Old North News

A group that led the Oct. 12 "Day of Resistance" rally at UNC-Chapel Hill distributed a “toolkit” that said the rally was part of the same "movement" as Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that left 1,210 Israelis dead. 

“The resistance in Gaza launched a surprise operation against the Zionist enemy which disrupted the very foundation of Zionist settler society," says the toolkit, distributed by "Students for Justice in Palestine" (SJP). “Today, we witness a historic win for the Palestinian resistance: across land, air, and sea, our people have broken down the artificial barriers of the Zionist entity, taking with it the facade of an impenetrable settler colony and reminding each of us that total return and liberation to Palestine is near."

"As the Palestinian student movement, we have an unshakable responsibility to join the call for mass mobilization," said the toolkit.

The toolkit later said that "we as Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement."

SJP is a pro-Palestinian college organization that operates in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. The group was recently deactivated from the University of Florida, and suspended from Rutgers University, following similar rallies at both universities.

A promotional graphic for the rallies included imagery of a Hamas paraglider used to attack Israeli citizens on Oct. 7, reported the News and Observer. 

The toolkit also said that "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" was part of the Palestinian people's “struggle for complete liberation and return.” That “operation” was the name for the Oct. 7 attacks which, according to the American Jewish Coalition (AJC), led to 1,210 dead Israelis. and 240 people taken hostage. 

The AJC also reported on the harsh treatment of hostages, saying that two teenage male hostages were branded with a motorcycle exhaust pipe so that they could be identified if they escaped. 

SJP rally attendees reportedly held signs with the phrase "from the river to the sea." That phrase refers to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which encompasses Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Some people interpret the phrase as a call for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state in its place, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. 

A recent survey of college students across the United States found that 86% supported the "from the river to the sea" chant, but only 47% were able to name the Jordan River and the Mediterranean sea. The Jerusalem Post reported that two-thirds of the surveyed students went from supporting the chant to rejecting it after being presented with a handful of "basic facts about the Middle East."  

The UNC-Chapel Hill rally featured a speech from Rev. Mark Davidson, executive director of Voices for Justice in Palestine, who said the Hamas attackers on Oct. 7 "were Palestinian freedom fighters using armed resistance in [an] attempt to throw off their Israeli colonizers," reported The Daily Tar Heel.  

UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, in a press statement issued by University Media Relations, said he was "disturbed to see the paraglider imagery promoting the SJP protest" and does "not condone calls for violence or prejudice against any member of our community," reported The Daily Tar Heel. 

Guskiewicz said he made his "concerns clear" over the "troublesome" imagery in a meeting with SJP student leaders. As of publication time, the university has not taken steps to formally censure or deactivate the group, as has been done at Rutgers and the University of Florida.