Israel-Gaza War Protest Ramps Up at UNC Asheville

ASHEVILLE –

As college students around the country and in parts of North Carolina continue to protest the war in Gaza, demonstrators at UNC Asheville ramped up their efforts with plans to begin staying overnight in the heart of campus. As rain fell the evening of May 4, protesters on the Quad said they would extend what had been three days of daytime protests into a 24-hour presence.

“The goal is to get in sleeping bags and camp underneath the stars. We’re going to be here for the weekend and then starting into the week,” said Wolfie Lane, a 26-year-old senior majoring in math and physics who was acting as spokesperson. The protest has varied in size, from 20 to up to 50 demonstrators, Lane said.

Other protests have occurred downtown with hundreds calling for a ceasefire and residents pushing the City Council to endorse such a move. Demands are similar to those of other pro-Gazan college protests and include revealing what investments the UNC system has in Israel and ending them. Others are cutting ties with Israeli universities and establishing links with Gazan universities and endorsing a ceasefire in the territory that has suffered under seven months of war with more than 34,000 people killed, mostly women and children.

That followed the surprise Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters who killed about 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians and many of them children. Unlike some other demonstrations, the UNC Asheville protest has not been marked by confrontations with law enforcement, though officers have been present when administration members have notified them of violations, such as tying tarps to trees, Lane said.

They have received no response to their demands he said, though at a May 2 faculty senate meeting they attempted to talk to Chancellor Kimberly van Noort. “We did try to have a conversation with her and hand her the demands, but she did not take them. We did hand them demands yesterday. We do not know if they have been read or not. We have not received any word from administration,” Lane said.

Van Noort and university spokespeople did not respond to multiple messages.