UMich ‘Liberation Front’ demands removal of Sabra hummus and end to Israel trips

At the University of Michigan, a coalition of students is demanding that the university “liberate all peoples on campus” by removing Sabra hummus from cafeterias and ending university-sponsored trips to Israel. 

The Students of Color Liberation Front (SoCLF) issued a 15-page document of “collective demands.” The demands range from fossil fuel divestment, pro-Palestinian causes, and a call on the university not to coordinate or allow ICE on campus.

An “equitable, inclusive, and diverse campus community” cannot exist with “financial support to harmful and exclusionary institutions,’’ according to the demands list. Citing other campaigns of university divestment such as tobacco, South African apartheid, and fossil fuels, the coalition calls for the removal of Sabra hummus from campus and for it to be replaced with a “locally sourced, Arab-owned brand.”

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Further, the Liberation Front calls for an end to university-sponsored trips to Israel and an end to the University of Michigan Central Student Government’s trips to Israel.

“Reassess the ways Palestine is taught and represented in the LS&A curriculum,” instructs the SoCLF on a demand to help support “the success of students of color.”

The coalition asks the university to create a Palestinian Studies Chair who will be “consulted about how Palestinians are portrayed in curriculum not taught by a Palestinian/Arab professor”

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When asked about the demands to remove Sabra hummus, end Israel trips, and eliminate cooperation with ICE, university spokesman Rick Fitzgerald told Campus Reform, “The university has been meeting with members of this student coalition to better understand their concerns and those conversations will continue.”

Cutting ties with ICE includes removing “physical attendance on U-M’s campuses” says the Liberation Front. Further, “inviting ICE for career recruitment creates an unsafe environment for undocumented students.”

“ALL ties with the Ann Arbor Police Department” must be cut, the coalition demands, and student life should work toward “a police-free campus.” Additionally, the front demands that members of the university’s Division of Public Safety and Security be “disarm[ed]”

The demands list includes more than 190 signatories. The Liberation Front consists of “the Black Student Union, the United Asian American Organizations, La Casa, the Arab Student Association, Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), the Native American Student Association, and the Student Community of Progressive Empowerment.”

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @SergeiKelley