Michigan university president’s home painted with anti-Israel messages

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A suburban Detroit house owned by the University of Michigan president and the sidewalk were spray-painted Monday with the words “intifada” and “coward” on the first anniversary of the attack on Israel by Hamas.

West Bloomfield police didn’t identify the owner, but the university acknowledged that the house belongs to Santa Ono. The house is separate from his official campus residence. “Intifada” is an Arabic term for the Palestinian uprising against Israel.

The home of Erik Lundberg, the university’s chief investment officer, also was vandalized, The Detroit News reported.

Ono and the university’s governing board have been criticized by pro-Palestinian activists for not taking steps to eliminate any investment linked to Israel. The university insists it has no direct investments and less than $15 million placed with funds that might include companies in Israel. That’s less than 0.1% of the total endowment.

Mark Bernstein, a member of the Board of Regents, said the vandalism was “yet another assaultive act of intimidation by the antisemitic mob.”

Protesters wearing masks pitched tents and placed fake bloody corpses outside the home of a regent last spring.

A pro-Palestinian camp on university grounds was cleared by police in May. Some people have been charged with trespassing or resisting police at the site.