An anti-Israel banner hanging outside a court building in Chapel Hill, NC. Photo: provided.

Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture — a division of the town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina — has proudly announced a new banner that praises student-led and often violent campus protests against Israel.

The banner is on display at the Peace & Justice Plaza, which sits in the heart of the downtown shopping district, in front of the local courthouse, just steps away from the campus of the University of North Carolina (UNC). The banner features a pro-Palestinian UNC protestor wearing a keffiyeh with the message “#GOODTROUBLE.”

The keffiyeh has become a controversial symbol, particularly since the terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, that slaughtered more than 1,200 people in Israel, including 46 Americans, the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Reuters has referred to the keffiyeh as “an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.” While the keffiyeh is viewed as a sign of Palestinian nationalism by many Palestinians, it is also viewed by Jews worldwide as an incitement to violence and a symbol of backing mass bloodshed against Israel.

When a protester at UNC yelled, “All of us Hamas,” she was surrounded by fellow protestors wearing keffiyehs, a clear message of intimidation to those in the community who might have different views.

According to their website, Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture promotes inclusiveness and respect as their top values. Yet, in their announcement of the “artistic banners,” they abandoned any semblance of neutrality by ignoring Hamas’ pogrom and the more than 100 hostages that have remained in captivity or been murdered over the past 13 months.

In the town’s announcement, the artist of the banners is quoted as saying that the banners “evoke the essence of the ongoing struggle for racial justice … they echo the timeless words of the late John Lewis, urging us to stir up ‘Good Trouble’ in pursuit of a more equitable world.”

Chapel Hill wrote, “We invite you to visit the plaza to see this new art and recognize the ongoing fight for justice.”

In a recent letter to Chapel Hill officials, former Raleigh City Council member Stefanie Mendell wrote:

It is appalling to think that anyone would consider that “good trouble” would celebrate the murder, rape, and kidnapping of thousands of innocent Israelis, especially when two of the kidnap victims are Chapel Hill residents, one of whom remains in captivity after more than a year.

The Jewish community around the world, and right here in the “enlightened” Triangle is experiencing an unprecedented increase in anti-semitism. This banner does nothing to unite or heal the community; quite the opposite.

This issue is being widely discussed across local social media, with many outraged community members — both Jewish and non-Jewish — contacting local officials.

On Instagram, one user wrote, “This does little more than make me feel that Chapel Hill is not a safe space for the Jewish people.”

Deborah R. Gerhardt, Distinguished Professor of Law at UNC, wrote to town officials:

I just saw that a banner with a keffiyeh wearing student indicating “good trouble” is hanging on Franklin street. What message are you trying to send? That it is good to make trouble against fellow Jewish citizens? That it is good to make them feel unwelcome? That John Lewis would have supported this kind of divisiveness? A Chapel Hill native is currently being held hostage by Palestinians. Does that mean nothing to you? We have no control of Israel policy, but we can certainly show compassion for our Jewish community.

Chapel Hill Jewish resident Kathy Kaufman wrote to town officials:

The protestors chanted slogans such as “Globalize the Intifada”, “From the River to the Sea”, and “By Any Means Necessary”. These chants signify erasure of Jewish identity, ethnicity, and history. The student protestors have explicitly endorsed violence against Jews, including, in particular, the October 7 massacre, and also continuing antisemitic violence (such as currently in Amsterdam and Paris).

This banner, supporting the student protests, is essentially equating Good Trouble with support for Hamas terrorists going on a murderous rampage, torturing, gang raping, and murdering men, women, and children in their homes in grisly fashion. And then taking more of them hostage to torture them in their terror tunnels – still, to this day.

One of those hostages, Keith Siegel, grew up in Chapel Hill. It is now 400+ days that he and 100 others are still being held in Hamas terror tunnels. Keith still has family in the Chapel Hill area, including his sister. What does this banner say to them?

The new keffiyeh banner, hanging above the front doors of the Chapel Hill courthouse, honors and glorifies the very activists who are now appearing before the local courts.

This gives the appearance that the Chapel Hill government endorses or is complicit in attempts to influence or intimidate public officials on matters before the court. Whether intentional or not, promoting this banner by the town is a chilling overreach of local government on issues of law, justice, neutrality, and community safety.

This banner was hung at the same courthouse that was recently scheduled to hear charges against members of the UNC chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The UNC-SJP chapter was suspended by the university along with some of its student activists for repeated issues such as vandalism on campus and substituting the Palestinian flag in place of the US flag.

Jews in Chapel Hill feel disregarded, mistreated, unseen, and unsafe. The message being sent to the courts and to the community is clear — local government has chosen the side of the Palestinian activists and anti-Israel inciters, and has thus dismissed the safety and well being of the Jewish community.

Chapel Hill residents are furious and frustrated after contacting the Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture with heartfelt, anguished letters, only to receive form letter responses.

One local resident wrote on a WhatsApp group, “I don’t think anyone is reading our letters … It seems to me they simply don’t care.”

You know very well what a keffiyeh means to many if not most Jews in the United States. You know very well how this symbol has been used to marginalize and intimidate Jewish students and staff on the UNC campus. You know very well that a Jewish citizen of Chapel Hill is being held captive in the terror dungeons of Hamas.

Is this poster what you really want “welcoming“ visitors to Chapel Hill?

I contacted Chapel Hill mayor Jessica Anderson, the Town Council, and Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture for comment. At the time of publication, no responses were received.

Peter Reitzes writes about issues related to antisemitism and Israel.

The post Is the Government of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Celebrating Anti-Israel ‘Resistance’? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.