4 GROUNDCOVER NEWS GAZA U-M TAHRIR meets resistance to demands Days that live in infamy: Oct. 7, 2023, the Islamic Resistance Movement attacks Israel, the Israel-Hamas war begins; May 15, 1948, the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, known as the war of Independence in Israel and The Catastrophe ('nakba' in Arabic) in Palestine, begins; June 5, 1967 the Six-day War between Israel and the Arab states surrounding it leaving Israel in control of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Sinai Peninsula and Jeruslaem; Sept. 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda attacks America, starting the Global War on Terrorism. "Maybe we shouldn't have gone to war after Sept 11," said Avi Tachna-Fram, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, one of over 81 organizations that are part of the University of Michigan TAHRIR Coalition. TAHRIR, Arabic for liberation, was part of the U-M Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the Diag April 22-May 21 protesting the Israel-Hamas war. The acronym is Transparency, Accountability, Humanity, Reparations, Investment and Resistance. "A lot of Jewish people in America have come to the understanding that war and genocide anywhere, ultimately, is a crime against people everywhere," said Tachna-Fram, a 2022 U-M Bachelor of Science honors graduate in math and computer science. Tachna-Fram is a media liaison for JVP and TAHRIR. Palestinian and Israeli civilians want statehood and self-determination. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar says his daily. It also controls humanitarian aid into Gaza. The United Kingdom, America and the United Nations are providing aid by land, air and the Mediterranean Sea. "My family is not looking to ‘escape’," JANE REILLY Groundcover vendor No. 611 said Mariam Odeh, a fifth-year student at the U-M Ford School for Public Policy. Odeh's uncle, aunt, cousins and grandparents live in the West Bank. It is home. Odeh is also a TAHRIR spokesperson. TAHRIR said it protested outside the sole mission is to destroy Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vehemently rejects Palestine statehood, wants to destroy Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the United States and Israel but not by the United Nations Security Council. “Hamas protects us,” said a group of men singing “From the River to the Sea,” along S. University Ave. after May 21. Hamas gets its weapons from Iran, Russia, China, North Korea and Bulgaria. For America to be an ally, both Palestine and Israel need to choose separate democracies. Egypt's border is controlled by Hamas and one Egyptian government-controlled company. All other borders in the vicinity are closed. The company charges a fee to enter. The current rate is $5,000 per adult and $2,500 per child, plus documentation, passports and visas. Egypt is taking about $1.3 million University Board of Regents’ homes, May 15, because the Regents refuse to listen to its demands and meet. The Coalition posts on social media that it is being harassed by the police. TAHRIR posted a video of members peacefully protesting outside the U-M Museum of Art, May 3, while the state police peacefully rode bicycles. The next segment shows protesters with police bicycles. Then, the police handcuffed one protester, police pushed everyone else back with metal barriers, one protester pushed to the ground by the barrier and one police officer spraying chemicals on protesters. Volunteers at the Encampment said eight protesters were ticketed for trespassing. More than 40 protesters from the U-M Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) were cited for trespassing, Nov. 17, 2023, for being inside the Ruthven Administration Building MAY 31, 2024 Poster on display in the Diag during the encampent. after hours. Four are facing felony charges of allegedly assaulting or attempting to disarm the police. The University police are a daily presence all year. The Encampment was cited for fire hazards May 17. U-M President Santa Ono ordered evacuation by police at 5 a.m. May 21 for non-compliance. The protesters said the “hazard” was “blocking the Diag.” The protesters' demand for the divestment from Israel of U-M's $17.9 billion endowment has been turned down. The Regents say less than one tenth of see TAHRIR page 11 Then and now — reflections on Diag encampment WAYNE S. Groundcover vendor No. 615 Life has a way to make you listen to lies, to believe those lies and act upon them. How, you say, is this possible!? Well folks, the way I see it, as we forge forward we tend to be blinded by a faulty memory. I remember, or no, it happened like this, or he remembers it like that. So is it just that we remember things differently or is it much more? I believe that it is much much more about where we met, how we met, what we were doing when we met. How could we get it so wrong? I want so much out of others so I start believing things that are not true just to be with them. Breaking down things that would not break, speaking about our leaders, their leaders and world opinion. It was 2014 and I had a menial job at the local car wash. Every morning on my way to work I would stop and have my coffee at our local gas station, one of the few places open at six in the morning, and have my morning coffee with Amir. We would talk, and this developed into a true friendship and one morning Amir asked if I would come work for him at the station. I was immediately accepted and from that moment on I felt like a true member of the family. His sister Malik made me feel like a family member which I so desperately needed at that point in my life. I remember being trusted and, yes, also loved. To be taken in made a profound impact on me. I watched my life begin to change — all because of my life with my new friends. Then came COVID which changed my life drastically but that’s a different story. That is just the background for my opinions today. Ann Arbor, the hub of liberalism, is the place where social change is in our DNA. And rising up in times of political upheaval is in our very existence. I see it on the streets everyday. But I also see other things as well. Our spirit is being crushed and manipulated by what I call the status quo, and I see a group of bad businessmen banding together and supporting it with vigor. Because we all see it. Now what does this have to do with the student protests in a world that is getting turned upside down? The homeless and the poor could identify with these young people. These visitors to the camp might not know the issue very well but they know big hearts when they see them — and let me tell you, they saw plenty of them. And knowing the people, they took time to try and know the issues. I wandered into the camp and I was taken back in time to my foray into political activisim on this very campus. The issues were different but the love and the fellowship was the same. I saw townies gravitate towards this place and the admiration I saw and heard was amazing. What I learned is that just like then (back in the day), love is the most powerful tool we have in our toolbag. And it also gave the townies a chance to get the protestors’ side of the story. So the most I can take away from this experience is that I had a chance to meet people who were kind and loving and who would be an asset to any community. I for one am glad I had the opportunity to learn that love is the answer to a lot of the world’s problems, and I found an abundance of it at camp at the University of Michigan with people who are heroes — not enemies. I found the people at the encampment to be a ray of sunshine in a world of turmoil. What’s going to happen next, I have no idea! I know with young people like this, the future is a little bit brighter.
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