Ensuring Academic Neutrality at UNC Chapel Hill

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Denise Montague

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Jul 7, 2026, 5:26:30 PM (8 days ago) Jul 7
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Note Additional Recipients: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (DOJ); Leo Terrell, Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and Chair, DOJ Task Force on Antisemitism; Secretary Linda McMahon (ED); U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR); Rep. Tim Walberg, Chair, House Education and Workforce Committee; Rep. Kevin Kiley, Chair, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education; Governor Josh Stein & Attorney General Jeff Jackson, State of North Carolina; Peter Hans, President, University of North Carolina System; Senator Michael Lee, Chair, NC Senate Education/Higher Education Committee; Representative Kelly Hastings, Chair, NC House Higher Education Committee; Anti-Defamation League (ADL); Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law; North American Values Institute (NAVI); United Christian Coalition; and Members of the Press.


Dear Chancellor Lee H. Roberts, Provost Magnus Egerstedt, Board of Trustees Chair Malcolm K. Turner, UNC System Board of Governors Chair Kellie Hunt Blue, and SACSCOC President Dr. Stephen L. Pruitt:

I'm aware that University of North Carolina (UNC) has recently formed a new anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian Middle East Unit, INSITE-Middle East, led by History Professor Cemil Aydin.

I'm reminded of the familiar Facebook refrain, "Tell me you're taking money from foreign countries that support terrorism without telling me you're taking money from foreign countries that support terrorism."

Dr. Aydin and a few dozen other UNC professors are signatories on the anti-Israel document Palestine and Praxis: Open Letter and Call to Action. [1] The document states:

"In the classroom and on campus, we commit to pressuring our academic institutions and organizations to respect the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions [BDS] of Israel by instating (sic) measures that remove complicity and partnership with military, academic, and legal institutions involved in entrenching Israel's policies."

Despite UNC faculty calling for BDS, it has been illegal for organizations in North Carolina to engage in BDS activities since 2017. [2]

But to a larger point, how is this consistent with academic integrity and objectivity? Unfortunately, UNC has a history of turning a blind eye to blatant discrimination and other violations of Title VI policies:

• Five UNC administrators and over 200 UNC faculty signed the 2021 "Statement on Palestine from North Carolina Academics" which claimed that Israel was oppressing the Palestinian people [3]
• Four of those who signed the above document were panelists in the 2021 event
• A protégé of Dr. Aydin, Kylie Broderick, taught a pre-October 7 2023 course called "History of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict". She signed the Palestine and Praxis letter, publicly advocated against the existence of Israel and tweeted "F-- Israel and all you lovers of Israel's genocide". [4]
• In 2023, the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at UNC signed onto a Solidarity Statement with Palestinians. The statement remained on their site for months and was quietly removed.
• A 2023 event called "No Peace without Justice: A Round Table Talk about Social Justice in Palestine" was co-sponsored by several UNC departments. [5] A speaker at the event, Dr. Rania Masri, said, "October 7 (2023) for many of us from the region was a beautiful day" and "let us demand the eradication of Zionism." [6] She was extremely complimentary of the Palestinian/Hamas gunmen who paraglided into Israel that day, butchering over 1200 people and taking 250 people hostage, some for the next two years. Their victims included infants, toddlers, young people, women, and elderly people of various religions and nationalities. No one was spared in the depraved rampage. Hamas has been a Foreign Terrorist Organization in the US since 1997. [7]
• In 2024 an event entitled "News Media Frameworks for Israel/Palestine". Four of the panelists signed the 2021 Statement on Palestine from North Carolina Academics in a five-to-zero panel against Israel. [8] Organizers apparently learned from the 2023 debacle and asked participants not to make recordings of the proceedings. Why is a public event on UNC campus and using UNC resources, provided by federal and state taxpayers, not allowed to be recorded?
• 2026 naming a clearly anti-Israeli professor, Dr. Aydin, the head of the INSITE-Middle East unit. Here is another false claim from Dr. Aydin: "When I teach about apartheid in South Africa, I always have students who say, 'I can't believe the US supported the apartheid regime for so long.' May I have future students who say the same about Israel-Palestine."[9]

