The University of Maryland SGA passed two resolutions Wednesday condemning an October event on campus that featured Israeli Defense Forces soldiers and UMPD’s detainment of two protestors and two student journalists outside.
The resolutions, which both passed 25-0-1, come weeks after this university’s Students Supporting Israel chapter hosted three Israeli Defense Forces soldiers at an event on Oct. 21. Four people, including two protesters and two student journalists from Al-Hikmah, the university’s Muslim student newspaper, were detained by UMPD at the event, The Diamondback previously reported.
The first resolution demands that this university issue a formal apology to the detained students and journalists and hold a public meeting with university president Darryll Pines and the University of Maryland Police chief so students can express concerns and demand policy changes. It also demands the university publicly affirm its commitment to a law protecting student journalists, as well as implement training to UMPD and administrators on journalists’ rights.
The second resolution urges this university to condemn the hosting of the soldiers and change university policy so that student organizations and academic departments will not be able to host speakers who have been found, or are being actively investigated for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or systematic human rights violations. It also demands the university “publicly acknowledge the harm caused by this event and to issue an apology to the affected students and the wider campus community.”
The International Court of Justice is set to discuss if Israel has committed genocide since October 2023. A United Nations committee in September also ruled Israel committed a genocide in the Gaza Strip.
[UMPD detains protesters, student journalists outside event with IDF soldiers]
Zyad Khan, the sponsor of both resolutions, told The Diamondback he wants to see changes made in university policies so “genociders or any more criminals” are not allowed on campus.
He added that the Student Government Association does not want to limit free speech, but said student organizations inviting speakers to campus is a privilege that should “be given to people who are not war criminals.”
“It was a double standard that the university decided that it was worth university resources to protect war criminals rather than their own students, considering students who vocally spoke out against this event were detained,” the representative for the computer, mathematical and natural sciences college said.
Hasan Islam, who co-sponsored the resolution, told The Diamondback that UMPD intimidated the detained students and defended the soldiers. He also said he expects Pines and other university administrators to speak out about the event.
A statement from this university read that UMPD consistently upholds First Amendment rights, including freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
“University officials and UMPD cannot verify an individual’s intention to cover expressive activity as a journalist if they refuse to provide identification or credentials. In this case, the individual who claimed to be a journalist declined to give a name, student ID, or proof of publication,” the statement read.
One of the student journalists previously told The Diamondback they told police they were reporting on the protest. The journalist said they were never asked to provide media credentials, but officers asked for a university ID, which they did not provide. The journalist also said police officers did not ask them what media organization they were with.
[UMD Students for Justice in Palestine petitions to cancel event with IDF soldiers]
In videos obtained by The Diamondback, the student journalist can be heard telling the officers it seemed they were being held because the journalists were also students of color.
UMPD deferred all requests for comment to the university.
SGA president Dhruvak Mirani said from a moral point of view the invitation of the soldiers to campus was “abhorrent” and “grossly offensive.”
He also said he spoke to university police chief David Mitchell to gain clarity about the event. Mirani said university police aren’t always as transparent as they can be.
Mirani emphasized that he is not an expert on the powers and authority of the university and therefore can not speak on policy changes or university actions.
In an Instagram post Wednesday night, this university’s Students Supporting Israel chapter defended the event, stating that academic freedom and open discourse with people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives are essential to learning.
“The current SGA has repeatedly shown that they care more about their own agenda than the concerns of their constituents,” the post read. “We are tripling down on our goal to provide our community with a place for free, open, and healthy conversation and thought.”
Khan told The Diamondback that it’s also important that this university does not invest money in companies implicated in genocides or war crimes.
“What we want in the future is to not allow normalization of genocide,” Khan said. “And we want the full acknowledgement of the suffering the Palestinian people have been through.”
