The University of Michigan condemned pro-Palestinian demonstrators after they vandalized a top school official’s home.
UM Regent Jordan Acker, who is Jewish, said his home was vandalized Monday morning. Waking up after hearing glass breaking, Acker discovered someone had thrown a Mason jar through a window and spraypainted the words “divest and free Palestine” on a family vehicle. Vandals also painted an upside-down red triangle on Acker’s SUV before the regent’s neighbor saw several people running away from the home.
The inverted triangle symbol has been used “by Hamas to mean something is a legitimate military target,” Acker said.
“This is a threat,” he told the Detroit News. “This was not a protest. This is terrorism.”
UM officials issued a statement Monday following the invasion, condemning the “clear act of antisemitic intimidation” in the “strongest possible terms.”
“They are abhorrent, and unfortunately, just the latest in a number of incidents where individuals have been harassed because of their work on behalf of the university,” the statement reads. “This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We call on our community to come together in solidarity and to firmly reject all forms of bigotry and violence.”
The school has been rocked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators ever since Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, provoked a war in Gaza. Some UM students believe Israel’s war against Hamas constitutes genocide against Palestinians, leading to months of protests and multiple acts of vandalism against university officials who have not complied with their demands to divest from companies they say are financially supporting Israel.
In late April, groups of pro-Palestinian students began camping out for roughly one month in the Diag, a large open area located in the heart of the campus.
Police cleared out the encampment in late May after UM President Santa Ono said demonstrators had violated safety concerns, repeatedly disrupted academic activities, and embarked on protests that descended into violence. Ono also criticized students for holding protests at the personal homes of several top school officials.
UM called the latest breach of property at Acker’s home a “criminal” act.
The incident Monday marks the second time this year Acker has been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists. Demonstrators left hate messages at his law office’s front exterior and sidewalk in June.
“F**k you Acker” and “Divest or f**k off” were some of the phrases graffitied on Acker’s office’s front exterior and sidewalk.
“The reality is that this does not make us any closer to freeing Palestine or ending the war in Gaza,” Acker told the outlet at the time. “All it does is seeks to intimidate Jews.”
The vandalism at Acker’s home on Monday follows similar incidents in October at the houses of Ono and Erik Lundberg, UM’s chief investment officer.
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On the first anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel, demonstrators spraypainted messages with the upside down triangles and “intifada” at both of the officials’ homes.
Intifada is translated to “uprising” in English. Many Jews associate the term with antisemitism and encouraging violence against Israelis, Jews, and institutions supporting Israel.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
