" 'We will not be silent while Gaza burns’ " -- at the University of Michigan

" 'We will not be silent while Gaza burns’: Pro-Palestine activists mark second year of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza"

MICHIGAN DAILY (University of Michigan student newspaper)

Ocrober 8, 2025

At:

https://www.michigandaily.com/news/administration/we-will-not-be-silent-while-gaza-burns-pro-palestine-activists-mark-second-year-of-israels-military-campaign-in-gaza/

"Hamtramck approves proclamation supporting Palestinians", from Detroit Free Press:

 "Hamtramck approves proclamation supporting Palestinians"

Detroit Free Press, March 2, 2023

by Niraj Warikoo

On the web at: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2023/03/02/hamtramck-city-council-approves-proclamation-supporting-palestinians/69956283007/

"Hamtramck city council has approved a proclamation expressing support for Palestinians and opposing military aid to 'all repressive governments'...."

Political cartoon showing Ann Arbor City Council and its Mayor Christopher Taylor in January 2023.

See the political cartoon below, showing Ann Arbor City Council and its Mayor Christopher Taylor in January 2023.

The Ann Arbor City Council's most consistent policy, since 1984, has been to smother every resolution that opposes U.S. funding to Israel. 

Now Itamar Ben-Gvir,  a very public admirer of the mass-murderer Baruch Goldstein, is in charge of the Israeli police. Yes, he officially has his finger on the triggers pointed at the Palestinian people. 

City Council is still sitting on this simple human rights resolution, just 7 words long.  It says: "We are against military aid to Israel".

Virtually the same resolution was recommended to the City Council in 2003 by its own Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission. It fell on their deaf ears, and many thousands of Palestinians died.

University of Michigan students marching through Ann Arbor, Michigan on January 12, 2023, demanding human rights for the Palestinian people.

University of Michigan students marching through Ann Arbor, Michigan on January 12, 2023, demanding human rights for the Palestinian people.

They are also protesting the Vice President's support for Israel as she visited the university campus.

The YouTube video is below - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogiC0pdrv-M

And here are some photos from the march:

Dr. Mozhgan fights for the resolution against military aid to Israel, in the Ann Arbor City Council:

 At the Ann Arbor (Michigan) City Council meeting of December 19, 2022:

Dr. Mozhgan is the only candidate to demand a City Council resolution against military aid to the apartheid state of Israel.This is her campaign speech on CTN:

Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani speaks on Community Television Network of Ann Arbor (CTN), regarding her Ann Arbor City Council candidacy.

She is the only candidate to demand a City Council resolution against military aid to the apartheid state of Israel.

This video of Dr. Mozhgan's speech was released on July 2, 2022:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6NWFedbncQ

Mayor Christopher Taylor is called a "racist dog" for his behavior against Palestinians:

See the video here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROQB3mjQUso

The video shows Mayor Christopher Taylor and City Councilmember Jen Eyer being shamed for their actions regarding Palestinians, during the June 6, 2022 meeting of the Ann Arbor City Council in Michigan.

Mayor Taylor comes under heavy criticism for throwing his weight against Palestinian human rights resolutions, while Councilmember Eyer is criticized for getting campaign contributions from old Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. 

Mayor Taylor's public outrage at Russia's occupation of white Ukrainians is contrasted unfavorably with his anti-Palestinian behavior. 

Then at the end of the video is a gallery of opinion cartoons regarding the Mayor and his City Council.

Dearborn rallies against aiding the Israeli military - May 18, 2021

As Israel murders hundreds in occupied Palestine, and bombs 90,000 people out of their homes, Dearborn rallied to stop the slaughter. That number comes from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian territory. 

This Dearborn rally, on May 18, 2021, was quite clear: "Netanyahu is a piece of shit" -

Very shortly afterwards, resolutions were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate to block a giant sale of bombs to the Israeli government.

Very shortly after those resolutions were introduced, the Israeli government announced a cease-fire. That tells you something about the raw political power of these resolutions.

