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The Anti-Israel Hate and Moral Bankruptcy at UNC Is Stunning
Students sit on the steps of Wilson Library on the campus of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US, Sept. 20, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
On Nov. 28, I attended a now-notorious anti-Israel event titled “No Peace Without Justice: A Round-Table Talk about Social Justice in Palestine,” at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).
The event was sponsored by two campus departments, and UNC’s Student Life & Leadership program.
One of the speakers, Dr. Rania Masri, said: “Oct. 7 for many of us from the region was a beautiful day.” Masri went on to fawn over Hamas paragliders, and called for “the eradication of Zionism.”
As I reported, not a single panelist or UNC professor in attendance disagreed with Masri. Rather, two panelists openly concurred. In fact, after the event, a panelist – the Rev. Mark Davidson – wrote on social media: “It was a good conversation, and I felt privileged to be part of the panel.”
Danielle Purifoy, a UNC professor of geography, helped organize the event. On Oct. 7 — the day Hamas massacred 1,200 in Israel, used rape and sexual assault as weapons of war, and took hundreds of hostages — Purify tweeted, “Solidarity with folks fighting to free themselves in Palestine” and retweeted, “colonialism is bad for settlers.”
According to a 2022 tax filing, Purifoy was recently board chair of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN), where Masri is currently co-director. Ajamu Dillahunt Jr. serves as NCEJN’s current board co-chair. All three are anti-Israel activists.
Public records reveal that Masri wrote to Purifoy and Dillahunt after the event. Rather than apologize for her hateful comments, Masri apologized for getting caught:
I’m reaching out to you, Ajamu, to let you know of attacks that are being made against me, that could have repercussions on NCEJN.
I gave a talk at UNC five days ago, and a statement that I made has been taken out of its historical context and mis-construed. It was stupid of me to say it knowing that Zionists are around the corner and waiting to pounce.
I am truly, very very sorry, for any harm that I have caused — to UNC, to NCEJN, and to the larger movement.
Five days after the event, UNC Provost Christopher Clemens wrote a blistering letter of concern to UNC faculty that included Claudia Yaghoobi, Director of the UNC Center for Middle East & Islamic Studies, and Conghe Song, chair of the Department of Geography and Environment. They were included since their two departments sponsored the Nov. 28 event.
Clemens wrote:
I will admit that I struggle to understand what the rhetoric in this event was supposed to accomplish.
I would like to meet as soon as possible to hear more about the logic of the choices being made and to discuss a particular development on campus that I find chilling. With the exception of abortion, I am not used to hearing members of the academy appear to be enthusiastic about violence against innocent human beings. Yet I see a recurring theme in the classroom, in seminars, in public statements, in emails I receive, and in the public square in which some scholars are unapologetic (at the least) about the rapes and murders of their fellow human beings. Do we have a contingent of faculty who think these things are necessary? Do anti- Zionism and critical whiteness studies weave together into an anti-Semitism? If so, are there scholars who can address it? What are the elements of this conjuncture that it would be productive to explore?
One thing is clear: from the outside, the academy appears to be fostering a banal kind of evil.
In preparation for the meeting with Provost Clemens, Purifoy sent an email to Conghe and Sara Smith. Smith is a UNC professor of Geography who introduced the Nov. 28 panel:
I hope that today’s meeting will go as well as possible. I’ve attached a screenshot of Mark Davidson’s comments about the panel last Tuesday which might be helpful. He and Rania [Masri] approved of my sharing it with you.
In the comments that Purifoy attached, Davidson wrote, “The inmate prison-break from the concentration camp [Gaza] in the early morning hours of October 7 was, from a Palestinian perspective … something to celebrate.” In this single sentence, Davidson compared Israel to the Nazis and celebrated Hamas.
The antisemitism and moral bankruptcy on display at UNC is stunning. I agree with UNC’s Provost Christopher Clemens: “One thing is clear: from the outside, the academy appears to be fostering a banal kind of evil.”
Peter Reitzes writes about issues related to antisemitism and Israel.
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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.
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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.
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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 News – As 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.
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