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Is the Government of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Celebrating Anti-Israel ‘Resistance’?
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.
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Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi Says ‘We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Zionism’
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi attends the annual festival of Greek Communist Youth in Athens, Greece, Sept. 22, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Costas Baltas
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi said on a podcast earlier this month that she is fighting Jews, not Zionism, and that she wishes for World War III.
“I was raised [to believe] that Judaism means occupation, and today, tomorrow, and a million years from now, I will continue to say that Judaism [should] be presented to the children of Palestine – children of my age and younger – as occupation, and that we are fighting the Jews, not Zionism,” Tamimi, now 24, said on “The Enlightenment Podcast” on YouTube on Aug. 8.
Tamimi’s comments were flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which reported on and translated her remarks.
Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi: We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Just Zionism; Westerners Patronize Us with Their Aid, They should Shut Up When We Talk; They Will Give Us Aid, Whether They Like It Or Not, and We Will Not Thank Them; I Wish for a Nuclear WWIII, So the Whole World… pic.twitter.com/NNn5Jf7TD6
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) August 15, 2025
“The whole world needs to shut up, when a Palestinian is talking,” she said. “We are superior to the entire world, because we are the only ones in the world fighting injustice, at the expense of our lives, and the expense of our humanity.”
Tamimi continued, “Every night when I go to sleep, I put my head on the pillow, and I pray to God to protect the humanity left inside me, because I don’t want to become a killer. In this West of yours, if a mother screams at her child, he grows up to become a serial killer.”
“I have reached a point where I wish for a World War III. Whoever dies, dies, and whoever lives, lives. The important thing is that we will be over with this. I have reached this point,” she said. “Let the whole world be destroyed, I don’t care. Let them drop nuclear bombs, and destroy the whole world, so it won’t be just the Palestinians.”
These recent comments are the most recent in a long string of radical remarks by Tamimi. In November 2023, she wrote, in an Instagram post, “Come on settlers, we are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin – we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke.”
Speaking about Israelis who live in the West Bank, she said, “We will drink your blood and eat your skull. Come on, we are waiting for you.”
Tamimi became famous internationally in 2017 when a video of her, then just 16 years old, slapping, kicking, and yelling at Israeli soldiers went viral as a symbol of both Palestinian resistance to Israel, and the asymmetric nature of the conflict. The soldiers did not retaliate but did later arrest her.
Tamimi was convicted on four counts of assaulting an IDF officer and soldier, incitement, and interference with IDF forces in March 2018, and was sentenced to eight months in prison and eight months of probation.
She was released a few months later, in July 2018. Since then, Tamimi has been hailed as a Palestinian human rights activist, received a book deal from Penguin Random House, and consistently received sympathetic coverage from Western news outlets.
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Trump Administration Reaffirms Opposition to Turkey Rejoining F-35 Program
A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
The Trump administration has reaffirmed its opposition to Turkey’s rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing Ankara’s possession of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.
In a letter sent on Wednesday to US Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a senior State Department official reiterated that Washington remains committed to enforcing the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which penalizes countries with financial ties to Russia’s defense sector.
“The Trump administration is fully committed to protecting US defense and intelligence assets and complying with US law, including CAATSA,” the letter read
The message, signed by Paul Guaglianone of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, stated that Washington’s position “has not changed” and that Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-supplied S-400 remains incompatible with US law and defense requirements. The official stressed that the Trump administration was fully committed to protecting American defense and intelligence assets while maintaining its obligations under the National Defense Authorization Act.
Despite the strained relationship, the letter emphasized that Turkey remains a longstanding NATO ally. US officials framed the relationship as critical to the security interests of both countries and signaled a willingness to maintain dialogue with Ankara.
In 2017, despite several US warnings, Ankara purchased the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, leading to Turkey’s expulsion from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The United States seeks to cooperate with Turkey on common priorities and to engage in dialogue to resolve disagreements,” Guaglianone wrote, while maintaining that Washington has “expressed our disapproval of Ankara’s acquisition of the S-400 and clearly conveyed steps that would need to be taken” in the sanctions review process.
The letter came after a bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law. Members of Congress warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington had begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Under Section 1245 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon is prohibited from transferring F-35 jets or related technology to Turkey unless Ankara no longer possesses the Russian-made S-400 system and provides assurances it will not acquire such equipment in the future. Because Turkey continues to retain the S-400, US officials are legally barred from approving its participation in the F-35 program.
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Israel Responds to Norway Donating Profits From World Cup Qualifying Matchup to Aid Gaza
Alexander Sørloth of Norway scores the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier football match between Israel and Norway on March 25, 2025, in Debrecen. Photo: VEGARD GRØTT/Bildbyran/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The Israel Football Association has issued a statement in response to a decision by its Norwegian counterpart to give profits from their mutual World Cup qualifiying match to support humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.
Norway will host Israel on Oct. 11 at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, in the next round of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On Tuesday, the Norwegian Football Association said it “cannot remain indifferent” to humanitarian suffering in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war, and announced that it will donate profits from the Oct. 11 game to aid humanitarian causes supporting Gaza.
“Neither we nor other organizations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been exposed to for a long time,” said Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness. “Israel is part of FIFA’s and UEFA’s competitions and we have to deal with that. But we want to give the profit to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and that contributes with active emergency aid on the ground.”
The Norwegian Football Association said it will reveal at a later date which humanitarian organization it will donate to. The association added that it is working with local police and UEFA to ensure the safety of players and fans at the Oct. 11 match in Oslo and will be taking “some extra security measures,” such as limiting capacity at the game. Tickets go on sale next week.
The Israeli Football Association responded on Wednesday in a statement to Telegraph Sport. It urged the Norwegian association to “make sure the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” for which Norway has been criticized internationally. Israel also said it “would be nice” if the Norwegian Football Association would condemn the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We do not usually advise associations regarding the use of match revenue, even if it is obtained thanks to a match against our proud national team, but we will deviate from our custom this time: it would be nice if some of the amount were directed to try to finding a condemnation by the Norwegian FA of the Oct. 7 massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli citizens and children, or action in favor of the release of 50 hostages – and please, make sure that the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” the Israeli Football Association said in a statement. It also said it aims to gain 3 points at the October match.
Israel has been unable to host matches on its home soil for international competitions because of security concerns related to the Israel-Hamas war. It competed in a qualifying match against Norway in Hungary in March, which Norway won 4-2.
The Italian Soccer Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is demanding that Israel be suspended from international competitions ahead of Italy’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Jewish state that are set for September and October. Italy is set to play Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sept. 8, before hosting Israel in Udine on Oct. 14.