Cranbrook school removes students’ Palestinian flags, stirring protests and debate – By Niraj Warikoo (Detroit Free Press) / Nov 24, 2023
As the death toll in Gaza rose, dozens of students at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills decided last month to put up Palestinian flags in their studio windows to express solidarity with the victims.
But administrators at the prestigious art school determined they were offensive and could be triggering to some, especially to younger students at a nearby K-12 Cranbrook private school. Cranbrook officials told the students in a Nov. 4 email signed by the school director and president to remove the flags. Shortly after the email was sent, security working for Cranbrook went into the personal art studios of the students and tore down all the Palestinian flags, according to students.
The move outraged the student artists, prompting a letter signed by more than half of the school’s roughly 120 students and about 200 alumni. It has prompted a debate that has roiled the Cranbrook community, similar to other clashes taking place across Michigan over the past seven weeks amid the Israel-Gaza war. Arab American advocates have expressed concern about Palestinian symbols being demonized while Jewish communities have expressed fears about feeling unsafe when seeing certain flags or displays.
