Small anti-war protest ruffles University of Michigan graduation ceremony

Protesters chanted anti-war messages and waved Palestinian flags during the University of Michigan's commencement Saturday, arsenic pupil demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas warfare collided with the yearly pomp-and-circumstance of graduation ceremonies.

No arrests were reported and the protestation — comprised of astir 50 people, galore wearing accepted Arabic kaffiyeh on with their graduation caps — didn’t earnestly interrupt the astir two-hour lawsuit astatine Michigan Stadium successful Ann Arbor, which was attended by tens of thousands of people.

One protestation banner read: “No universities near successful Gaza.”

U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro paused a fewer times during his remarks, saying astatine 1 point, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you tin delight gully your attraction backmost to the podium."

As helium administered an oath to graduates successful the equipped forces, Del Toro said they would “protect the freedoms that we truthful cherish,” including the “right to protestation peacefully.”

The assemblage has allowed protesters to acceptable up an encampment connected field but constabulary assisted successful breaking up a ample gathering Friday night, and 1 idiosyncratic was arrested.

Tent encampments of protesters calling connected universities to halt doing concern with Israel oregon companies they accidental enactment the warfare successful Gaza person dispersed crossed campuses nationwide successful caller weeks successful a pupil question dissimilar immoderate different this century. Some schools person reached deals with the protesters to extremity the demonstrations and trim the anticipation of disrupting last exams and commencements.

Some encampments person been dismantled and protesters arrested successful constabulary crackdowns.

The Associated Press has recorded astatine slightest 61 incidents since April 18 wherever arrests were made astatine field protests crossed the U.S. More than 2,400 radical person been arrested connected 47 assemblage and assemblage campuses. The figures are based connected AP reporting and statements from universities and instrumentality enforcement agencies.

In different developments Saturday, protesters took down an encampment astatine Tufts University adjacent Boston.

The schoolhouse successful Medford, Massachusetts, said it was pleased with the development, which wasn’t the effect of immoderate statement with protesters. Protest organizers said successful a connection that they were “deeply angered and disappointed” that negotiations with the assemblage had failed.

At Princeton, successful New Jersey, 18 students launched a hunger onslaught successful an effort to propulsion the assemblage to divest from companies tied to Israel.

Senior David Chmielewski, a hunger striker, said successful an email Saturday that it started Friday greeting with participants, including immoderate connected “24-hour solidarity fasts,” consuming h2o only. He said the hunger onslaught volition proceed until assemblage administrators meets with students astir their demands, which see amnesty from transgression and disciplinary charges for protestation participants.

Princeton students acceptable up a protestation encampment and immoderate held a sit-in an administrative gathering earlier this week, starring to astir 15 arrests.

Students astatine different colleges, including Brown and Yale, launched akin hunger strikes earlier this twelvemonth earlier the much caller question of protestation encampments.

The protests stem from the Israel-Hamas struggle that started connected Oct. 7 erstwhile Hamas militants attacked confederate Israel, sidesplitting astir 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking astir 250 hostages.

Vowing to destruct Hamas, Israel launched an violative successful Gaza that has killed much than 34,500 Palestinians, astir two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry successful the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes person devastated the enclave and displaced astir of Gaza’s inhabitants.

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Marcelo reported from New York. Associated Press newsman Ed White successful Detroit and Nick Perry successful Boston contributed to this story.