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Students for Justice in Palestine Threatens ‘Revolutionary Violence’ at UNC Chapel Hill

In May, Students for Justice in Palestine poured red paint which resembles spilled blood on the steps of the South Building, an office for administrative staff and the chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Photo: UNCSJP/Screenshot

The campus group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) announced late last month the beginning of what it described as an “armed rebellion,” proclaiming its right to use political violence as a tactic for achieving its objective of destroying Zionism, Israel, and capitalism.

“We emphasize our support for the right to resistance, not only in Palestine, but also here in the imperial core,” the group said in a manifesto — which was reportedly crafted with the help of anti-Zionist UNC professors — posted on social media. “We condone all forms of principled action, including armed rebellion, necessary to stop Israel’s genocide and apartheid, and to dismantle imperialism and capitalism more broadly. The oppressors will never grant full liberty to the oppressed; the oppressed must seize liberty with their own hands.”

The group then threatened to target the university this upcoming academic year, asserting that last semester’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” — a riotous and unlawful occupation of school property which convulsed the campus and resulted in 36 arrests — was “only one stage of a committed campaign to force the UNC-Chapel Hill administration to meet the demands laid out by UNC SJP.”

Spinning conspiracies of a nationwide plot against the group, it continued, “The administration, the injustice system, media outlets, zionists [sic], and other oppressive forces try to fracture us along several real and fictional axes. Students versus non-student, lesser charges versus greater charges, peaceful protester versus outside agitator. We are all outside agitators, and we stand firm as a unified bloc … Liberation may require revolutionary violence, but it must always stem from love.”

UNC did not respond to a request for comment on SJP’s post and apparent threat to the campus.

The group is not the first pro-Hamas student organization to warn that it is prepared to break the law, which may include harming others, to accomplish its objectives. In July, a coalition of anti-Zionist groups based at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) issued an open threat to Jews who support Israel and Jewish organizations, promising to treat them as “extremist criminals.” That same month, a pro-Hamas Harvard University group mocked the administration for dropping disciplinary sanctions against the organizers of an encampment there and, calling their movement an “intifada,” hinted that more disruptions are forthcoming. Earlier in the summer, Columbia University’s SJP spin-off, Columbia Apartheid Divest (CUAD), endorsed Hamas.

Throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, pro-Hamas students across the country previewed the methods they would potentially employ to impose their will on Jewish and pro-Israel students and administrators, engaging in property destruction, violence, and incitement. Uttering racist rhetoric not seen so pervasively at educational institutions in the US since the Ku Klux Klan launched a campaign of violence and terror to prevent school integration, pro-Hamas activists beat up Jewish students, told Jews “you are not safe here,” and graffitied swastikas on school property. Many evaded justice by concealing their faces with medical-grade surgical masks, a tactic which critics have said is analogous to the Klan’s use of hooded masks.

In July, StandWithUs, a Jewish civil rights group based in California, urged the US Justice Department to facilitate holding violent and unlawful protesters accountable by enforcing legal statutes widely referred to as the “KKK Laws.” Citing pro-Hamas activists’ preference for anonymity, StandWithUs argued that five anti-Zionist groups — most notably SJP — currently operating on the campus of Columbia University have perpetrated Klan-style acts of hate, violating a portion of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which guarantees all students, regardless of race or ethnic background, the right to a safe learning environment.

The situation at UNC is equally perilous, according to Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a scholar and founder of the antisemitism watchdog AMCHA Initiative. She told The Algemeiner on Wednesday that UNC faculty played a role in writing SJP’s manifesto.

“The fact that UNC SJP’s Points of Unity call for ‘armed rebellion,’ ‘revolutionary violence,’ and ‘resistance by any means necessary’ … not only in Palestine but also here in the imperial core [i.e. the United States] is deeply alarming,” Rossman-Benjamin said. “However, the fact that UNC Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine were collaborators on this post is the most frightening aspect of all. While the university has commendably taken steps to mitigate SJP’s campus behavior, little has been done to address faculty, who not only support SJP’s sentiments calling for violence targeting Jews and Zionists, but likely bring these sentiments into their classrooms.”

She continued, “Unless and until UNC can rein in their out-of-control faculty, antisemitism will continue to spiral out of control at UNC.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Students for Justice in Palestine Threatens ‘Revolutionary Violence’ at UNC Chapel Hill first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.

Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.

The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.

But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.

Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.

Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.

The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran

Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect

US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.

Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”

Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”

“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.

Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.

Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.

Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.

Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.

Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.

The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages

Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron

i24 NewsAs Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.

In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.

The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.

“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”

They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.

“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”

The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.

Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.

The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”

In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.

“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”

As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.

The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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