A Jewish student was allegedly attacked early Sunday morning in the University of Michigan campus community in what Ann Arbor police are investigating as a “bias-motivated assault.”
According to Ann Arbor police, the 19-year-old male reported that a group of “unknown males behind him” asked if he was Jewish. The group allegedly heard him mention being Jewish before the attack. When the victim said that he was Jewish, he was allegedly thrown to the ground, kicked, and spat on.
The victim suffered minor injuries but did not require hospitalization. The attack occurred at approximately 12:45 a.m., and the suspects fled the scene on foot.
“There is no place for hate or ethnic intimidation in the City of Ann Arbor,” Ann Arbor Police Chief Andre Anderson said in a statement. “Our department stands against antisemitism and all acts of bias-motivated crimes.”
“We are committed to vigorously investigating this and other hate-motivated incidents and will work with the County Prosecutor’s office to aggressively prosecute those who are responsible,” he added.
The incident took place near the Jewish Resource Center on Hill Street, right off campus.
Michigan failed to investigate antisemitic incidents after Oct. 7
Like many other schools, the University of Michigan has seen a rise in anti-Israel activity in its campus community following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack that killed almost 1,200 people. With the rise in anti-Israel activity, numerous reports of antisemitic conduct have followed, prompting many Jewish students to feel unsafe in their campus communities.
The University of Michigan was investigated by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the civil rights office found Michigan failed to comply with Title VI in its handling of antisemitic incidents.
OCR investigated 75 complaints of harassment at the University of Michigan, many targeting Jewish students. They found that very few had been investigated by the university.
One complaint involved a demonstration on campus where protesters shouted about “Nazi liberation.” Another involved an anti-Israel professor posting a screenshot showing that a Jewish student with an Israeli flag in his bio viewed his Instagram story, along with the caption, “Did you like my educational talk.”
OCR did not find evidence that the first complaint had been addressed apart from forwarding the report to the school’s office of public affairs. It also concluded that the school did not sufficiently respond to the professor’s Instagram conduct, as the University of Michigan opted not to weigh in on the situation.
Anti-Israel tensions already boiling over as new semester begins
Sunday’s attack is not the first anti-Israel or anti-Jewish escalation as the fall semester gets underway. At the University of Pittsburgh, a group of Jewish students were attacked with a glass bottle, leading to two being injured.
Four protesters were arrested during the first week of the new semester at the University of Michigan after an anti-Israel group attempted to disrupt a university event. Three were unaffiliated with the university, while the fourth was a temporary university employee.
On the first day of classes at Columbia University, two were arrested after an anti-Israel group vandalized a historic statue on campus. And at the University of Washington, Jewish voices were silenced when an anti-Israel group shouted them down at a Board of Regents meeting until they had to be evacuated to safety. They were attempting to speak about antisemitic harassment on campus.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Several anti-Israel groups previewed their plans for the fall semester to the Washington Examiner, vowing to return to campus with “renewed energy” and declaring that there will be “no peace” until their demands are met.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the University of Michigan for comment.
This article was originally published in The www.washingtonexaminer.com
