The MU accused of anti-Arab and Muslim bias in the turmoil of the Gaza war

The Michigan chapter of the American Council on Islamic Relations has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the University of Michigan of unfair treatment of Arab and Muslim students amid unrest on campus following the war in Gaza.

The complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights seeks to determine whether the school is complying with its Title VI obligations and seek a resolution by consent after the office found earlier this year that the The school had failed to properly respond to complaints of bias. and hatred.

This comes just days after the release of leaked audio in which CAIR claims UM President Santa Ono discusses what he described as the federal government’s pressure on universities to fight anti-Semitism rather than Islamophobia.

“The government could call me tomorrow and say in a very unbalanced way that the university is not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism, and I could say that it is not doing enough to combat Islamophobia , and that’s not what they want to hear,” Ono said in audio released this weekend by the campus coalition, TAHRIR. “The Congressional issue is not balanced. It focuses almost entirely on anti-Semitism, which I think is a problem, but there is also Islamophobia.”

Ono also referenced the government’s threats to withhold billions of dollars in funding from schools that do not combat anti-Semitism, as well as the potential involvement of “powerful groups.”

The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening and would not confirm whether Ono made the remarks.

When asked about the recording by Metro Times, the school released a statement saying, “The University of Michigan is strongly committed to ensuring that our community remains a safe and supportive environment, where all students – regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or other identities – having the opportunity to learn and grow. President Santa J. Ono has repeatedly spoken out against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and he will continue to do so, because any form of discrimination or hatred is an affront to our community.

Ono’s recorded comments suggest “that UM is actively ignoring Islamophobia while focusing exclusively on stamping out anti-Semitism,” CAIR claims in its complaint. It then details more than a dozen allegations that it says show the school “turned a blind eye to harassment, intimidation and violence” against Arab, Muslim, South Asian students and staff and allies.

“There can be no excuses or exceptions to the University of Michigan’s failure to combat Islamophobia on campus simply because of pressure from powerful groups or politicians with political agendas,” Amy said Doukoure, lawyer for CAIR-MI, in a press release.

“CAIR-MI has repeatedly called on the University of Michigan and President Santa Ono to take action to quell Islamophobia on campus since the incidents of October 7 last year,” she said. continued. “However, all of our demands went unanswered and instead we witnessed growing hostility towards Muslims, Arabs, Palestinians, South Asians and allied students in the form of discipline unjust and targeting of peaceful protesters by law enforcement and university security personnel.

Ono found himself at the center of controversy amid high tensions on the Ann Arbor campus since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to the strip’s health officials.

On Monday, Ono’s home was vandalized with graffiti that included the words “divest now,” in reference to activists’ demand that the school stop investments that could go to Israeli companies. Last week, he was criticized for distributing a campus-wide email linking the armed robbery of a Southfield house that Jewish students were visiting to the crisis in the Middle East. Police said the theft appeared to be a crime of opportunity, and a Jewish student present told the Free Press, through a representative, that it did not appear anti-Semitic.

In May, congressional Republicans called Ono to testify at a hearing on anti-Semitism on campus, weeks after a protest camp was set up in the school’s Diag. The presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania had already lost their jobs over their testimony. Ono ultimately had to answer questions only in writing.

Since June, the school has been under settlement with the Department of Education’s civil rights office, which found that it had failed to investigate incidents of bias and hatred, many of which apparently involved Arabs or Jews. There were 75 incidents of bias on campus over the previous two years, the office said in its report, adding that it was concerned that the university apparently failed to assess whether the incidents had created a hostile environment and to take measures “to put an end to this hostile environment”. remedy its effects and prevent its reappearance.

In response, UM agreed to take steps such as training and policy review to resolve complaints and ensure compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Wednesday’s CAIR filing details 16 “concerning incidents” involving Arab and Muslim students and their allies since last October.

The allegations include:

A failure of campus police to combat harassment of pro-Palestinian and Muslim students. For example, last year a police officer reportedly refused to consider a complaint from a student wearing a hijab who claimed that a participant in a pro-Israel rally followed her while shouting racist insults. In dismissing the complaint, the officer cited “freedom of expression.” The Muslim student then alerted school administrators and leaders to the problem, but saw no action.
Favoritism linked to posters hung on campus. When the school learned that professors were removing pro-Palestinian literature and posters, it reportedly sent a university-wide email condemning the removal of pro-Israel literature, calling it anti-Semitic.
“A wildly disproportionate response to peaceful protesters” compared to other groups. CAIR juxtaposes arrest of dozens during peaceful sit-in with lack of arrests of students involved in “riots” following UM football team’s national championship victory last season. The celebrations reportedly involved arson, property damage and students climbing lamp posts and traffic lights.

Free Press writer Niraj Warikoo contributed to this report.

Contact Violet Ikonomova: [email protected].

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