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UNC Professor Doubles Down, Continues to Explain and Justify Hamas Massacre
Students sit on the steps of Wilson Library on the campus of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S., September 20, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
On October 7, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing 1,200 people, taking more than 240 hostages, and raping and torturing many others.
The next day, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (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.”
Many view this statement as endorsing and justifying both Hamas and the October 7 pogrom.
On October 31, UNC Professor E. Chebrolu read this SJP proclamation to his Rhetoric and Public Issues class and told students: “That’s a true statement. I’m going to be honest. There’s nothing wrong with what SJP said.”
Chebrolu omitted that SJP had deleted the post within days of making it.
On October 26, the US Senate voted unanimously to condemn college antisemitism, specifically mentioning the UNC SJP post. Chebrolu condemned the Senate for this, telling students, “They just don’t want you to think about Palestinian kids and adults as human beings. And instead they want you to think about your fellow students, who care about justice, uh, that they’re a bunch of little Hitlers running around.”
Chebrolu complained that even “Bernie f***ng Sanders” joined this unanimous Senate vote.
Chebrolu added, “The United States government is trying to cover up a genocide and make you all want it, desire it.” Chebrolu told tell the class, “I know Joe Biden does not give a f*** what I say, obviously” and “Gandhi kind of sucks.”
Also on October 31, Chebrolu told students that Israel is “a clearly fascist state committing a genocide under the guise of it supposedly being the only democracy in the Middle East.” He complained about what he perceives as misguided accusations of antisemitism related to Israel, calling it “increasingly just bullshit factory.”
As I recently reported, Chebrolu told students on October 17 that “Israel and the United States do not give a shit about international law or war crimes,” “The attack by Hamas was not senseless, there is context,” and “The majority of Palestinians are children. They are seen as legitimate targets of violence.”
He twice told students that the existence of Israel is “somewhat ridiculous.”
When asked if Hamas had returned the hostages, Chebrolu responded by telling students he believed Israel was looking “to find an excuse” to invade Gaza. Likely realizing he went too far, Chebrolu added, “But it’s not something I should have said just now.”
A widely circulated petition written by “UNC Students, Parents, Alumni, Faculty, Staff, Friends, and Donors” calls on UNC to protect Jewish students and to stop antisemitism on campus. Chebrolu’s class was one of many concerns mentioned in the petition.
On November 14, Chebrolu complained to his class that he was likely included in the petition because “I have a foreign sounding last name.”
Chebrolu told students he was “sad” that “somebody felt the need to record me without my knowledge.” He added, “I don’t really regret doing the lecture stuff … I only regret the fact that I didn’t make you all feel like you could have an honest conversation with me about your disagreements.”
Chebrolu is scheduled to teach two UNC classes in the Spring of 2024.
Peter Reitzes writes about issues related to antisemitism and Israel.
The post UNC Professor Doubles Down, Continues to Explain and Justify Hamas Massacre first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.