MILWAUKEE — Members of five University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student groups temporarily suspended on campus are speaking out.
They held a rally and march Monday evening showing their support for Palestine in the Israel-Hamas war, while denouncing the university’s decision to suspend the student groups.
The suspensions stem from a July Instagram Story post by the UWM4Pali Coalition in which the group said, “Any organization or entity that supports Israel is not welcome at UWM.”
UW-Milwaukee responded to the post, saying it had “intimidating language.” In a statement, UW- Milwaukee administrators also denounced antisemitism.
On Monday the student groups, along with other pro-Palestinian supporters, marched from Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood to the UWM Foundation office on the East Side, blocking traffic temporarily on Locust Street and Oakland Avenue.
Audari Tamayo with UWM Popular Students for Palestine has been active in pro-Palestinian causes on campus, helping lead the encampments there in May.
Tamayo said he does not feel the suspension was necessary, and that being Anti-Zionist (opposing Israeli military occupation of Palestine) is not the same thing as being antisemitic.
Tamayo pointed to the many opportunities provided during the encampments to welcome Jewish people.
“During the encampment we had multiple Shabbat services, religious services for everybody that wanted one, Jewish educators that talked on a variety of topics, primarily Anti-Zionist Jewish history,” said Tamayo.
During Monday’s rally, several Jewish UW-Milwaukee students and faculty members, who espouse pro-Palestinian views, spoke out saying they do not feel the suspended groups harbor antisemitism.
Tamayo said the suspension will have a limited impact on his group.
He said the suspension will prevent them from being able to rent space on campus for events and to get funding from the university, something he said his organization does not receive.
If anything, Tamayo said he thinks the suspension has amplified their message.
“As soon as they (UWM) sent that first email out trying to paint us in a bad light, our followers grew. All five student organizations of the coalition saw a growth in followers, so it didn’t pan out for them,” Tamayo said.
Spectrum News reached out to UW-Milwaukee for comment regarding the student group suspension but has not heard back.
The Milwaukee Jewish Federation, who was called out in the UWM4Pali Coalition post, issued a statement to Spectrum News. The statement from the group’s President and CEO Miryam Rosenzweig reads:
“We’re glad that UWM and the UW System are taking the safety of students seriously and investigating all incidents of harassment or intimidation. While we wish the University would have taken these steps this Spring when community members pushed them to uphold campus policy, and before many more months of Jewish students enduring harassment and exclusion, we appreciate that they are now investigating this escalating intimidation by student groups. Making UWM a safe and welcoming environment for all students, including Jewish students, without exception must be the overarching priority of the largest urban university in Wisconsin.”