UNC Students for Justice in Palestine hosts die-in outside South Building

On Friday, five long scrolls of paper sprawled down the steps of South Building listing names of the thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza.

In front of the building, 25 to 30 students lay on the ground holding posters that read “Free Palestine” and “Stop the Genocide.” Along the brick wall of the building leaned pictures of dozens of dead children with a sign reading, “Glory to our martyrs, free Palestine.”

The "die-in," hosted by UNC’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, was held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  as a part of a statewide effort to raise awareness about the thousands of Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza — over 30,000, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Ministry of Health.

“I was here to honor, mourn and remember the thousands of Palestinians [who] had been killed in this horrendous and ongoing genocide," Catherine Scott, a first-year student present at the die-in, said.

This was UNC SJP’s final event as a part of their Israeli Apartheid Week, an annual grassroots solidarity mechanism aiming to raise awareness and to encourage the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. The event also called for UNC and other participating campuses to divest from their Israeli study abroad programs.

The event was sponsored by five UNC organizations, including The Workers Union at UNC and Graduate Students for the Liberation of Palestine.

During the die-in, speakers read the full names and ages of Palestinians killed in the war, echoing throughout North Campus. Behind the speakers stood an art display of a Palestinian man wearing a Keffiyeh, a woman wearing a headscarf and a child under olive and orange trees.

One sign at the protest read, “Israel has killed more Palestinians than there are undergraduates at UNC-CH.”

UNC alumna Ruth Jeffers spoke at the die-in about Palestinian liberation. Jeffers was a member of the student organization Vegans for Peace UNC throughout her time at the University. In her speech, she said she saw a correlation between veganism and human liberation. She referenced the organization Vegan in Palestine, which promotes justice for humans and nonhumans around the world.

Jeffers also spoke about her experience studying abroad in Israel at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies.

“I realized that this institute, which claims to value peace building through dialogue and environmental cooperation, acts as an agent of Israel's apartheid and normalizes Israel's existence at the expense of Palestinians,” Jeffers said.

She said she supported UNC SJP’s demands for the University to divest from Israeli occupation and cease their three study abroad programs in the country. UNC’s study abroad programs in Israel send students to Kibbutz Ketura for the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and Jerusalem for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and UNC Creating the Video Essay in Israel. These programs were not offered for fall 2024 due to the U.S. Department of State's level 3 travel advisory regarding "terrorism" and "civil unrest."

Another speaker called for the University to publicly condemn the violence against Palestinians in a final speech before concluding the demonstration. The speaker said participants of the die-in were there to deny UNC normalcy and comfort.

Turning to face South Building, they said, “UNC, how many times and how many ways can I tell you that over 30,000 Palestinians have died, have been murdered? Millions displaced, thousands upon thousands under the rubble. How many infants starved to death will it take to make you react?”

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