OCTOBER 13, 2002 - RALLY AND COUNTER-CONFERENCE
AGAINST DIVESTMENT, TERRORISM, AND ANTI-SEMITISM

On Sunday, October 13, Michigan Student Zionists will be hosting a rally and counterconference on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to protest the divestment from Israel conference.

The event is sponsored by the Hasbara Fellowships of Aish HaTorah and the Zionist Organization of America.

At 12:00, there will be a rally on the diag in support of Israel and against divestment, anti-Semitism, and terrorism. Renowned political analyst Debbie Schlussel will be speaking.

At 1:30, there will be a counterconference at the Michigan Union. International terrorism expert John Loftus will be speaking. Opening remarks will be given by national ZOA secretary Dr. Jerome Kaufman and West Bloomfield Township Trustee Stuart Brickner, among others.

For additional information, e-mail
msz-info@umich.edu.

Flyers advertising the event are available:
Microsoft Word Format - PDF Format

Some press about the conference and our response:

Why is Michigan lending its campus to conference with anti-Jewish agenda?
By Nolan Finley
Detroit News - September 29, 2002

Editorial: Deploring Anti-Semitism
Detroit Jewish News - October 4, 2002

Israel Targeted: Divestment conference raises issues of anti-Semitism and support for terrorism
By Don Cohen
Detroit Jewish News - October 4, 2002

Selling of stocks sets U-M on edge: Student session to urge Israeli disinvestment
By Maryanne George
Detroit Free Press - October 5, 2002

Mideast furor reaches U-M: Forum calling for Israel divestiture strains college's long ties with Jewish benefactors
By Margarita Bauzá and Francis X. Donnelly
Detroit News - October 6, 2002

For a good op-ed piece on Sami Al-Arian, read Facts Leave No Doubt Al-Arian Abetted Terrorism
Tampa Tribune - Aug 25, 2002

Below is an article concerning the divestment effort by Debbie Schlussel.

Click here for directions to the Michigan Union from outside of Ann Arbor

Flyers advertising the event are available - Microsoft Word - PDF

Live in the NYC area but want to come in? CJC-Amcha is organizing buses leaving from Stern College and the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale at 10:30 PM on Saturday night, October 12th. The buses will depart from Ann Arbor, Michigan on Sunday evening, following an all-day vigil to be held across form the divestment conference.

The buses are free of charge. To register for the Riverdale bus, please call 718-796-4730. To register for the Stern College bus, please email bethpointe@aol.com.

Below is a map displaying the locations of the rally and counter-conference. "P" denotes parking locations.

Sponsors and Endorsements:

Related Links:


Terrorism at Michigan
By Debbie Schlussel

Parents of University of Michigan students and Michigan taxpayers should be outraged by the Divestment Conference being held in mid-October at the University of Michigan.

While the name and stated goal of the conference is divestment from Israel and companies doing business there, that is merely a cover for what will really happen-support for terrorism against Americans and a hate-fest against Jews akin to a Hitler rally in Nazi Germany.

As a Michigan alumna, I respect speech rights of everyone, no matter how odious their positions may be.

But free speech does not include incitement to violence, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled illegal and not covered by Constitutional protections. That is exactly the type of speech that will be spewed at the conference. U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, by irresponsibly allowing the conference to take place in U-M facilities, jeopardizes the safety of thousands of students.

The conference organizer, Fadi Kiblawi, a U-M senior, wrote in a U-M publication of wanting "to strap a bomb to one's chest and kill." That Kiblawi remains a U-M student after uttering such a desire, let alone obtaining use of U-M facilities for anything, is incredible.

Speakers at the conference are a "Who's Who" of supporters of terrorism and violence, including:

· Sami Al-Arian: The Tampa Tribune reported he is a founder and ruling council member of terrorist group Islamic Jihad, which murdered New Jersey college student Alisa Flatow and countless others.

Al-Arian is the author of this speech: "We assemble today to pay respects to the march of the martyrs and to the river of blood that gushes forth and does not extinguish, from butchery to butchery, and from martyrdom to martyrdom, from Jihad to Jihad."

According to former federal prosecutor John Loftus, "The Saudi government was laundering money through Florida charities run by University of South Florida (USF) professor Sami Al-Arian for the support of terrorist groups in the Middle East. And through the Al-Arian network, and others, the Saudi government secretly funded al Qaeda, Hamas and Islamic Jihad." Al-Arian employed Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, chief of Islamic Jihad, and Tariq Hamdi, who the Tampa Tribune reports, "provided a replacement battery for the satellite telephone prosecutors say was integral" to Al-Quaida's 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies.

A 1995 letter by Al-Arian, discovered just 10 days after Islamic Jihad suicide bombers killed 18 people, sought "support to the jihad effort in Palestine so that operations such as these can continue" and stated, "The link with the brothers in Hamas is very good and making steady progress, and there are serious attempts at unification and permanent coordination."

A chilling 1988 surveillance video of Al-Arian's fundraising tour of America's mosques shows Al-Arian being introduced as, "the president of the Islamic Committee for Palestine, . . . the active arm of the Islamic Jihad Movement." While others in the video praise the killing of Jews and Christians, Al-Arian states, "Let us damn America. . . . .Let us damn [her] allies until death." Standing under Islamic Jihad banners, Al-Arian talks of a Koranic "curse" against "those who are the sons of Israel through David and Jesus, the Son of Mary. . . The Koran is our constitution. Jihad is our path."

· Hatem Bazian: At a May 1999 conference in Santa Clara, he stated, "The Day of Judgment will never happen until you fight the Jews . . . . [T]he trees and stones will say, oh Muslim, there is a Jews hiding behind me. Come and kill him!"

· Mahdi Bray: In October, 1998, he coordinated and led a Washington rally of 2,000 people, during which he played the tambourine as the crowd repeated, "[L]et's all go into jihad, and throw stones at the face of the Jews." On December 22, 2000, Bray organized and spoke at a rally outside the White House, at which the emcee and crowd chanted responsively in Arabic, "oh Jews, the Army of Muhammad is coming for you!" The Nazi swastika was openly displayed.

· Adam Shapiro and Huwaida Arraf: They praised "suicide operations" and "shaheed Allah" (martyrdom) as "noble." They oppose "adopting the methods of Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr." because "no other successful nonviolent movement was able to achieve what it did without a concurrent violent movement."

In an embarrassing lack of leadership, U-M President Coleman sent an e-mail saying she would allow the conference to go on because Berkeley held the same conference, last year. But that conference was followed by a year of at least 50 violent incidents against Jews on campus or in the nearby metro area. Since President Coleman is apparently in the habit of copying other campuses-- rather than being an independent, responsible, and concerned with the lives and safety of students--why isn't she emulating the leadership of the University of South Florida President Judy Genschaft? Genschaft, leading the campus that knows Al-Arian best because it employed him as a professor, fired and banned him from the campus, citing security concerns and student safety.

President Coleman must ban from U-M, any conference speakers and organizers possessing records of inciteful, violent speech. Otherwise, divestment will certainly be in order--from the irresponsible University of Michigan.
______________________________________________________________
Debbie Schlussel is a Detroit-area attorney, commentator, and columnist.

 
 
 
© 2002 Michigan Student Zionists. All Rights Reserved. Contact msz-info@umich.edu for more information.