We, the undersigned students, stand in solidarity with Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students and all who face oppression. We urge MSU's administration to take immediate action to address the ongoing crisis in Palestine as outlined in ASMSU Bill 60-30, which was passed by the General Assembly on Thursday, October 19, 2023. The undersigned students stand with the ongoing organizing and advocacy efforts of members of the Spartan community. Collectively, we condemn all violence towards innocent civilians by both Hamas and the Israeli terror regime. We condemn all forms of hate as made explicit in the bill.

We call on the university administration (including the President and Board of Trustees) to condemn all behaviors or actions that would invalidate and endanger students impacted by the ongoing humanitarian crisis and recent events, including verbal harassment, threats of violence, stalking, etc. We call on the university administration to equitably include, address, and protect Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, allied students and their experiences. 

MSU has no statistical evidence that recognizes Arab and/or Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) students. There is currently no way to take records of, track, and learn about Arab and/or MENA student success, struggle, and student life. The lack of representation and acknowledgment of Arab and/or MENA identities expands already existing feelings of isolation and distrust towards the University. We directly call for MSU to incorporate/collect demographics on MENA identities within University race/ethnicity categories, diversity reports, and conversations. 

As a traditionally underrepresented group, MENA experiences and struggles are erased because of the Census decision to include MENA identities under the category of White. MSU currently has no established MENA/Arab centers nor do students have proper access to funding since they are not considered a CORES group. Any MENA-related student groups are unequivocally failed as their struggles are erased, which ceases MSU’s commitment to diversity and support to all students.

MSU recognizes that identities are socially constructed and that MENA groups do not agree with this arbitrary categorization. Therefore, there are several issues that arise, including academic calendars that do not represent or accommodate Muslim holidays, inaccessibility to culturally-responsive resources, a perceived “uniformity” of MENA/Arab thought and practices, and a lack of representation within faculty, staff, and administration.

The current erasure of MENA identities further marginalizes them. Considering MSU’s existing and going failures, marginalized students, especially those of Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim backgrounds, do not have confidence in the University, University administration, Board of Trustees, University governance, University resources, and University policies. We demand MSU take action as defined in this bill to begin building trust between the University and communities impacted by the ongoing crisis. We demand MSU effectively protect the Spartan community by earning the trust of MENA/Arab and Muslim communities. 

ASMSU Bill 60-30 calls on the MSU administration to release a statement addressing misinformation and misrepresentation about the ongoing genocide. It urges MSU to equitably support marginalized Palestinian, Arab, and allied students on our campus who feel unheard and unsupported. The bill further requests that MSU organize educational sessions regarding the ongoing issues in Palestine, thereby providing reliable campus resources for those grieving and seeking empathy. 

We support the resolutions of ASMSU Bill 60-30 and call on MSU's administration to swiftly collaborate with affected student groups, including the bill authors, sponsors, and contributors. MSU must meet with these groups immediately to take tangible action-- not just release statements-- in order to foster open dialogue, provide mental health and educational resources, and recognize Palestinian humanity. MSU must work with impacted student groups to address ongoing acts of Islamophobia, antisemitism, racism, and other forms of hate faced by impacted communities.

MSU must live up to its commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion by taking a material and moral stance against all forms of oppression and by speaking out against global and domestic human rights violations. The time for action is now. Palestinians deserve the same freedoms and rights as all people. MSU can set a powerful precedent– similar to those it has set regarding other apartheid regimes– for other institutions by supporting Palestinian life, history, and humanity. Finally, we call on MSU to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine and support a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Link to Bill 60-30:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x07EJzilPU3blUQbVzd5SyvZKWwcX0s7qQ0lM4jEGSM/edit?usp=sharing