DEARBORN — The Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Michigan-Dearborn (UM-D) held an Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) last Monday.

The week included various events in which a rock was spray-painted on campus in honor of IAW. One side of the rock exhibited a Palestinian flag and the other side read “Free Palestine.” The next day, the rock was spray-painted again, this time with an Israeli flag next to the Palestinian one and  “Free Palestine” covered up with the words “Peace Week” written in blue with peace signs and the acronym MEPW (Middle East Peace Week) surrounding it. 

SJP remained positive about the situation, but wasn’t  happy with the unexpected repainting of the rock. In a statement, the organization said, “The imagery and language appears to focus solely on peace, but is in fact a tactic used to silence criticism of Israeli policy and challenge the work of Palestinian solidarity groups. It distracts from the roots of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict–Israel’s occupation of Palestine, systematic discrimination against Palestinians, and rampant human rights violations as documented by organizations such as Amnesty International and the United Nations.”

Delta Phi Epsilon (DPE) of UM-D had the rock reserved for Tuesday, but didn’t take part in the incident. The president of DPE said, “In fact, although DPE had the rock reserved, we did not end up painting the rock. I hope they are able to get to the bottom of this.”

The Jewish Student Organization at UM-D, otherwise known as Hillel, claimed no responsibility for the repainting of the rock. The president of Hillel said, “I actually found out about this on Thursday and was quite surprised myself… I am personally not aware of anyone involved in this.”

SJP says these types of incidents will not prevent it from  continuing its mission on campus. “During a time when Palestinian solidarity groups around the country are facing severe backlash, repression, and censorship, we wish to reassert that we do have the right to speak out against injustice and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We will continue to host events educating the campus community about the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, and equality,” SJP said in a statement.