4 arrested during pro-Palestine ‘die-in’ demonstration at Festifall, marking first TAHRIR Coalition protest of 2024 school year

Amid the hustle of students perusing campus organizations at Festifall Wednesday afternoon, the TAHRIR Coalition, an association of more than 90 pro-Palestine organizations, held a “die-in” demonstration on the Diag composed of about 45 protesters. Many of the protesters sat on the brick ground holding signs picturing Palestinians killed by the Israeli military alongside Palestinian flags and blood-red dyed fabrics. The protest began shortly after 2:30 p.m. and lasted nearly two hours before police ended the protest and arrested four individuals. 

U-M spokesperson Colleen Mastony confirmed the four arrests in an email to The Michigan Daily and wrote that those arrested were not U-M students. One individual is a temporary U-M employee and the other three are unaffiliated with the University, according to Mastony. 

The U-M Division of Public Safety and Security did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Public Policy junior Assmaa Eidy, a TAHRIR member who helped organize the protest, spoke about the context behind the images held by protesters in an interview with The Daily. Eidy said the images included Palestinians killed by Israel since the country’s founding, not just during its military campaign in Gaza over the last year. 

“These images, we’ve actually accumulated them for over the years, so not even necessarily in recent times because it is really important to shed light on the fact that the genocide in Gaza and the overall occupation of Palestine is something that has been happening for over 75 years,” Eidy said.

The protest was TAHRIR’s first of the fall 2024 semester, according to Eidy. Eidy said the choice to host the die-in during Festifall aimed to spread awareness about the destruction of educational institutions in Gaza.

“There are no universities or schools left standing in Gaza,” Eidy said. “They’ve all become rubble due to the U.S.’s … financial support (and) military support to Israel, as well as our own University’s complicity. They have $6 billion invested in their genocide, and so we’re not okay with just having a regular back to school.”

Shortly after the protesters arrived at the Diag, they were asked to leave by event organizers and attendees because they were disrupting a U-M event and blocking pedestrian walkways, according to Mastony. Mastony wrote that the warnings were consistent with U-M policy on campus demonstrations.

“The University has been clear that we will enforce our policies related to protests and expressive activity, and that we will hold individuals accountable for their actions in order to ensure a safe and inclusive enforcement for all,” Mastony wrote. “Today, a group of approximately 50 individuals sought to disrupt a university event and were asked to disperse. For more than an hour, they were given multiple warnings that made clear they were blocking pedestrian traffic and violating university policy.”

University policy prohibits protests that interfere with education or include unlawful behaviors such as violence and property damage, according to the DPSS website. In March, the University released a draft Disruptive Action Policy to the U-M community for feedback. The new policy, which has not yet been adopted by the University, came in the wake of a pro-Palestine protest at the 101st Honors Convocation that ultimately resulted in the ceremony being cut short. 

Eidy said she felt the requests to clear the Diag were an effort to suppress free speech on campus.

“It’s been a continuation of the University trying to suppress us, villainize us and criminalize us and use any attempt they can to limit our freedoms to protest and essentially our right to protest the genocide that they’re complicit in,” Eidy said.

At the edge of the die-in, protesters held up a maroon banner with the words “Fund our Education, not the Occupation” in white letters. At the border of the Diag near Ingalls Mall, counterprotesters held up a United States flag and two Israeli flags. 

LSA senior Evan Cohen, president of Wolverines for Israel, ran a table for the organization at Festifall. In an interview with The Daily, Cohen emphasized the importance of securing the proper permits for campus events and stressed that, although the organization was not involved with any counterprotests on Wednesday, Wolverines for Israel is committed to ensuring Jewish students feel welcome and supported at the University.

“In order to reserve the Diag, you have to fill out different applications to be approved, and then you’ll get a permit in order to do something,” Cohen said. “So the University has rules in place, and when those rules are violated, they also have procedures in place for those who violate those rules.”

In an interview with The Daily, LSA senior Mary Redmond, who has previously participated in TAHRIR protests, said she decided to watch the die-in after walking past it on her way home from class. In an interview prior to the police involvement, Redmond described the protest as peaceful.

“I’ve seen everybody handing out masks and water to the participants and making sure everyone’s hydrated and safe and everything,” Redmond said. “It’s seeming like a pretty good, wholesome experience so far.” 

At approximately 3:40 p.m., DPSS officers approached protesters with a megaphone and informed them that they were obstructing the Diag. Protesters, chanting “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” got up from the ground and began marching in a circle around the center of the Diag.

A physical altercation then broke out between police and some of the protesters, with one being detained at that time.

Protesters gathered around a group of approximately eight police officers on the Diag, chanting “Let them go.” Police began advancing in the direction of Mason Hall, with some using their arms to push protesters out of the way. Then police confiscated the small hand-held signs depicting those who died in the conflict. 

Nadia Youmans, a parent of U-M alumni and retired principal of Dearborn’s Salina Elementary School, was one of the protesters who gathered around the police officers and chanted. Youmans said she felt there was a double standard in how she was treated by the police as compared to pro-Israel protesters nearby. According to Youmans, the police said holding the sign was against the law. The Daily could not independently confirm this allegation. 

“It’s a sign,” Youmans said. “It’s not a weapon. I feel violated. This is mine. Why would you take it? Why not the (counterprotesters)? I see them carrying the flag of Israel, and we can’t carry a sign of a dead child that was killed by our tax money that we are sending Israel.” 

Following the arrests, approximately 30 protesters marched between the Festifall tables along sidewalks around the Diag, chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The protesters dispersed shortly after 4 p.m.

Daily News Editor Abigail Vandermolen and Daily Staff Reporter Emma Spring can be reached at vabigail@umich.edu and sprinemm@umich.edu.

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