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At the University of North Carolina, Teachers Attack Israel with the Lie of ‘Genocide’ and Students Threaten Violence
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 2024-25 school year has recently begun at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where faculty members and students are continuing their anti-Israel activism and indoctrination.
In an email promoting a Sept. 6 event titled “Teach Palestine,” Nadia Yaqub — Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies –wrote to her fellow UNC academics: “As the genocide against the people of Gaza continues, many of us feel we cannot proceed with our teaching as if nothing is going on.”
The event flier asks, “Are you concerned by the ongoing genocide in Gaza? Are you looking for ways to bring Gaza or Palestine/Palestinians in general into your courses?”
In her email about the event, Yaqub added, “The workshop is open to faculty, staff, and graduate students from across the university, and we hope to present ideas and strategies that are applicable in any field.”
According to Yaqub’s email, all fields at UNC — such as mathematics, computer sciences, and speech-language pathology, just to name a few — should or can be used to focus on events in Gaza.
Community members I have spoken with expressed concern that Yaqub is clearly trying to stop students from getting a proper education in their respective fields in order to promote her political agenda.
Multiple sources report that donors and community members are outraged, and are contacting UNC with concerns about institutional bias and classroom activism. Many wonder if this planned workshop will fall outside of North Carolina state law on institutional neutrality, which clearly specifies, “The constituent institution shall remain neutral, as an institution, on the political controversies of the day.”
On Sept. 1, 2024, the UNC Campus Y promoted the “Teach Palestine” workshop on social media. They posted the flier the very same day the world learned the devastating news that six Israeli civilians had been executed by Hamas in Gaza. The Campus Y post did not mention those murders, and seems to be a clear signal that the Campus Y does not care about or consider Jewish life and suffering.
In Nov. of 2023, the Campus Y published a “A Solidarity Statement with Palestine.” The statement begins:
We, as the executive board of the Campus Y, stand in solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinian diaspora in their struggle for land and freedom from settler colonialism. We reject the idea that recent eruptions of violence are indicative of a ‘conflict,’ and uphold that they are indicative of pushback to the Israeli government’s oppression and genocidal erasure of Palestinian people and land, an ongoing process since the 1948 Palestine War and the Nakba.
The statement added: “We would like to emphasize that the Y remains a safe space for all students to decompress; particularly our Arab, Muslim, and especially Palestinian communities.”
The solidarity statement also promised that the Campus Y would continue collaborating with the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (UNC-SJP) which is pro-Hamas. Referring to this now suspended chapter as pro-Hamas is not hyperbole; it is factual.
On Oct. 7 — when Hamas committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust — UNC-SJP proclaimed on social media: “It is our moral obligation to be in solidarity with the dispossessed, no matter the pathway to liberation they choose to take. This includes violence.”
On Oct. 12, UNC-SJP held a “Day of Resistance Protest for Palestine” on campus. The event flier celebrated terrorism by featuring a Hamas paraglider en route to kill Israelis and commit other atrocities. In a widely circulated video, a protester screamed, “All of us Hamas.”
I interviewed two Jewish students who silently counter-protested that day. They told me that they were approached by activists who allegedly brandished knives.
In 2020, the Campus Y supported a boycott of an upcoming Hillel trip. The Executive Board of the Campus Y stated that they “voted to sign onto the petition started by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) to boycott the Hillel Perspectives trip, which sends student leaders from UNC’s campus on a fully funded spring break trip to multiple cities in Israel and Occupied Palestine.”
Towards the end of last school year, the Campus Y was briefly closed by the university due to safety concerns. Sources tell me that campus officials were concerned that the Campus Y was being kept open late, past closing hours, to support the anti-Israel protesters in ways such as providing bathrooms to those in the encampment.
Over the summer, UNC-SJP made national news when they announced their support of “armed rebellion” and “revolutionary violence.”
In a manifesto from late July, UNC-SJP proclaimed, “We emphasize our support for the right to resistance, not only in Palestine, but also here in the imperial core. We condone all forms of principled action, including armed rebellion.”
UNC-SJP also made an ominous social media post that some community members and faculty feel is a threat. The suspended chapter wrote, “The time has run out for peace policing … In this hour we urge all people of conscience to heed Palestinians’ calls to escalate autonomously and without reservation.”
Sources tell me that the State Bureau of Investigation has been asked to investigate the potential threats from these UNC-SJP statements.
In addition, on Aug. 24, the Chapel Hill Courthouse near campus was vandalized with graffiti saying “Kill Cops,” “Jihad Now,” and “Death to Cops.”
Peter Reitzes writes about issues related to antisemitism and Israel.
The post At the University of North Carolina, Teachers Attack Israel with the Lie of ‘Genocide’ and Students Threaten Violence first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran, US Resume Oman-Mediated Nuclear Talks in Rome
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – A new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States kicked off in Rome on Saturday, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will negotiate indirectly through an Omani official who will shuttle messages between the two sides, Iranian officials said, a week after a first round of indirect talks in Muscat that both sides described as “constructive.”
Araqchi and Witkoff interacted briefly at the end of the first round, but officials from the two countries have not held direct negotiations since 2015 under former US President Barack Obama.
Araqchi called on “all parties involved in the talks to seize the opportunity to reach a reasonable and logical nuclear deal.”
Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Meanwhile, Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Trump, who ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six powers during his first term in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign on the country since returning to the White House in January.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what is necessary for a civilian energy program.
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Reps. Dan Goldman and Chris Smith Issue Statement Condemning Shapiro Arson Attack As ‘Textbook Antisemitism’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) holds a rally in support of US Vice President Kamala Harris’ Democratic presidential election campaign in Ambler, Pennsylvania, US, July 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Rep. Chris Smith (D-NJ) issued a statement condemning the recent arson attack against Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) as a form of “textbook antisemitism.”
