TL/DR –
Student clubs at Northern Michigan University (NMU) gathered to raise awareness about Palestinian deaths in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict, placing placards with the names of deceased children around the campus. In addition, they used QR codes to create drafts of emails to faculty about their pro-Palestine stance and requests, which includes a disclosure of NMU’s financial agreements with Tel Aviv University (TAU) in Israel. NMU students suspect TAU’s partnership with Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems, who sponsor TAU’s Technology Employment Fair and are cofounders of TAU’s entrepreneurship conference, may be linked to the genocide in Palestine.
Michigan University Student Clubs Raise Awareness for Palestinian Deaths
Several Northern Michigan University (NMU) student groups like the Asian Student Union, Mycology Club, Yoga Club, Medicinal Plant Chemistry Club and Lincoln Community Gardeners, gather at NMU’s Wildcat Statue to raise consciousness about Palestinian casualties in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.
On Earth Day, these student clubs led a remembrance for those lost in the war in Gaza, said Alex Guindon, a member of the Lincoln Community Garden. They created placards bearing the names of deceased children and ran out of them at age 3, showing the magnitude of the crisis.
Using available chalk, attendees wrote compelling messages on the surrounding sidewalks like “Abolish the military industrial complex,” and “We want a revolution of peace and love.” One controversial statement claimed, “Starbucks supports genocide.”
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Individual placards with the names and ages of deceased children in Gaza were placed on NMU’s campus lawn on Earth Day.
Participants were asked to remove the store’s name from their messages by a campus Starbucks manager, which they did, only to replace it with a different message later on. “This is part of our spreading awareness,” Guindon explained.
They also used QR codes to auto-generate draft emails to faculty members, expressing pro-Palestine student concerns. These concerns include a request for a condolence email acknowledging the conflict’s impact on students, lowering the flag in tribute to lost Palestinian lives, and full disclosure of NMU’s financial ties with Tel Aviv University (TAU) in Israel.
Guindon claimed TAU sells weapons to the Israeli government and students should know where their tuition fees are going. As per TAU’s Innovation Labs website, the university partners with Israeli defense contractor company Elbit Systems.
Guindon and other students have been trying to find information on the university’s expenditures, but it remains difficult to obtain such details. Other participating student organizations included the Medicinal Plant Chemistry Club, Yoga Club, and Mycology Club.
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