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North Carolina. Yesterday afternoon at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, approximately 150 people entered academic buildings and disrupted
classes in a protest that saw violent, anti-Israel rhetoric spraypainted both on and inside school buildings, including the historic naval armory that houses UNC’s US Navy ROTC program. As if writing “Death to US” and “Death to UNC” wasn’t clear enough, the protesters also raised a Palestinian flag on the building. According to the university,
protesters entered at least nine academic buildings shouting and disrupting classes. The UNC chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine claimed responsibility: “The student movement is protesting UNC's refusal to divest from the apartheid regime and genocidal campaign being inflicted against the Palestinians by the Zionist regime.” The reactions were swift:
UNC Hillel: “What happened today is clearly an antisemitic attack on the Jewish community. It is also an affront to the entire UNC community and to our country.”
ADL: “We call on UNC administrators to conduct a full investigation and condemn this behavior. Meaningful dialogue is what should be happening on our campuses. This is far from that. Every student has a right to walk about campus without fear and harassment.”
UNC Chancellor Lee H. Roberts: “Free expression and peaceful protest are, of course, in line with Carolina’s best traditions. We cannot tolerate, however, vandalism of public property or disruption of classes. We’ll pursue every avenue possible to hold people accountable.”
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(Source: Old Row | X/Twitter) |
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(Source: Old Row | X/Twitter) |
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Minnesota. Three weeks ago, the University of Minnesota rejected efforts to boycott and divest from Israel. Unable to take no for an answer, anti-Israel protesters dominated the inauguration
of Minnesota’s new president on Wednesday, chanting “Disclose, divest! We will not stop, we will not rest!” for several minutes before being escorted from the auditorium. Then, when newly-minted President Rebecca Cunningham exited the venue to make a public speech on Northrop Mall, she faced a crowd of more than 200 protesters shouting expletives and holding signs that read “divest MN from apartheid Israel.” This latest protest on the University’s Minneapolis campus saw protesters from UMN Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine and similar groups. Notably, while one protester asserted President Cunningham “doesn’t center the voices of
students and doesn’t intend to keep promises the University has made,” that same protester admitted Cunningham has met with these student groups at least six times since July 1.
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(Credit: Spencer White: Minnesota Daily) |
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Cal-Irvine. Orange County, California prosecutors announced
on Wednesday that two University of California, Irvine professors and four students are among those charged for their involvement in a protest on campus in May, and up to 40 others may still face charges. One professor, for instance, was reportedly charged with failure to disperse at the scene of a riot, as well as “resisting a peace officer with the threat of violence.” “The right to peaceful assembly is a constitutional right and we encourage protestors to exercise their right to peaceful assembly on any issue,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, noting that criminal activity “will not be tolerated.” UC Irvine, which has a history
of BDS activism on campus, has yet to comment on the status of the professors or students involved. The university affirmed, “All members of the UCI community remain subject to laws, policies, and relevant codes of conduct.”
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Duke. The Duke University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine chose to mark the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by designing and posting a graphic that shows flames erupting from the twin towers along with the text “for the past 11 months every day and night is september 11th [sic] in Gaza.” Perhaps this disregard for the victims of 9/11 isn’t surprising because, as ADL has
noted, SJP has previously called for “armed struggle” and urged students to “undermine and eradicate America as we know it.”
DEEPER. Read ADL’s resource on Students for Justice in Palestine.
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(Source: The Algemeiner) |
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UConn. Administrators at the University of Connecticut said Thursday that they won’t meet with the UConnDivest student group after members of that group reportedly distributed “grotesque” flyers
depicting UConn President Radenka Maric with red devil horns and as a horned boar surrounded by missiles and dollar signs. A university official then wrote to the student group, saying “Whatever the intent [...] Depicting a Jewish female administrator with ‘devil horns,’ as a pig, or using obscene and vulgar expressions, are not amusing caricatures — they are dark and troubling images deeply rooted in history that have been associated with hatred and violence for centuries, in addition to being openly misogynistic.” In that same letter, administrators admitted they “were prepared to schedule additional meetings” between the group and school
administrators, but having witnessed these “deeply disturbing” actions, administrators now view any discussions with UConnDivest as “untenable.” We applaud the UConn administration for swiftly calling out the flyers as offensive and reinforcing age-old antisemitic tropes.
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California. The Undergraduate Students Association Council passed a resolution on Tuesday calling for the University of California system to rescind its policy banning encampments across UC campuses. The resolution,
which passed 10-1, accuses UC schools of “actively backing the zionist war machine.” The sole student representative to vote against this resolution said “Given what happened in the spring, I do have concerns in terms of student safety.” A spokesperson for the UC system reportedly declined to comment on this specific resolution but maintained that the new guidelines are meant to protect free speech while also ensuring campuses are safe and free from intimidation.
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Virginia. Leaders at the University of Virginia announced
this week that the university won’t divest from companies connected to Israel, despite a successful student referendum last spring that condemned Israel and demanded the university divest. UVA officials reaffirmed their commitment to their current investment strategy. “We do not like using our investment strategy as a means of expressing a moral, political opinion,” said CEO of the UVA Investment Management Company, Robert Durden. Notably, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares urged
the Board of Visitors to reject the anti-Israel resolution earlier this year, writing that it’s “well-documented that the leaders and founders of the international BDS campaign believe in the destruction of Israel.” |
