Pro-Palestinian UMichigan students call for intifada during Kamala Harris visit

Student protestors from the University of Michigan chanted antisemitic and anti-Zionist slogans at US Vice President Kamala Harris, going as far as accusing her of genocide due to her support of Israel, during a planned speech on Thursday in Ann Arbor.

Harris visited the University of Michigan on Thursday for a talk in the university's auditorium on the state of climate policy, student activism and environmental justice across the United States. 

"Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide," the students, flying Palestinian flags, charged at Harris outside the auditorium, in footage taken by independent journalist Brendan Gutenschwager.

“Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide” chants from protesters after VP Harris’s arrival here in Ann Arbor pic.twitter.com/3ED9LcwP0f

— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) January 12, 2023

Other pro-Palestinian chants hurled at the vice president included "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes."

“Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” chants from demonstrators outside of the Kamala Harris speech here in Ann Arbor, Michigan pic.twitter.com/WDQlQAthRM

— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) January 12, 2023

Protestors attack Kamala Harris on American aid to Israel

The protestors, who reportedly were part of the pro-Palestinian campus group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, took the opportunity of Harris' visit to attack the Biden administration for providing $3.8 billion in military aid to the "Israeli apartheid regime," as one protester claimed through a megaphone, "unconditional support to the Zionist entity to continue its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in occupied territories.

"The Biden-Harris administration, much like its predecessors...is complicit in the erasure of the Palestinian people and their homeland," she said as per footage shared on Twitter by Gutenschwager.

Pro-Palestine protesters criticize the Biden-Harris Administration’s approval of billions of dollars in aid to Israel and their military, with speeches held during Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit for a climate change event at U of M in Ann Arbor pic.twitter.com/SY3MnylsBH

— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) January 12, 2023

Prior to Harris' arrival to Ann Arbor, one pro-Palestinian protester criticized the vice president, arguing that time and time again, Kamala Harris has proven herself a detriment to the marginalized communities she claims to represent."

“Time and time again, Kamala Harris has proven herself a detriment to the marginalized communities she claims to represent” Speeches at today’s protest of Kamala Harris’s visit to the University of Michigan pic.twitter.com/aviF9WUitB

— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) January 12, 2023

Harris' incident with an anti-Zionist student

Harris, whose husband and Second Gentleman of the United States Doug Emhoff is Jewish, previously had a controversial incident surrounding anti-Zionist rhetoric when she defended a student at George Mason University in Virginia who accused Israel of "ethnic genocide" during a discussion with students about National Voter Registration Day in September of 2021.

She later backtracked on that perceived support days later when she said she "strongly disagrees" with said student, pushing back against claims that she encouraged the student’s view.