UPDATE: The Gaza Solidary Encampment at Polk Place crossed the 72-hour mark Monday morning, with demonstrators remaining outdoors on UNC campus. Members of the group reconstructed some tents on Sunday night, which is in violation of university policy. As of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, UNC Police and university personnel have not made an attempt to take the tents down or clear the area.

Below is the initial story, published on Friday, April 26.

For the second week in a row, a group of UNC students organized on the university’s Polk Place quad to show support for Palestinians in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and to protest UNC’s business with companies who have ties to Israel’s military efforts.

The UNC chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine began another encampment demonstration shortly before 10 a.m. on Friday, staking tents in solidarity with other groups protesting on college campuses across the United States. While university officials required the tents erected as part of the protest to be taken down, dozens of people remained there for hours sitting on the dismantled tents, with organizers saying the choice to stay on the quad stems from UNC choosing to not share its “investments.” The group argues the university ought to stop any contacts with groups who “benefit from Israeli Apartheid and the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” according to its release, and negotiation with UNC officials have led to no change in university action.

“In addition to the blatant dismissal of divestment demands,” read Friday’s message sent to media outlets, “administrators have repressed, intimidated, and threatened SJP members.  In response, UNC SJP remains steadfast in its commitment to Palestinian liberation abroad concurrent with its demands for financial transparency and divestment from genocide at UNC-Chapel Hill.

“We emphasize that this encampment serves to show solidarity with Gaza, which now has no more universities due to Israeli massacres with US-made bombs. We stand in solidarity with our comrades at Columbia and across the US who have been repressed, arrested, and physically attacked. The central purpose, however, of this encampment is to meet the demands of the present moment, and to center Palestine and call attention to the university’s participation in the genocide in Gaza.”

Photo via the UNC chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

 

While the media alert put no timeline on how long the demonstration at Polk Place would last, a post on UNC SJP’s Instagram page saw one organizer say the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” will last until the university’s administration shows support for Palestinians affected by the war.

“We will not leave until they comply with our demands,” the unnamed representative says in the video. “We’re out here for longevity.”

The effort at UNC is the latest in a series of ongoing protests at universities where demonstrators are calling attention to the death toll and destruction in Gaza as a result of Israel’s military offensive into the region after Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israelis. The most high-profile protest is at Columbia University, where police arrested more than 100 demonstrators and support swelled since its start on April 17. The New York campus has since moved to hybrid instruction as a result of the disruption.

UNC’s Students for Justice in Palestine attempted its own encampment on April 18 — but university personnel “took steps to remove the structures” to comply with its facilities policies, which restrict temporary structures like tents. At the time, protestors picked up their tents and conducted marches around Polk Place but eventually disbanded the demonstration.

A statement from Kevin Best, the senior director of media relations at UNC, confirmed protestors peacefully removed the tents themselves again on Friday after conversations with administrators.

“UNC-Chapel Hill supports the rights of all community members to demonstrate peacefully and within university policies,” said Best.

Because UNC is a public university, outdoor spaces on campus are open to the public and are often the site of demonstrations, gatherings and protests. The university said as long as people follow the law and UNC policies, public safety forces and university personnel are not expected to interfere. Violation of university policy, however, can result in students facing punishment via UNC’s Code of Conduct.

Social media posts from UNC SJP indicate plans to have a longer duration than the prior week’s protest. The group shared a post on Instagram that food will be served to demonstrators on Friday night, a teach-in has been organized, and a march on campus asking the university for divestment from companies with ties to Israel is planned for Sunday afternoon.

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