U.S. Indicts Pro-Palestinian Activists Accused of Terrorizing University of Michigan Officials

An indictment was filed in the United States against 8 pro-Palestinian activists who carried out a long series of illegal acts to pressure the University of Michigan to cut ties with Israel. The indictment was filed against 8 pro-Palestinian activists who allegedly worked to terrorize University of Michigan officials and the Jewish community. The defendants’ goal was to force the university to sever ties with Israel. Among other things, the defendants broke windows at homes and spray-painted graffiti on the university president’s house.

Federal prosecutors in the U.S. filed an indictment Wednesday night against 8 pro-Palestinian activists accused of terrorizing University of Michigan officials in order to force the university to cut its ties with Israel. The indictment describes a long series of violent acts intended to intimidate one of the most prestigious universities in the U.S. According to the allegations, the student members of the group would go at night to the homes of university officials, as well as to businesses and organizations considered supportive of Israel, and leave graffiti and threatening letters. In some cases, they sealed doors, blocked entrances, shattered windows and threw glass containers filled with acid into homes.

Among other acts, they placed fake blood-covered bodies on the lawn of a member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, and sprayed anti-Israel graffiti on the home of the university president. "They targeted their victims using threatening symbols used by Hamas," the indictment said. "They used the internet and social media to spread their message and ensure that their threats and their commitment to continue criminal activity would be heard by their victims and by others who support Israel."

Among the targets identified by the defendants were the university president, a campus police officer, a Jewish organization in the area, and major commercial companies with ties to Israel, such as Rolls-Royce. The charges could lead to long prison sentences. The federal prosecutor handling the case said that "these threats and attempts to terrorize elected officials, businesses and the Jewish Federation are anti-American."

The Trump administration has taken a tough line against pro-Palestinian activists, a policy that has included thousands of arrests.