In Solidarity with Palestine Protests on NC Campuses

Statements

Apr 29

Muslim Women For unequivocally stands in solidarity with students across North Carolina have established encampments, including at UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte and NC State, and other campuses, protesting the ongoing genocide in Palestine. We share their demands for universities to divest from companies complicit in human rights violations against Palestinians, and support efforts for a permanent ceasefire and peaceful resolution in Gaza.

As an organization that had its beginnings in student organizing, we affirm and applaud students exercising their right to protest and demand an end to violence and oppression.

We recognize the history of police suppressing protest movements and disproportionately criminalizing Black, Brown, Indigenous, Muslim and student communities in the United States. We condemn any escalating police violence against peaceful protesters, and call on organizational partners and community members to support these student organizers.

Along with demands for divestment from Israel, students across UNC system schools are demanding the NC Board of Governors not to make cuts to DEI Funding. In March and April of 2024, the Board of Trustees committee and the Board of Governors discussed the potential dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Most notably, Marty Kotis, the vice-chair of UNC’s Budget, Finance, and Infrastructure committee, says: “I believe DEI simply causes divisiveness..”

We commend these students for their commitment to justice from North Carolina to Palestine.