{"id":103263,"date":"2026-05-08T01:12:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/103263\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T01:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:12:26","slug":"over-2000-students-staff-back-us-professor-who-praised-anti-israel-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/103263\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 2,000 students, staff back US professor who praised anti-Israel activists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of University of Michigan<\/a> students, staff, and alumni signed letters in support of a professor<\/a> who praised anti-Israel<\/a> student activists during a Saturday commencement speech.<\/p>\n

A Sunday letter, shared by Bridge Michigan, saw 1,488 faculty, staff, and students endorse the call for UMich President Domenico Grasso to withdraw his criticism of outgoing UMich Faculty Senate chair Prof. Derek Peterson and to republish the recording of his spring 2026 commencement speech.<\/p>\n

A Monday petition signed by 754 alumni echoed the demands of the first letter, demanding that Grasso pledge to protect free speech, free expression, and institutional neutrality.<\/p>\n

The letters argued that the deletion of the speech from the university\u2019s YouTube account to be censorious.<\/p>\n

The Sunday later contended that Peterson said nothing inappropriate and that the anti-Israel activists\u2019 work to raise awareness about Israeli action in Gaza was legitimate, as many at UMich had family members whose lives were impacted by the war and felt a \u201cmoral injury\u201d over the US\u2019s support for Israel.<\/p>\n

The YouTube video of the speech, which had been unavailable on the university account, was made visible to the public following the criticism. Peterson shared the video on X\/Twitter on Monday, explaining that it had been restored, and told recent graduates to \u201cgo out there and make good trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSing for the pro-Palestinian student activists, who have, over these past two years, opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza,\u201d Peterson said during his Saturday graduation remarks, to the cheers and applause of the audience.<\/p>\n

Peterson shared the address on X on Sunday, noting that his speech about the history of student activism, which had \u201cmoved the university toward justice,\u201d had caused \u201ca furor on social media and in UMich administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The furor and Grasso\u2019s response led the American Association of University Professors and American Federation of Teachers to condemn the \u201cescalating campaign of political pressure and public intimidation directed\u201d at Peterson.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor Peterson\u2019s comments \u2013 measured, principled, and clearly situated within a broader call to recognize those who work to advance justice \u2013 fall squarely within the protected sphere of faculty speech,\u201d the unions said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AAUP and AFT call on the University of Michigan to affirm unequivocally that Professor Peterson will face no discipline for his protected speech, to reject external efforts to dictate the terms of academic expression, and to recommit itself to the principles of academic freedom and shared governance that are foundational to its mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

UMich Board of Regents members call out Peterson<\/p>\n

The unions said that they supported Peterson and criticized the UMich leadership for suggesting the professor acted improperly, as it chilled faculty speech and protected expression.<\/p>\n

In a Saturday statement, Grasso had apologized on behalf of the university for Peterson\u2019s remarks about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that they were \u201churtful and insensitive to many members of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterson allegedly deviated from his remarks and, according to Grasso, did not represent the institutional position of neutrality.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone in our community is entitled to their own views, but this was neither the time nor the place. Commencement is a time of celebration, recognition, and unity,\u201d said Grasso.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chair\u2019s remarks were expected to be congratulatory, not a platform for personal or political expression. Introducing such commentary in this setting was inappropriate and did not align with the purpose of the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

UMich Board of Regents members and candidates also criticized Peterson, with some calling for consequences. Regents and other UMich officers have been targeted over the last two and a half years by anti-Israel activists, with their homes vandalized and damaged.<\/p>\n

The Jewish Federation of Detroit condemned Peterson on Monday, asserting he had broken protocol to deliver a political statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese remarks were deeply insensitive and hurtful to Jewish students and their loved ones, including graduates who have faced years of harassment, intimidation, and acts of hate on campus simply for being Jewish or expressing a connection to Israel,\u201d said the federation. \u201cAt a moment when tensions are already high, the remarks only served to contribute to an environment in which Jewish students feel targeted and unsafe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ann Arbor for Palestine supported Peterson, organizing on Monday a letter-writing campaign that echoed similar demands to the two letters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe faculty member simply celebrated students for striving to embody university values by calling attention to the injustice of the genocide in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of University of Michigan students, staff, and alumni signed letters in support of a professor who praised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[14607,2492,15721,27884,37,8576,33588],"class_list":{"0":"post-103263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-anti-israel","9":"tag-antisemitism","10":"tag-campus-antisemitism","11":"tag-hate-monitor","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-michigan","14":"tag-pro-palestinian-groups"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116536301543277081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}