Dozens of UNC students affiliated with UNC Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organized a protest encampment in front of South Building on the university campus on Friday. The protest was in support of both the Palestinian people and the more than 100 student protestors who were arrested following the removal of a pro-Palestine encampment at Columbia University in New York earlier this week.

“Reactionary campus administrations continually repress student activism,” read a release from UNC SJP. “The arrest of peaceful Columbia campers, greenlit by the Columbia faculty and administration, is the latest escalation of this repression. UNC Chapel Hill students refuse to stand idly by.”

“UNC-Chapel Hill supports the rights of Carolina community members to demonstrate in a peaceful manner,” the school’s media relations team said in a statement.

The protest began around 10 a.m. and lasted throughout the afternoon. Other organizations, including the Jewish Voice for Peace, Democratic Socialists of America and the UE150 Workers Union were involved. UNC SJP sent a second press release at 1:56 p.m. on Friday saying UNC Police and administrators were “threatening to remove” the encampments and the protestors. An eyewitness report said protestors picked up the tents and walked with them.

“The group was informed that university policy does not allow tents in that location,” the university said, referring to its Facilities Use Standard. “The group did not initially make efforts to comply, but later removed the tents after university personnel took steps to remove the structures. UNC Police officers were present in the area for safety and security.”

Among other things, UNC SJP has demanded the university “divest from all products and contracts it maintains with Israeli or Israel-supporting companies,” including Sabra hummus, Hewlett-Packard (HP) technologies and Caterpillar, Inc.

“These products bankroll Israel’s crimes in Palestine,” SJP’s statement read.

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