Pro-Palestinian Supporters Voice Frustrations After Being Removed From UNCC’s Campus

CHARLOTTE – Pro-Palestinian activists organized Wednesday in Uptown. This just one day after they were removed from UNC Charlotte’s campus.

You can see in videos, university police walking through the 22-day old encampment Tuesday morning, collapsing tents, and telling people to clear out.

“While students were still sleeping, their belongings were confiscated and damaged,” said UNCC Alumni Noor Sanjak. “The encampment was raided with seconds notice, and this led to the arrest of a student.”

Protesters say they want the university to stop associating with campaigns and organizations that they say are profiting from the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine.

“Instead of hearing students demands and engaging in dialogue, UNC administration responded violently to the peaceful protest by raiding their encampment, throwing their belongings in the trash, and arresting and suspending students,” said Jewish Voices for Peace member Sam Poler.

UNCC shared this statement with WCCB, saying in part, “In the aftermath of the dispersal, various concerning items were discovered, including knives, box cutters, a collection of baseball-sized rocks, and a mattress that was used to collect and store feces.”

Palestinian American Randa Aldarini spoke with WCCB’s Emma Mondo at Wednesday’s news conference. She lived under the apartheid occupation in the west bank for eight years. She tells me she has been out with the protesters, marching through the UNC Charlotte campus.

“What I saw from these students last Saturday. It was very peaceful. They were very organized. And they they were not going to put up with any type of, of, you know, opposite rhetoric that was coming out that was going to be violent. They weren’t going to put up with it.”