There is absolutely nothing in Dr. Aydin's curriculum vitae [10] that would support any notion of objectivity on his part. His publications have to do with "Anti-Westernism" and the post-WWI and post-Holocaust world in which the Middle East reacted with the Nakba, the self-imposed damage done when five Arab states all attacked Israel the day after it declared independence. The Arab invasion was soundly defeated by the newly re-established Jewish nation. Here are some inconvenient facts for Dr. Aydin and others of his ilk at UNC:

1. Israel is not an apartheid state. 
This has been disproved time and time again. Along with 7.5 million Jewish people, there are 1.6 million Muslims in Israel, as well as 180,000 Christians and 140,000 Druze. All Israeli citizens, regardless of race or creed, have the same citizenship rights, including voting, ability to run for legislature, as well as serving in judicial, law enforcement, and military positions. [11] This includes LGBTQ+ individuals, who do not enjoy the same rights or even safety anywhere else in the Middle East.

2. Israel has not committed genocide in Gaza, or anywhere else. 
Claims of genocide in Gaza have been repeatedly rejected by legal scholars and military experts. [12] [13] [14] Even figures cited by the Gaza Health Ministry, operating under Hamas control, report approximately 67,000 deaths without reliably distinguishing between civilians and combatants. [15] Israeli and Western intelligence assessments estimate that between 25,000 and 30,000 of those killed were Hamas combatants. In a population of roughly 2.2 million people, even the highest civilian casualty estimates fall far below any historical or legal definition of genocide. More importantly, these claims lack the essential element of genocidal intent: a plan to destroy a people as such, rather than to dismantle a terrorist organization that deliberately embeds itself among civilians.

North Carolina adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in 2024. [16] There are too many infractions of this definition at UNC campus to count. The "eradication of Zionism", for example, denies the right of the state of Israel to exist, which is one tenet of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. [17] The numerous criticisms of Israel violate the clause in which Israel cannot be held to a higher standard than other countries. [ibid] 113 nations have been formed in the world since 1948. UNC: how many of those other 113 nations do you also have entire departments conspiring against their right to exist? How many of these 113 nations have you formed units designed to indoctrinate students against and otherwise destroy?

As an institution that accepts federal tax dollars, UNC is obligated to prevent the creation of a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students and faculty and is clearly not doing that. In addition, UNC is in violation of North Carolina statutes on BDS (2017), Campus Free Speech (2017), and IHRA definition adoption (2024):

• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on religion or national origin, under which Jewish people are a protected class [18]
• Executive Order 13899 and Executive Order 14188, which direct application of Title VI protections to antisemitism using the IHRA Working Definition and additional measures to combat campus antisemitism [19]
• North Carolina Article 36, § 116-300 states that "the constituent institution shall remain neutral, as an institution, on the political controversies of the day." This was passed in 2017. [20]
• North Carolina Article 6G, § 14786.80 bars organizations from engaging in BDS since 2017 [21]
• North Carolina adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism in 2024 as part of Chapter 12 of the General Statutes: 12-3.2 [22]

Why should we be surprised by bad decisions at UNC? UNC was one of the first universities to adopt the now-defunct Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative in 2019, declared illegal in 2024 by the state of North Carolina. [23] UNC had to dismantle its program, get rid of 20 positions, and move other people into a framework acceptable by the Board of Governors. [24]

Mark my words, the appointment of openly anti-Israel Dr. Aydin to the UNC INSITE-Middle East leadership does not exist in a vacuum. Federal foreign gift and contract disclosures show UNC-Chapel Hill alone has received 439 reported foreign gifts and contracts totaling $117,504,872, with Charlotte and Greensboro campuses adding another $14,294,891 across 16 more disclosures. That is a staggering amount of foreign money flowing into a system that is simultaneously standing up anti-Israel academic units, platforming speakers who celebrate the October 7 massacre, and ignoring the legal obligations imposed by Title VI, Executive Order 13899, and Executive Order 14188. The question UNC leadership must answer is not simply where this money comes from, but whether it is shaping campus policy, curriculum, and institutional priorities in ways that override federal civil rights law.

North Carolina taxpayers and Jewish students deserve a full accounting of which countries and entities are behind these disclosed gifts, and whether that funding correlates with the university's drift toward anti-Israel advocacy. Carnegie-Mellon University offers a cautionary precedent: it was ordered to disclose that it receives at least $1B from Qatar after litigation proved the funding was tied to contractual commitments requiring the university to honor Qatar's "cultural, religious, and social customs" [25] -- a country that discriminates against women, LGBTQ persons, and the practice of Judaism, among other offenses that are not offenses in North Carolina or any other state in the US.

