University of Michigan Encampment for Gaza Continues to Grow

More than 50 tents stretched out across the middle of University of Michigan’s campus on Tuesday morning, marking the ninth day of this student encampment for Gaza. As graduation and the semester’s end nears, students camping out don’t look like they’re going anywhere. 

Universities across the country have set up encampments in the last month to raise awareness on the atrocities committed in Gaza by the Israeli government, and to demand the institutions to divest from Israeli companies and companies working with Israel. 

The Israeli army has killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza since October, and the airstrikes continue to target innocent Palestinians. 

At the University of Michigan, headshots of the University president and the Board of Regents’ members are plastered onto buildings and sign posts around the encampment area, calling them to meet their demands to divest.

The Board of Regents said in March that it would not be making any divestments from the university endowment, and has not yet responded to the current encampment.

A large number of students camping on campus said they will be staying on campus until the university listens to their demands and are willing to be arrested if things escalate. Phone numbers are written in marker on a lot of the students’ arms, in case of arrest.

No students have been arrested since the encampment began on April 23. University police have kept their distance, but have kept constant eyes on the campers and can be seen occasionally walking around the encampment area.

Inside the encampment, students are seen reading, studying on their laptops, napping, socializing and some are organizing the day's events in meetings. Most students are masked and avoid cameras or interviews for fear of getting doxxed.

Michael Russell is a first-year art student who has been sketching their art final just about a hundred feet away from his tent for the last week. He began camping out since the first day and decided to update his life-size self portrait to reflect his current situation.

“I kind of had it all planned out what I was going to do, and then the encampment happened, and I knew I wanted to join in and  be a lot more politically active now that I'm in college,” Russell said. “So I’ve been working on it all week and based it around what’s happening on campus, and that’ll allow me to talk more about Gaza and what’s happening as a part of my presentation.”

In the portrait, he’s wearing a keffiyeh and has Palestine flags in the background along with tents.

Every day, the encampment hosts different types of teach-ins like one on environmental militarism and art activities like decorating tents and posters. Volunteers are everywhere from taking part in security around the tents to handing out food and water throughout the day.

Tesneem Aboudane prays all of five of her prayers on the prayer mats set alongside the encampment for Muslim students participating in the encampment. She’s Syrian and said she grew up advocating for all Muslims, and believes all struggles intersect.

“The fact that I’m spending this much money to go to this university, and some of that money is going to kill Palestinians is disgusting. I don’t stand for it and that’s why I’m here,” Aboudane said. 

Two Wayne State University students drove out from Detroit to Ann Arbor last night. Evan Hubbard and Ruby Kellman both said they wanted to show their solidarity with the students on campus.

“I think anybody with a conscience should be at least aware of what’s going on in Gaza,” Hubbard said.