The proposed City Council resolution: “We are against military aid to Israel.”

To the Ann Arbor (Michigan) City Council: Approve this resolution - 

“We are against military aid to Israel.”

That is the entire resolution.

You ask, "Why single out Israel?"

The U.S. government singles out Israel.

* Israel will get $38 billion in military aid over 10 years, which cannot be reduced by annual budget negotiations in Congress.

* An Israeli company is installing border surveillance across Arizona. Its surveillance drones transmit the location of human rights marchers, in Gaza, to Israeli snipers.

* Most U.S. Congressmembers, and most states, forcefully condemn even the most peaceful protests against Israel – the boycott, divestment, & sanctions movement.

* Ann Arbor's Mayor wanted to censure City Councilmember Kathleen Kozachenko for attending a protest against the Israeli President (Ann Arbor News, 3/18/1975, p. 29)

* As late as July 2019, Ann Arbor City Councilmembers panic when Israel is criticized – a panic which is simply unprecedented for any other criticism of a foreign state.

     • This has freed up Israel to detain 10,000 Palestinian children since 2000.
     • This has freed up Israel to gun down over 6000 unarmed Palestinian human rights marchers, just
        since March 2018. Almost 300 of them were killed.
     • This has freed up Israel to outright kill over 9600 Palestinians, just since September 2000.
     • This has freed up Israel to build its arsenal of hundreds of nuclear weapons, hundreds of military
        aircraft, and thousands of tanks.

"Anti-Israel protesters convince Ann Arbor to take up issue" of sanctions against Israel -

"Anti-Israel protesters convince Ann Arbor to take up issue"

Published in MLive, July 12, 2019

At: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2019/07/anti-israel-protestors-convince-ann-arbor-to-take-up-issue.html

"ANN ARBOR, MI – After nearly two decades appearing before City Council and calling for a boycott of Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Ann Arbor are making headway.

"Instead of being met with the usual silence, they’ve convinced city officials to consider calling for an end to U.S. military aid for Israel, though opinions are mixed..."

Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcCHlsQhfmA

Demanding boycott and sanctions against Apartheid Israel, in the Ann Arbor City Council and its Human Rights Commission, 2019:

Boycott Israel in the Ann Arbor City Council (Michigan, USA)

Here are three photos from the Ann Arbor City Council meeting of November 19, 2018, where "Boycott Israel" signs were very prominently displayed.

This comes at the same time as the Airbnb boycott against Israeli settlements, and right after a U.S. Congresswoman-elect has come out for boycott against Israel. No one can deny that the boycott is spreading.

https://expo.advance.net/img/a6ce82205b/width960/10b_dsc4106.jpeg

https://expo.advance.net/img/1d1d74ed7f/width960/ede_dsc4087.jpeg

and --

https://expo.advance.net/img/6874a9b775/width960/152_dsc4102.jpeg

Ann Arbor City Councilman Chuck Warpehoski is called a "dirty drooling dog for Israel"

Ann Arbor (Michigan) City Councilman Chuck Warpehoski is called a "dirty drooling dog for Israel" -- during the Council's public meeting on July 7, 2016.
Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc9MmDQSmdQ

Below is a photo of Councilman Chuck, held up to the television screen in an earlier news broadcast: 

This follows Councilman Warpehoski's promise not to support any resolution critical of Israel:
http://www.annarbor.com/news/protesters-ask-new-ann-arbor-city-council-member-to-spearhead-resolution-to-boycott-israel/

This is happening in the context of a global BDS campaign (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) against the apartheid state of Israel.

#BDS

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"UW-Madison graduate student union endorses BDS"

May 19, 2016

At: http://mondoweiss.net/2016/05/graduate-student-endorses/

The following press release was sent out by the UW-Madison Union of Graduate Student Workers:

“Members of the Teaching Assistants’ Association at the University of Wisconsin-Madison vote overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution to divest from the State of Israel and corporations that profit from the illegal occupation of Palestine.