UNC, you're learning, but not quickly enough. In 2024 you finally banned the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), for disruptions and encampments on Polk Place, and for defacing the steps of the South Building with fake blood. Good for UNC - National SJP is a Marxist and violent organization that calls on the national level to take over universities and turn them into re-education camps. [26]

Now, UNC needs to act to ensure that Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel students and faculty study and work on a safe and productive campus environment that is institutionally neutral regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians.

UNC, you must adhere to the federal and state laws requiring you to prevent discrimination and practice institutional neutrality. I urge you to:

1. Appoint an objective person to lead the INSITE-Middle East unit and dismiss Dr. Aydin based on the fact that he has proven himself unwilling to comply with the critical laws listed above.
2. Conduct a thorough investigation into all of the professors and leaders involved in INSITE-Middle East, along with full partnership of law enforcement, where appropriate, to check for discriminatory conduct.
3. Dismiss the administrators who refuse to uphold the principles of institutional neutrality.
4. Conduct an investigation into whether students and faculty have already suffered discrimination and hostile work/study environments as a result of your poor performance in this area.
5. Maintain all documentation and findings for use by local and federal agencies.

I will be awaiting the action you take on this critical issue.

With firm resolve,
Denise Montague

References:
1. https://palestineandpraxis.weebly.com/
2. https://brandeiscenter.com/north-carolina-enacts-anti-bds-law/
3. https://docs.google.com/document/d/18aJkfymS24WxJNhvP96vULTi9xm6zk8RgeDeBTfw6iY/edit?tab=t.0
4. http://voice4israel.com/wp-content/uploads/22/03/Fuck-Israel.png
5. https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/12/22/will-events-at-unc-prompt-a-change-in-policy-on-anti-israel-incitement/
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pQiMy9YPHY
7. https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations
8. https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/02/19/unc-keeps-breaking-legal-obligations-with-anti-israel-events-will-the-legislature-or-officials-act/
9. https://www.algemeiner.com/2026/07/01/after-years-of-warnings-and-bias-unc-continues-to-push-an-anti-israel-agenda/
10. https://history.unc.edu/person/cemil-aydin/
11. https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/10-reasons-israel-is-not-an-apartheid-state_b_9128056
12. AJC. "5 Reasons Why the Events in Gaza Are Not 'Genocide,'" September 16, 2025. https://www.ajc.org/news/5-reasons-why-the-events-in-gaza-are-not-genocide.
13. Berkman, Johanna. "She Stood up for the Truth. Then the UN Fired Her." The Free Press, February 3, 2025. https://www.thefp.com/p/johanna-berkman-alice-nderitu-fired-from-un-israel-hamas-gaza-genocide.
14. Middle East Eye. "Gaza Death Toll Rises to 67,869," October 13, 2025. https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/gaza-death-toll-rises-67869.
15. "Gaza Strip | Definition, History, Facts, & Map." Encyclopedia Britannica, September 27, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/place/Gaza-Strip.
16. https://www.ajc.org/use-of-the-working-definition-in-the-us
17. https://holocaustremembrance.com/?s=ihra+definition
18. https://www.justice.gov/crt/fcs/TitleVI-Overview
19. Executive Order 13899, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/12/16/2019-27217/combating-anti-semitism; Executive Order 14188, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/03/2025-02230/additional-measures-to-combat-anti-semitism
20. https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_116/Article_36.html
21. https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_147/Article_6G.pdf
22. https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/Senate/PDF/S739v0.pdf
23. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/north-carolina-bans-dei-at-public-colleges-after-lawmakers-override-governor-s-veto/ar-AA27fmi6
24. https://www.unc.edu/posts/2024/09/11/how-carolina-is-complying-with-unc-systems-dei-policy/
25. https://www.thelawfareproject.org/releases/2026-02-04/legal-victory-in-court-ordered-discovery-ruling-against-carnegie-mellon-university
26. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/66ce27136b407f0aaf0504b6/t/6a20772085328f2a4993da6e/1780512544796/The+University+and+the+Reproduction+of+Capitalist-Imperialist+Society_Digital+1.pdf
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