Pro-Palestinian university student groups march in and outside of the Michigan Capitol

On Friday afternoon, approximately 60 people, including university students and community members, protested and marched inside the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing against what they say is the harassment of international students for supporting the Palestinian cause and demanded state officials divest from Israel.

The peaceful march inside the Capitol took place after a rally organized by pro-Palestinian student organizations from Wayne State University, the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, the University of Detroit Mercy, and Michigan State University.

Omar Anasara, 19, a philosophy student and member of Students for Justice in Palestine at MSU, expressed their demands during his speech.

“We demand not only that the state imposes a large-scale arms embargo on Israel and divests from Israeli bonds, investment firms, and weapons manufacturers that profit off of and enable the genocide in Gaza, but also that the State Attorney General drops the charges against pro-Palestinian activists, and that university administrations across Michigan provide assurances for the protection of international students,”said Anasara.

On September 12, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed felony charges against 11 pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Michigan in connection with the encampment that took place at the Diag in April of last year.

Additionally, the student activists sought to highlight the pressure they are receiving from the Trump administration because of their beliefs, claiming that it is an attack on freedom of speech.

“The monitoring of social media for pro-Palestinian content, or the silent and unannounced deportations of folks for exercising their rights to protest, we are seeing the consequences of unfettered fascism from the top-down level,” highlighted Anasara.

The rally came a day after 19 pro-Palestinian activists were arrested at the Michigan State University administration building when they refused to leave the premises. 

For about an hour, Friday’s rally continued without major incidents amidst speeches and chants.. The protesters momentarily occupied W. Ottawa Street, marching toward Heritage Hall located on the north side of the Capitol, where they entered the building and took a brief break.

Several minutes later, the protesters reached the first floor Capitol Rotunda, where they continued chanting in support of the Palestinian cause for about 15 minutes before leaving the building and marking the end of the protest. There was no police intervention beyond a few questions.