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Pro-Palestinian protesters 'decorate' yard of University of Michigan board chair with body bags

Kim Kozlowski, The Detroit News on

Published in News & Features

DETROIT — Pro-Palestinian protesters said Wednesday they had "decorated" the front lawn of University of Michigan Board of Regents Chair Sarah Hubbard's home with "scenes of genocide in Palestine" and taped documents listing demands for divestment from Israel to the door of her home, along with those of the seven other regents.

Police arrived at Hubbard's Meridian Township home soon after the protesters' 6 a.m. arrival, but no arrests were made, according to the University of Michigan.

Hubbard said the demonstrators have taken their tactics from pressuring the university to divest from companies contributing to Israel's war "to the next level," while Regent Jordan Acker said he would not "be intimidated."

Reached by phone, Hubbard said that about 30 people showed up at her home in Meridian Township. It wasn't clear if they were students, as some wore masks and their heads were covered, she said. They put tents and body bags that are used as part of campus protests on her property, she said.

Salma Hamamy, the head of the organization Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, spoke while at Hubbard's house, describing her experience as a Palestinian American amid the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and listed the names of her 46 family members killed in Gaza, according to a statement by the protesters.

Hamamy also condemned the regents' lack of response to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which have included actions such as disrupting the Honors Convocation, holding up signs during commencement and setting up an encampment on the Diag.

 

"You have shown an utter lack in ethics and morality, and a complete disregard of empathy," Hamamy said. "As you have refused to come to the encampment, we are now bringing the encampment to you."

The regents have steadfastly said they won't change their investment strategy due to a policy that shields the endowment from political pressures.

"The best way to solve differences of opinion is through persuasion and facts," Hubbard told The Detroit News on Wednesday. "Disrupting neighborhoods that have no engagement in the topic at hand does not move your argument forward."

On Wednesday afternoon, UM Regent Jordan Acker wrote in a thread on X that "around 4:40 a.m., a masked intruder came to the door of my family's home with a list of demands, including defunding the police."

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