Days into the new academic year at UNC-Chapel Hill, pro-Palestinian protesters returned to campus areas where dozens of people were arrested in the spring, kicking off a tense semester at the university as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.
The campus chapter of Students for Justice for Palestine hosted a “disorientation” event Thursday night, drawing dozens of protesters. They gathered outside the South Building, home to the offices of newly appointed Chancellor Lee Roberts and other administrators, with a portable surveillance camera keeping tabs on them.
“As UNC continues its first week of classes, join us for a Disorientation to the imperialism and violence that the government advocates,” read an Instagram post promoting the event. “Government repression of organizing will not impede the demand for divestment and the call for a free Palestine.”
Thursday’s protest was the first campus demonstration over the war since tensions reached a fever pitch in the spring, with a four-day “Gaza solidarity camp” that saw 36 protesters charged with trespassing after they refused to comply with police orders to disperse the gathering.
According to their lawyer, all of the defendants in the camp have been offered plea deals ranging from a deferred prosecution to conditional release. They are expected to appear in court on Monday, where they can accept or reject the deals.
Pro-Palestinian protesters also protested before and during the university’s May commencement speech, splashing red paint on the South Building. UNC police obtained a search warrant for private account information from the UNC Students for Justice for Palestine Instagram account in connection with those events.
But Thursday’s event, which lasted just under two hours, remained peaceful. A handful of organizers stood on the steps of the South Building to give speeches on topics including the war in Gaza, other countries facing similar conflicts, the history of student activism and protests at UNC. There appeared to be no counterprotesters in attendance.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, SJP has called on the UNC to disclose and divest from its investments in companies that support Israel, and has also ended study abroad programs in Israel.
The war began in October last year when Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, carried out a terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians and took 240 hostages. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war as of August 15, Reuters reported.
Jacob Ginn, an SJP member, told The News & Observer ahead of Thursday’s demonstration that “it is in the university’s best interest to meet our demands.”
“We will stay here, we will continue to protest and we will continue to pressure the university until we meet the demands,” Ginn said.
University reminds students of free speech policy
Roberts, who served as interim chancellor during the spring semester and was appointed to the position permanently about two weeks ago, has a different approach to campus protests than other college administrators in the country. When protesters After the April arrests, Roberts took down the American flag and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. Roberts led police in restoring it. — and thus gain national attention.
He has repeatedly stressed, including on the day he was appointed chancellor, that the university supports the right of students to protest, but that they must adhere to the law and university policy in doing so.
“We have some very reasonable, very easy-to-follow rules when it comes to protests: Please do not vandalize our historic buildings. Please do not turn the plaza into a private campground. And please do not threaten, intimidate or harass any student, employee or staff,” Roberts told reporters after taking the job. “As long as everyone can abide by those, again, very reasonable rules, I think we’re going to have a great semester.”
Administrators have taken extra steps in recent days to remind students and others on campus of their First Amendment rights and the university’s free speech policy. They sent campus-wide emails with reminders and a link to a new website, “Free Speech at Carolina.”
“We want to be clear: No one’s freedom of expression is more important than another’s right to learn, work, or speak without harassment and discrimination. Civil engagement and peaceful protest have a long and noble history on our campus,” Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens wrote in a campus message Wednesday. “However, no one has the right to disrupt campus activities, threaten or abuse others, or damage public property.”
Ginn saw the posts, which did not name specific positions or groups of protesters, as an attempt “to suppress the movement for Palestinian liberation and solidarity with Palestine.”
Under the policy, universities within the UNC System must inform new students about their free speech policies during annual orientation sessions and “periodically provide this information to all students.”
While Thursday’s event was the first major protest of the school year, it likely won’t be the last.
Roberts and Clemens acknowledged in their message that “there will be many opportunities to debate and demonstrate this year.”
“If you do so,” they wrote, “we ask that you do so with enthusiasm and respect for the principles of free speech that this university has held dear for so many years.”
During the protesters’ court hearing last month, SJP leaders said the April encampments were “just one phase of a dedicated campaign to force” the university to accede to the group’s demands.
An organizer speaking to the crowd Thursday said the group will make “this the most difficult year” of the drivers’ lives.
“Every time you try to shut us down, every time you try to create new policies to contain our demonstrations, every time you try to arrest us,” the organizer said, “more students and more people will rise up and take our place.”
