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Will Events at UNC Prompt a Change in Policy on Anti-Israel Incitement?
Clocktower Quad at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Photo: Warren LeMay/Wikimedia Commons.
On or near October 20, the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) published a “Solidarity Statement” with Palestinians.
The statement read, “We are in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle against Israeli settler colonialism and occupation and support Palestinians in Gaza who are being subjected to ongoing Israeli military violence through indiscriminate bombing.” They added, “We oppose the active genocide of a dispossessed people.”
A recommended resource includes “A Textbook Case of Genocide” which states, “Israel’s goal is to destroy the Palestinians of Gaza.”
Correspondence about this issue was included within hundreds of pages of public records I recently received from UNC.
On October 28, a UNC professor emailed the School’s Provost, Christopher Clemens, saying, “This [solidarity statement] would seem to be a clear violation of UNC’s policy of institutional neutrality, which is based on NC Senate Bill 195 and the Trustee resolution on institutional neutrality.”
On November 9, Clemens sent Ariana E. Vigil, the Department’s chair, an email of concern, stating:
The solidarity statement on your website as written appears to be an institutional statement. I understand Dean White has offered a process to review it for posting on the departmental website, which requires approval by legal and communications. If you do not wish to follow that procedure, then the statement needs to reflect clearly and unambiguously that it is the opinion of those who wrote it and not the institution. This would best be accomplished by moving it to personal websites. Whatever choice you and the faculty make, it is my hope this can be resolved by Monday, November 13.
This “Solidarity Statement” remains on the department’s website. It appears they removed the announcement of the statement from the site while keeping the full statement on the site.
In 2021, this same UNC department signed a statement declaring, “We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine,” accusing Israel of the “indiscriminate bombing of Gaza.”
Other UNC departments may have recently breached this legal expectation of institutional neutrality.
On November 28, I attended and reported on the event “No Peace Without Justice: A Round-Table Talk about Social Justice in Palestine,” which several UNC departments jointly sponsored.
Sara Smith, an advisory board member of the UNC Women’s and Gender Studies Department, introduced the panel and was a moderator. The Department of Geography and Environment was one of the sponsors of this hateful event, as was the UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies.
Dr. Rania Masri, a speaker, said: “October 7 for many of us from the region was a beautiful day.” She spoke with pride and admiration for Hamas and their paragliders, saying she is not “the least bit apologetic of the violence of the oppressed or the occupied,” adding, “Let us demand the eradication of Zionism.”
Among the seven panelists, two moderators, and UNC professors present, not one appeared concerned by what Masri said, no one challenged or questioned her.
On December 15, Dean James White of UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, issued a strong public statement about this event, which leaves me cautiously optimistic. He wrote:
On Nov. 28, a panel discussion took place in one of our departments in which a guest speaker made remarks that I found abhorrent and antithetical to what the university represents, which is a place where debate—even vigorous, contentious debate—advances our knowledge and understanding of complex topics. You have heard me speak often about our desire to model civil discourse and educate our students in having difficult conversations. That event failed in this regard. I join Chancellor Guskiewicz in his condemnation of the visitor’s remarks, which glorified violence. Yes, even hate speech is protected speech, but we have a responsibility in the College to ensure that we are providing an atmosphere that is conducive to learning for all students. Plainly put, antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of prejudice are wrong, and prohibited discrimination and harassment will not be tolerated at Carolina.
On December 15, the Department of Geography and Environment also issued a statement on its website: “The appalling remarks made by one of the speakers at the [Nov. 28] event do not represent the position of the Department of Geography and Environment.”
The UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies put at the top of their website a message saying, “Click here to read Dean Jim White’s statement on the events of Nov. 28.”
Dean White’s statement and Provost Clemens’ email to the chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department are solid steps in the right direction. Now, UNC needs to do much more to provide Jewish and pro-Israel students with a safe and productive campus environment that is institutionally neutral on Israel and the Palestinians.
Peter Reitzes writes about issues related to antisemitism and Israel.
The post Will Events at UNC Prompt a Change in Policy on Anti-Israel Incitement? 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.