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Feds to probe University of North Carolina’s response to harsh anti-Israel speech
(JTA) – Earlier this month, a pro-Israel group of North Carolinians told the federal government that their state’s flagship public university should be investigated for allowing anti-Israel rhetoric on campus.
Now the government has taken them up on it.
The U.S. Department of Education announced today that it has opened a new Title VI investigation into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, along with two others into George Mason University and Newark Public Schools, related to complaints of mistreatment based on “shared ancestry.” The investigations round out a busy year for the department’s civil rights office, which has doubled down on antisemitism- and Islamophobia-related complaints at universities and K-12 schools since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Although the department does not publicly reveal the reasons for any of its open Title VI investigations, a staffer confirmed in a letter viewed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that its UNC investigation is related to a complaint filed earlier in the month by a lawyer affiliated with a pro-Israel nonprofit in the state.
David E. Weisberg filed the complaint Dec. 7, alleging that a member of the university faculty and a guest speaker on campus both made anti-Israel comments in the weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. Reached for comment, Weisberg said that the information in the complaint came from Peter Reitzes, a board member of Voice4Israel of North Carolina, a registered 501(c)3 that posted the complaint in full online.
“UNC-Chapel Hill has fostered a hostile campus environment towards Jewish and pro-Israel students for years,” Reitzes told JTA in an emailed statement. “I hope OCR’s investigation leads to UNC providing Jewish and pro-Israel students and faculty with a safe and productive campus environment that is institutionally neutral on Israel and the Palestinians.”
Weisberg’s complaint details two incidents of alleged anti-Israel or pro-Hamas rhetoric at UNC to which he believes the administration should have responded more strongly. In the first, a Communications professor, E. Chebrolu, allegedly stated during two different classes that “Israel and the United States do not give a shit about international law or war crimes” and that Israel is “a clearly fascist state committing a genocide under the guise of it supposedly being the only democracy in the Middle East.”
In the second incident, a guest speaker at an event endorsed by two UNC departments and hosted on UNC’s campus was recorded stating that “October 7, for many of us from the region, was a beautiful day.” The speaker, Rania Masri, co-director of a North Carolina environmental group, said she would “not be in the least bit apologetic of the violence of the oppressed or the occupied,” adding, “Let us demand the eradication of Zionism.”
Hamas gunmen killed some 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7, and kidnapped more than 200.
In a Dec. 22 letter to Weisberg, Dan Greenspahn, a staffer at the Department of Education’s civil rights office, confirmed that its investigation was related to his complaint. Greenspahn wrote that the department will investigate “whether the University responded to alleged harassment of students based on national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) in a manner consistent with the requirements of Title VI,” while noting that opening an investigation does not mean the department believes the complaint has merit.
Questions sent to representatives at the Department of Education and UNC were returned with automatic messages indicating their offices are closed until the new year.
In his complaint, Weisberg claims that for UNC to allow such incidents is in violation of a shared agreement the university struck with the Department of Education in response to a 2019 Title VI complaint. In that agreement, administrators agreed to respond to and investigate incidents of antisemitic harassment on campus and hold antisemitism training for staff. The case stemmed from a complaint filed by the Zionist Organization of America over a conference related to the Gaza Strip the university held jointly with Duke University. The conference featured a satirical performance by a rapper that critics said was antisemitic.
Weisberg’s complaint also alleges that UNC has a responsibility to follow the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s controversial definition of antisemitism, which includes some forms of criticism of Israel. While the definition has been widely adopted, including by new Department of Education guidelines refined under the Trump administration, it has also been criticized by some scholars who say the definition could punish speakers for legitimate criticism of Israel. A bill introduced in North Carolina’s general assembly in April, pushing the state to adopt the IHRA definition, has not yet been signed.
Congress has taken a particular interest in UNC in its efforts to address campus antisemitism. A resolution in the U.S. Senate condemning antisemitic rhetoric on campus specifically references a statement posted on social media by the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine reading, “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.” (The statement was later deleted.)
JTA requests for comment to George Mason University and Newark Public Schools regarding their own Title VI investigations were not returned; an automated message from GMU’s representative also stated they were closed for the holidays.
