Hundreds of community members rally and march across campus in solidarity with Palestine
UNC students and community members gather in front of South Building on Polk Place for the March for Divestment on Sunday, April 28, 2024.
More than 500 students, faculty and community members gathered on Polk Place on Sunday to march across campus in solidarity with Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and urge the University to divest from Israel.
Many of the attendees were UNC, Duke University and N.C. State University students who were already gathered at the Quad, participating in day three of UNC’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine’s “Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”
Other attendees came from around the Triangle to stand with the student protesters. Together, the crowd engulfed Polk Place around 3:15 p.m.
By then, the encampment had been active for about 53 hours.
“We will continue to be out here until the University hears us, feels us and listens to us,” an SJP member said as she addressed the protesters.
The march was endorsed by numerous groups, including SJP, the North and South Carolina branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Triangle chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and the NC Triangle Democratic Socialists of America.
Sylvie, an SJP organizer, said the encampment and march were an effort to demand University divestment from all Israeli investments, hold the University accountable and push UNC to commit a full academic boycott — including study abroad and exchange programs with universities in Israel.
They said the extent of further escalation at the encampment is “touch-and-go” and that SJP is watching the situation as it develops.
“I think the fact the encampment has endured this long, in spite of [administration] really not wanting us here, is escalation itself,” they said. “I think the fact hundreds of people have shown up today is an escalation in itself.”
University administration has not yet publicly acknowledged the encampment. In a faculty council meeting on Friday, interim Chancellor Lee Roberts said while students have a right to peacefully protest, they must follow University rules.
Roberts said the University has a “long and noble” tradition of peaceful protest on campus and encourages respectful demonstrations, as long as they follow UNC’s constraints and policies.
Before setting off to march, an SJP and PSL leader alternated in introducing six speakers representing various groups and organizations, including SJP, The Workers Union at UNC and the Southern Student Action Coalition as well as the NCSU chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America.
“I am on these steps today because this University's leadership refuses, and has always refused, to be on the right side of history,” one speaker, a graduate student at UNC, said.
Another speaker thanked the faculty and larger local community for showing up. She said the “unprecedented” crowd for Palestine on UNC’s campus meant that to her, they could reach their goals.
UNC students and community members gather in front of South Building on Polk Place for the March for Divestment on Sunday, April 28, 2024.
She said she disagrees with the argument that the encampment on UNC’s campus was hindering education at the University.
“This encampment and this movement is the best education to get on how to fully show up for the world right now,” she said.
After listening to the speakers, the demonstrators clapped along to a Spanish musical performance, the lyrics of which had been changed to represent Palestinian liberation. Once the cheers and claps calmed down around 4:20 p.m., the crowd began to march.
Leaders guided about 500 protesters past South Building and around the paths of McCorkle Place, completely encircling the space.
A variety of chants echoed into the air as demonstrators called out phrases including “Say it loud, say it clear! Students have the power here!” and “Liberate our campus now! Hands off our students now!”
A Palestinian American senior student at UNC attended the rally because she felt it the best way to support Palestine from overseas. She said she hopes the protests show the University’s administration that many people are on the side of Palestine.
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“This is the student’s University,” she said. “I just want them to see that people care and they should care.”
Another attendee, a graduate student from Duke, said she decided to join because she thought it was important to continue pressuring both UNC and Duke to divest. She said it was really amazing to see how long the line of protester stretched.
“I think it’s an empowering experience, to be together physically and march,” she said.
Cars honked as the crowd crossed East Cameron Avenue, blocking traffic. Demonstrators chanted the entire time, waving signs and drumming as they circled around McCorkle Place, Polk Place and past the Pit. Medics and marshals wearing red and yellow bandanas remained by the outskirts of the crowd.
UNC students taking graduation photos walk through Polk Place as hundreds of protestors march through campus on Sunday, April 28, 2024.
Students peered out from the windows of Davis Library and turned their heads from seats around Lenoir Hall as the group made its way across campus.
At least one UNC Police officer watched from inside South Building. Two Chapel Hill Police Department cars were stationed on Franklin Street near the Chapel Hill Post Office and watched the march, but no police approached the demonstrators during the march.
The Dean of Students, Desirée Rieckenberg, was also present, along with various news outlets.
By 4:50 p.m., the demonstrators had begun to regroup in Polk Place. While the crowd had thinned to about 200 people, they continued to chant in Arabic and English as many jumped and clapped to the words.
The rally officially ended at 5:00 p.m., but an SJP member told the group that the encampment wasn’t over and SJP would continue to occupy Polk Place until UNC complies with their demands.
SJP served dinner to the demonstrators, and Muslim attendees prayed on tarps across Polk Place.
Police presence increased around the encampment. An SJP member warned the crowd that the tents could increase the risk or arrest for demonstrators and further escalation could develop throughout the evening.