“Governor Shapiro is the Governor of Pennsylvania and has nothing to do with Israel’s foreign policy, yet he was targeted as an American Jew by a radicalized extremist who blames the Governor for Israel’s actions. That is textbook antisemitism,” the statement read.
Shapiro’s residence, the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, was set ablaze on Sunday morning, hours after the governor hosted a gathering to celebrate the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Shapiro said that he, his wife, and his children were awakened by state troopers knocking on their door at 2 am. The governor and his family immediately evacuated the premises and were unscathed.
Goldman and Smith added that the arson attack against Shapiro serves as “a bitter reminder that persecution of Jews continues.” The duo claimed that they “strongly condemn this antisemitic violence” and called on the suspect to “be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Pennsylvania State Police said that the suspect, Cody Balmer set fire to Shapiro’s residence over the alleged ongoing “injustices to the people of Palestine” and Shapiro’s Jewish faith.
According to an arrest warrant, Balmer called 911 prior to the attack and told emergency operators that he “will not take part in [Shapiro’s] plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” and demanded that the governor “stop having my friends killed.”
The suspect continued, telling operators, “Our people have been put through too much by that monster.”
Balmer later revealed to police that he planned to beat Shapiro with a sledgehammer if he encountered him after gaining access into his residence, according to authorities.
He was subsequently charged with eight crimes by authorities, including serious felonies such as attempted homicide, terrorism, and arson. The suspect faces potentially 100 years in jail. He has been denied bail.
Shapiro, a practicing Jew, has positioned himself as a staunch supporter of Israel. In the days following Hamas’s brutal slaughter of roughly 1,200 people across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Shapiro issued statements condemning the Palestinian terrorist group and gave a speech at a local synagogue. The governor also ordered the US and Pennsylvania Commonwealth flags to fly at half-mast outside the state capitol to honor the victims.
Shapiro’s strident support of the Jewish state in the wake of Oct. 7 also incensed many pro-Palestinian activists, resulting in the governor being dubbed “Genocide Josh” by far-left demonstrators.
US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) chimed in on the arson attack Thursday, urging the Justice Department to launch a federal investigation, claiming that the incident could be motivated by antisemitism.
Schumer argued that the arson attack targeting Shapiro, who is Jewish, left the Pennsylvania governor’s family in “anguish” and warned that it could serve as an example of “rising antisemitic violence” within the United States. He stressed that a federal investigation and hate crime charges may be necessary to uphold the “fundamental values of religious freedom and public safety.”
Thus far, Shapiro has refused to blame the attack on antisemitism, despite the suspect’s alleged comments repudiating the governor over his support for Israel. The governor has stressed the importance of allowing prosecutors to determine whether the attack constitutes a hate crime.
The post Reps. Dan Goldman and Chris Smith Issue Statement Condemning Shapiro Arson Attack As ‘Textbook Antisemitism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US, Iran Set for Second Round of Nuclear Talks as Iranian FM Warns Against ‘Unrealistic Demands’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a deal could be reached during Saturday’s second round of nuclear negotiations in Rome if the United States does not make “unrealistic demands.”
In a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Araghchi said that Washington showed “partial seriousness” during the first round of nuclear talks in Oman last week.
The Iranian top diplomat traveled to Moscow on Thursday to deliver a letter from Iran’s so-called Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, briefing Russian President Vladimir Putin on the ongoing nuclear talks with the White House.
“Their willingness to enter serious negotiations that address the nuclear issue only, without entering into other issues, can lead us towards constructive negotiations,” Araghchi said during the joint press conference in Moscow on Friday.
“As I have said before, if unreasonable, unrealistic and impractical demands are not made, an agreement is possible,” he continued.
Tehran has previously rejected halting its uranium enrichment program, insisting that the country’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, despite Washington’s threats of military actions, additional sanctions, and tariffs if an agreement is not reached to curb the country’s nuclear activities.
On Tuesday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that any deal with Iran must require the complete dismantling of its “nuclear enrichment and weaponization program” — reversing his earlier comments, in which he indicated that the White House would allow Tehran to enrich uranium to a 3.67 percent threshold for a “civil nuclear program.”
During the press conference, Araghchi also announced he would attend Saturday’s talks in Rome, explaining that negotiations with the US are being held indirectly due to recent threats and US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“Indirect negotiations are not something weird and an agreement is within reach through this method,” Araghchi said.
He also indicated that Iran expects Russia to play a role in any potential agreement with Washington, noting that the two countries have held frequent and close consultations on Tehran’s nuclear program in the past.
“We hope Russia will play a role in a possible deal,” Araghchi said during the press conference.
As an increasingly close ally of Iran, Moscow could play a crucial role in Tehran’s nuclear negotiations with the West, leveraging its position as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a signatory to a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that imposed limits on the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2018.
Since then, even though Tehran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon, the UN’s nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – has warned that Iran has “dramatically” accelerated uranium enrichment to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level and enough to build six nuclear bombs.
During the press conference on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that “Russia is ready to facilitate the negotiation process between Iran and the US regarding Tehran’s nuclear program.”
Moscow has previously said that any military strike against Iran would be “illegal and unacceptable.”
Russia’s diplomatic role in the ongoing negotiations could also be important, as the country has recently solidified its growing partnership with the Iranian regime.
On Wednesday, Russia’s upper house of parliament ratified a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Iran, strengthening military ties between the two countries.
Despite Tehran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapon development, Western states have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
The post US, Iran Set for Second Round of Nuclear Talks as Iranian FM Warns Against ‘Unrealistic Demands’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.