GMU has made some headlines since Oct. 7 for antisemitism- and Islamophobia-related activities on its Fairfax, Virginia campus. The public university issued an Oct. 31 statement condemning video of someone ripping down an Israeli hostage poster on campus, as well as efforts to dox the perpetrator; the school also banned a 28-year-old man from campus for four years for allegedly passing out antisemitic flyers and deleted several student emails that were sent on a reply-all listserv criticizing the university’s perceived failure to address Muslim students’ concerns.
With these latest schools, the Department of Education looks set to round out the year with 38 Title VI shared ancestry investigations opened into colleges and K-12 schools since Oct. 7. Of those, JTA has confirmed that at least 11, and likely more, are related to antisemitism, with some of those cases referencing incidents that predate Oct. 7. Several other schools have said they were not told why they were being investigated.
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The post Feds to probe University of North Carolina’s response to harsh anti-Israel speech appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UN Data: Nearly 90 Percent of Gaza Aid ‘Intercepted’ Before Reaching Intended Recipients
Palestinians collect aid supplies from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
The vast majority of humanitarian aid entering Gaza is intercepted before reaching its intended civilian recipients, newly released data from the United Nations shows, fueling growing concerns among Israeli officials and international observers about systemic aid diversion by armed groups in the enclave.
According to figures tracking humanitarian assistance for Gaza from May 19 to Aug. 1 of this year, out of the 2,010 UN trucks (carrying 27,434 tons of aid) collected from any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter, only 260 trucks (4,111 tons) reached their intended destination. That equates to a staggering 87 percent of all trucks and 85 percent of all tonnage of aid being stolen and not getting into the hands of civilians at the intended destination.
The UN’s own data, posted on the website of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as part of the “UN2720 Monitoring & Tracking Dashboard,” reveals that almost all the aid — 1,753 trucks (23,353 tons) — has been “intercepted, either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors” while being transported inside Gaza over the past few months.
No breakdown is provided of how much aid has been seized by armed groups versus civilians.
The data also shows that much of the UN aid offloaded at any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter has not been collected to enter the war-torn enclave during this period. Out of 40,012 tons of aid (2,134 trucks) being delivered to the crossings, just 27,434 tons (2010 trucks) have been picked up. It’s unclear what exactly led to this discrepancy, with issues such as poor internal coordination and security concerns potentially delaying aid shipments.
The UN2720 mechanism, created earlier this year, was intended to boost transparency by verifying and tracking aid shipments via QR codes at key checkpoints. The system monitors each pallet from offloading to delivery and flags any discrepancies in a centralized database.
Israel has facilitated the entry of thousands of aid trucks into Gaza, with Israeli officials condemning the UN and other international aid agencies for their alleged failure to distribute supplies, noting much of the humanitarian assistance has been stalled at border crossings or stolen by the ruling Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Sunday, Israel announced a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and new aid corridors as Arab and European countries began airdropping supplies into the enclave.
However, the UN and several Western governments have increased pressure on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, blaming the Jewish state for what they described as a hunger crisis and insufficient amounts of aid reaching civilians.
Israeli officials have said that claims of mass starvation in Gaza are false and being amplified by not only Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, but also international humanitarian organizations and media organizations to manipulate global opinion.
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Dutch Nurse Under Police Investigation for Alleged Threats Against Israeli Patients
Pro-Hamas demonstrators march in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. Photo: Reuters/Romy Arroyo Fernandez
A Muslim nurse in the Netherlands is under police investigation after allegedly threatening to administer lethal injections to Israeli patients — an incident that has sparked public outrage and intensified fears over rising antisemitism and patient safety in Europe’s health-care systems.
The comments were widely circulated by Israeli influencer Max Veifer, who also exposed a recent case in Australia where two nurses were suspended for two years over antisemitic threats and remarks.
In a video shared on social media, Veifer denounced Dutch-Muslim nurse Batisma Chayat Sa’id’s remarks as a serious violation of medical ethics.
“Someone like that should be prosecuted and barred from treating patients. Imagine your grandparents being cared for by someone so hateful,” the Israeli influencer said.
Zorgwekkende dreiging op Instagram: Nederlandse verpleegkundige is bereid om “zionisten een extra spuitje te geven” en bereid “zionisten te laten sterven binnen de gezondheidszorg.” pic.twitter.com/xTnXNi1wH5
— CIDI
(@CIDI_nieuws) July 29, 2025
The incident was sparked when an Israeli-Dutch woman living in the Netherlands commented on a social media post by far-right politician Geert Wilders, who cautioned about what he called the country’s looming radical Islamization by 2050.
