M was orchestrated by the TAHRIR Coalition, (Transparency, Accountability, Humanity, Reparations, Investment, Resistance) a collective comprising over 80 pro-Palestine student organizations, including Students Allied For Freedom and Equality (SAFE)  and the U-M chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. The mission of the TAHRIR Coalition is to “decolonize our university.”

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A press release from TAHRIR Coalition says, “Today, the student body of Michigan has answered the call of the Palestinian people to put our demands into action and joined the Popular University for Gaza campaign organized by National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP). As of the morning of April 22, students of the TAHRIR Coalition have officially set up an encampment and occupied the Diag on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus. The beating heart of our campus has been turned into a liberated zone of action in solidarity with Gaza.”

They have posted on their X social media account, “IF WE DON’T GET NO JUSTICE YOU DON’T GET NO PEACE.”

Pro-palestinian encampment zones popping up at colleges across the country.

The encampment, which is being referred to as a Liberated Encampment Zone, isn’t just something that’s happening at the University of Michigan though. It started at Columbia University and more have popped up across the country.

According to the Jerusalem Post “Anti-Israel protest encampments” have also been erected at New York University, The New School, Tufts University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Emerson College, Rutgers University and Yale.

Jewish student says she’s dealing with the “Nazi Party.”

Appearing on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom Monday morning was Sahar Tartak, a Jewish student from Yale University. She talked about the protests and encampment at her university saying, “These students have chanted ‘there is only one solution, intifada, revolution,’ which is a direct reference to uprisings that included suicide bombs in Israel that have killed civilians. After October 7, they absolutely celebrated…It’s really painful to realize that your peers have joined the Nazi Party.”

National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) said on Sunday, “Over the last 72 hours, the Students for Justice in Palestine chapters across the country have erupted in a fierce display of power and pressure target at their universities for their endless complicity and profiteering off the genocide on Gaza and the colonization of Palestine.”

They continued to say, “The encampments transform mass mobilization into long-term sustained occupation, leveraging our tangible power as students to give our institutions no other option but to divest.”

Protesters won’t go away until U-M divests from Israel.

According to Michigan Daily, the demonstration at U-M signifies the culmination of six months of activism, tracing back to a sit-in outside the University President’s House on October 13. Since then, these students have persistently voiced their demands for divestment, rallying at Pierpont Commons, the Michigan Union, and the Alexander G. Ruthven Building.

At Columbia University in Manhattan, arrests have been made for their participation in an encampment, while at Yale, protesters have been detained for trespassing. Relations have deteriorated so badly at the Columbia University campus that Rabbi Elie Buechler, a rabbi associated with Columbia University’s Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, told Jewish students that he “strongly” recommended they return home and remain there until conditions improve.

A graduate student said to Michigan Daily about the encampment, “This encampment is a statement to the University that we will not move until they divest, that we will not allow our endowment to fund the genocide…and it is also an act of solidarity with other student organizers across the country from Columbia, to UNC Chapel Hill to a bunch of other places that are setting up similar solidarity on campus.”

The student added, “So it’s not just this (one event). It is a national movement that we’re participating in to demonstrate that students across the United States are not going to stand for our universities funding genocide and profiteering from genocide.”

The group “Alumni of UMich for Palestine” put out a statement that they support the protesters, saying they, “STAND IN COMPLETE SOLIDARITY WITH THE BRAVE ANTI-WAR STUDENTS OF THE GAZA SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT ON THE ANN ARBOR DIAG and with the Popular University for Gaza campaign across all cities.” They are also soliciting funds for their cause.

What the University of Michigan has to say.

Michigan News Source reached out to U-M for comment about the protest and the encampment and this was their statement on Monday, “This morning, 20 tents were placed on the main quadrangle, known as the Diag, at the University of Michigan. Students are able to engage in peaceful protest in many places on campus and, at the same time, the university has a responsibility to maintain an environment that is conducive to learning and academic success.”

They continued to say, “No one has the right to substantially disrupt university activities or to violate laws or university policies. We are working to minimize disruptions to university operations – most especially with classes ending tomorrow and the study period beginning before finals. Safety is always a key priority and, as such, we have increased security on campus. We are carefully monitoring the situation and remain prepared to appropriately address any harassment or threats against any member of our community.”

Their statement concluded with, “Regarding the calls for divestment, the university has had a policy in place for nearly 20 years that shields the university’s investments from political pressures. Much of the money invested through the university’s endowment, for example, is donor funding given to provide long-term financial support for designated purposes. The Board of Regents reaffirmed its position earlier this year.”

As of the time of the publishing of this article, there have been no reports of protester arrests on the U-M campus, and online sources indicate that the encampment remains in place.

SAFE (Students Allied for Freedom and Equality), one of the groups at the encampment posted on their Instagram page, “We are not leaving the Diag until we achieve our demand.”