At least 200 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill students and staff participated in an anti-Israel walkout led by UNC Students for Justice in Palestine on Thursday, according to the school’s student newspaper.
The Daily Tar Heel reported that the “Walk out for the West Bank” featured protesters walking in and out of various buildings around campus while spray-painting messages such as “Free Gaza,” “F—K UNC” and “Israel is a terror state.”
“There were several speeches demanding that the University reject Israel and the brutalization of students. Protesters chanted phrases like “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” as they walked through Halls,” the Daily Tar Heel reported.
Anti-Israel protesters have been causing campus unrest at the University of North Carolina since last school year. The “Gaza solidarity encampment” seen here was removed by police in April. (Travis Long/News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The paper reported that anti-Israel protesters also vandalized the UNC NROTC Naval Armory building with spray paint and draped a Palestinian flag from the gun turret.
“The American flag that waves outside of the building was also taken down by protesters,” the student newspaper reported.
Police arrived and restored the American flag within the hour.
“Police were already present on campus due to the emergency preparedness event happening around the same time,” The Daily Tar Heel reported.
UNC STUDENT WHO DEFENDED AMERICAN FLAG FROM CAMPUS MOB ‘HONORED TO GIVE BACK TO THE NATION’
“Some SJP members got into a physical altercation with counter protesters who were also present at the event,” the report added. “One SJP member said that their phone was taken by a counter protester, and thrown into the street.”
The University of North Carolina did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. The university told the Daily Tar Heel that “they have not seen or heard about anyone being detained.”
UNC Students for Justice in Palestine have demanded that UNC boycott “corporations and programs supporting Israel, including study abroad programs, and for the University to disclose and divest,” according to the report.
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has been plagued with campus unrest since last school year. Last spring, fraternity brothers at the school famously prevented the American flag on Chapel Hill’s quad from touching the ground when anti-Israel agitators tried to replace it with the Palestinian flag.
UNC students attend Flagstock in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Labor Day Monday, September 2, 2024. The concert was in honor of the fraternity brothers who stopped the American Flag on campus from hitting the ground during anti-Israel protests in May. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
A GoFundMe page created by a third party raised more than $500,000 for the students who saved the flag, which would be used for a “rager.” Country singer John Rich then offered to host a concert on Labor Day in their honor. That concert turned into a large show featuring multiple artists and bands including Big & Rich, Aaron Lewis, John Ondrasik and Lee Greenwood.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to brian.flood@fox.com and on Twitter: @briansflood.
