At UNC-Sponsored Event, Oct. 7 Massacre Called "Beautiful," Zionism a "Cancer"
Last week, the UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies sponsored an on-campus panel discussion titled, "No Peace Without Justice: A Round-Table Talk on Social Justice in Palestine."
At that event, one of the panelists, Dr. Rania Masri, described the Oct. 7 massacre of Israeli civilians as a "beautiful day":
"Oct. 7, for many of us from the region, was a beautiful day. It was the day in which we saw that, we saw our brothers, we saw our fathers, we saw men break out of a concentration camp."
She continued:
“So for many of us, the question is, how did they learn that? How did they develop those paratroopers? Where did they get those skills? How, how, after a hundred years of having a military boot on your neck, could you still develop the technique and the resilience to literally fly? That is what Oct. 7 means to many of us. And I just want to be very frank about it and not be in the least bit apologetic of the violence of the oppressed or the occupied.”
Some of the panelists expressed agreement with Dr. Masri's sentiment. None objected.
The contents of the UNC-sponsored discussion was first reported by the website The Algemeiner. Portions of the recording were posted to YouTube late last week. We obtained the audio in its entirety to confirm The Algemeiner's reporting. The balance of the discussion contains similar themes, though the "beautiful day" comment was certainly the most blunt.
Also participating in the discussion was UNC history instructor Kylie Broderick, who has called Israelis fleeing the Oct. 7 massacre "cowards" and published an op-ed justifying the slaughter of civilians.
We have a few questions:
Why is a UNC department sponsoring an event that celebrates the massacre of civilians?
If the speaker at the UNC-sponsored event had said something else abhorrent, like, "George Floyd's murder, for many of us from the region, was a beautiful day," would the reaction from administrators and faculty (or lack thereof) be any different?
What, if anything, is the university doing to protect Jewish students?