“During a two-week vote distributed to all union members, the Teaching Assistants’ Association (TAA/AFT Local 3220) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the oldest graduate student labor union in the United States representing over 9,000  graduate workers and students, voted overwhelmingly (81% of voting members) in favor of adopting a resolution to divest from Israeli state institutions and international corporations complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the ongoing violations of Palestinians’ human rights.

“In doing so, the TAA joins other graduate student unions UAW 2322 at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, UAW 2865 at the University of California System, and UAW 2110 at New York University, who have stood in solidarity with Palestinian Civil Society’s call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) as a non-violent tactic to put political and economic pressure on Israel until it ends the occupation and its violation of human rights and international law. The resolution also calls on the TAA’s employer, the University of Wisconsin System, and parent international, the AFL-CIO, to divest from the state of Israel and companies that contribute to and profit from the military occupation and oppression of Palestinians....”

*******************************************

Boycott and divestment against a rancid apartheid state--Here are the latest news flashes:

"Columbia University Apartheid Divest submits proposal to ACSRI calling for divestment"

Columbia Spectator

April 29, 2016

At: http://columbiaspectator.com/news/2016/04/29/columbia-university-apartheid-divest-submits-proposal-acsri-calling-divestment

Columbia University Apartheid Divest submitted a proposal to the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing on Thursday asking the body to recommend divestment from companies that “profit from the State of Israel’s violations of international law.”

The proposal is the latest development in an ongoing debate over Columbia’s ties to Israel—in March, a volley of petitions signed by faculty, students, and alumni circulated campus, both in condemnation and in support of divestment.   

The proposal, published on CUAD’s website, puts forth that the University must address a “double standard posed by the dissonance between Columbia’s ideals and and its current investment in Israeli settler colonialism...."

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"UMass graduate union votes to support boycott, divestment movement against Israel"

April 21, 2016

At: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/04/umass_graduate_union_votes_to.html

AMHERST — The Graduate Employee Organization at the University of Massachusetts has adopted a resolution in "solidarity with Palestinian civil society" and supporting the controversial Boycott, Divestmentand Sanctions Movement.

The question put to its membership of more than 2,000 last week asked: "Should GEO/UAW2322 and its members join the global movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, until such time as Israel has complied with international law and respected the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian citizens of Israel, and all Palestinian refugees and exiles?"

According to a GEO press release, 95 percent of those voting supported it.

The movement is an attempt to "put political and economic pressure on the Israeli state until it complies with international law and respects the human rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories," according to a press release....

==========================================

"BDS takes two big strides, at CUNY and U of Chicago"

Mondoweiss, April 16, 2016

At: http://mondoweiss.net/2016/04/bds-takes-two-big-strides-at-cuny-and-u-of-chicago/

"Two important developments in the campaign to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel over human rights violations. Last night the City University of New York (CUNY) Doctoral Students Council overwhelmingly endorsed academic boycott of Israel as a blow against 'settler colonialism and structural racism.' 

"And two days ago the University of Chicago student government voted, also overwhelmingly, that the university should divest itself from ten companies that profit from 'apartheid' in military-occupied Palestine..."

Total divestment against Israel - The resolution was approved by the Wayne State University Student Council.

Total divestment against Israel -

The resolution was approved by the Wayne State University Student Council. It landed on the front page of the "South End":

More demands for boycott at Ann Arbor City CouncilJuly 6, 2015

For over 30 years, people have demanded sanctions, divestment, and boycott against Israel at the Ann Arbor (Michigan) City Council.

The Dearborn, Michigan City Council President -- Susan Dabaja -- fights to block "Boycott Israel" discussion -‏

An explosive video: http://youtu.be/TrAhic8WDHE

At the September 9, 2014 City Council meeting, President Susan Dabaja fought hard to block any discussion of a resolution to boycott all products imported from Israel. Why?

This was shortly after Israel massacred over 2100 Palestinians in Gaza, and destroyed over 100,000 people's homes.
 


At the Dearborn, Michigan City Council meeting,
September 9, 2014