Naya Lekht, director of education for Club Z, says protestors marched around the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus waving Palestinian flags and using bullhorns to shout for "intifada," which is a call for the extermination of Jews.
"That term is not a peaceful resistance [to] just stand and demand rights. An intifada is a call for violence, and it's a call for violence to kill Jews," Lekht explains. "That's it."
The antisemitic rally was reportedly held to protest Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to the campus, where she gave a speech on climate policy and student activism. The protestors appeared to be standing against U.S. government support for the state of Israel.
Behind the scenes, Lekht says these protests are conducted by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), which is an affiliate of Students for Justice in Palestine, a national group known for opposing Jewish speakers at universities and backing the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
"They are using coalitions to the benefit of their cause, and they've been trained to do that very, very well," she asserts. "These are not random students. They are getting their marching orders from someone else, and that someone else is a nefarious actor such as the Muslim Brotherhood."
According to a 2019 report from the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, Students for Justice in Palestine has expressed support for convicted terrorists and is the "main driver of Jew-hatred on campus."
Michigan's public affairs office has so far remained silent about the protest.
