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Thank You, UNC Students
A perspective from Chris Mayfield
Thank you to Florence Park for her May 10 piece in Viewpoints, “There Are No Universities Left in Gaza.” In it, she describes the nonviolent student encampment at UNC last month, its goals of university divestment from holdings linked to Israel, and the violent police response called in by Chancellor Lee Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens.
As a concerned US taxpayer and retired Triangle public school teacher, I have attended several local ceasefire rallies in recent months. On April 28, I was one of several hundred students and local residents calling for divestment and for peace, standing in front of the encampment before the South Building at UNC.
I want to emphasize that at each of those rallies, in Raleigh and at UNC, the crowd was both markedly diverse and deliberately inclusive and peaceful. Some speakers were young Palestinian Americans narrating the traumas their families are enduring in Gaza and the West Bank. Others were members of Jewish Voice for Peace, explaining why they as Jews reject Zionism and instead embrace Jewish values of the sacredness of life and the duty they feel to say, “Not in our names,” and “Never again for anyone.” Other speakers explored the financial costs borne by US taxpayers to fund this war, and questioned whether these funds should be used instead to meet human needs in this country, such as for heath care and housing.
At each of these rallies, as an educator I was deeply impressed not only by the fervor and eloquence of the speakers but also by their clarity and their detailed knowledge of the history and the issues involved. Also, despite the accusations bandied about in the media, at no time did I hear anything remotely antisemitic or hostile in any way to Jews, Judaism, or Jewish identity—unless, like some politicians, you construe criticism of the modern state of Israel as being synonymous with hostility to Jews.
Some universities—now including Northwestern, Rutgers, Middlebury, Brown, and Harvard—have now agreed to some form of serious dialogue with students and faculty on the issue of divestment. UNC chose instead to order a violent crackdown by police, as Florence Park describes. I join her call for amnesty for suspended students. I also urge concerned citizens to call the White House and our senators and congressional representatives, to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
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