St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

LANSING, Mich. — Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt on Thursday sent a letter to University of Michigan President Santa J. Ono urging the school’s leader and Board of Regents to defend student safety after the state-funded research institution became another site of hateful anti-Semitic demonstrations sweeping the nation.

"The free and open exchange of ideas is the cornerstone of our free nation and its university system, but a line has been crossed when members of the Jewish community are forced to fear for their safety on campus simply because they are Jewish. Freedom of speech is not freedom to threaten lives and put the safety of others in danger," said Nesbitt, R-Porter Township.

"This vile hatred should be condemned by everyone in the strongest possible terms," Nesbitt added.

On Monday, an anti-Israel encampment like those seen on other campuses across the nation seized upon UM’s Diag as tensions continue to grow since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel. Radical “from the river to the sea” rhetoric and demands for a third “Intifada” and “death to America” are being led by professors and student leaders — open calls for violence against Jewish people.

"It is my hope that you and the Board of Regents will take action to address these unsafe conditions on your campus immediately. Not only is it imperative that you keep the university safe for all students of all backgrounds, free of threats of violence toward their mere existence, but you must also be ready to demonstrate that our university is able to maintain some sense of civility as we debate these important issues of our time," Nesbitt wrote in his letter to Ono.