A social media account belonging to the Muslim nurse also commented on the post, claiming it would happen by 2027, to which the Israeli woman responded, “Your dream is our nightmare. But people wake up from nightmares. Our Netherlands, our Israel.”
“Nothing belongs to you! My grandparents built the Netherlands. I was born and raised here, and I will do everything in my power to help this country get rid of the Zionist cancer,” the nurse further replied.
“You know what I’m doing with Zionists — giving an extra injection as a nurse specialist. Letting them go to heaven!” Sa’id continued.
When the Israeli woman threatened to report her, Sa’id replied: “Haha, try your best! I don’t have a boss — I’m the boss! All Zionists can die, inside healthcare and beyond, and I’m happy to help with that!”
Shortly after her posts gained widespread attention, Sa’id deleted all her social media accounts, insisting that her identity had been stolen and that she was not responsible for such comments.
On Wednesday, local police detained Sa’id for questioning, but she denied the allegations, asserting that someone had impersonated her online.
“It seems someone is pretending to be me, posting false and defamatory statements,” the nurse said. “I want to make it clear — I hold no hatred toward Jews or any people, race, religion, or identity.”
Even after announcing plans to file an identity theft complaint, she faces skepticism from authorities, who have assigned a digital forensics expert to scrutinize her online accounts.
Last year, an account under her name also posted threatening messages aimed at Jewish people, including “Your time will come — don’t spare anyone,” and another in which she described the burial of Israelis in Gaza as “a dream come true.”
Earlier this year, two Australian nurses — Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh — gained international attention after they were seen in an online video posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements during a night-shift conversation with Veifer.
The widely circulated footage, which sparked international outrage and condemnation, showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.
Following the incident, New South Wales authorities in Australia suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide.
They were also charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass. If convicted, they face up to 22 years in prison.
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French Authorities Halt Gaza Evacuations After Palestinian Student Expelled Over Viral Antisemitic Posts
Anti-Israel demonstration supporting the BDS movement, Paris France, June 8, 2024. Photo: Claire Serie / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect
French authorities have halted evacuations from Gaza after a Palestinian student was expelled from the prestigious Sciences Po Lille and placed under investigation, following the viral circulation of hundreds of antisemitic posts praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and calling for the murder of Jews.
The incident drew widespread condemnation and public outrage, prompting French ministers to demand answers and call for an investigation into how the Gazan student was allowed into the country in the first place.
On Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that all further evacuations from Gaza would be suspended pending the completion of the investigation into the student’s background.
After receiving a scholarship, 25-year-old Nour Atalla, a Palestinian from Gaza, arrived in the country in early July to begin her master’s degree in law and communications this fall at the Institute of Political Science in Lille, northern France.
Barrot confirmed that discussions are ongoing about the student’s possible return to Gaza, making clear that she must leave the country pending the investigation’s outcome.
“She has no place at Sciences Po, nor in France,” the top French diplomat said.
On Thursday, local authorities reported that a criminal investigation is underway into Atalla, with the public prosecutor in Lille confirming the case was opened for “apology of terrorism, apology of crimes against humanity using an online public communication service.”
Barrot admitted lapses in the screening process that allowed her entry and has mandated a comprehensive review of everyone evacuated from Gaza to France.
“The security checks, carried out by the French services and Israeli authorities, did not detect the antisemitic content,” the French diplomat said.
Atalla is one of 292 Gazans admitted to the country following a court ruling that opened the door for Gazans to seek refugee status based on their nationality.
She was offered a place at Sciences Po Lille University based on “academic excellence” and following a recommendation by the French consulate in Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, the university announced it had revoked Atalla’s enrollment after hundreds of her past antisemitic and violent social media posts went viral, sparking widespread condemnation from political leaders and members of the local Jewish community.
In several of these posts, she glorified Hitler, praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, called for the execution of Israeli hostages and the killing of Jews, and expressed support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
In one post, Atalla shared a video of Hitler giving a speech about Jews, writing, “Kill their young and their old. Show them no mercy … And kill them everywhere.”
In another post shared on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, she wrote, “We must do everything we can to match the bloodshed — as much as possible.”