Should taxpayers fund ‘Imagining Palestine’ at UNC?

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has Americans thinking about where their tax dollars are going. Many applaud the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. Shouldn’t state governments also be accountable and make the best use of taxpayer dollars?

With a budget of $4.2 billion, North Carolina taxpayers want to know what kind of education our flagship public university, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) is providing. Given ongoing pro-Hamas demonstrations, state residents wonder how campus instruction has induced students to agitate in support of such an ideology. Unfortunately, inquiries into this issue have been met with stonewalling.

One blatant example is a course called “Imagining Palestine,” which targets incoming freshmen for credit in the Asian and Middle East Studies Department. The course description claims the class will explore the “idea of Palestine,” likely because currently it is an idea, a concept without borders. The word “Palestine” has been introduced into our language and is used effectively to erase Israel, Jews, and Jewish connection to the land. It is certainly associated with anti-Israel/pro-Hamas movements on campus.

Is such a course an honest academic exercise or simply anti-Israel/antisemitic propaganda? Should UNC bestow course credit for such activity?

The course instructor, Nadia Yaqub, has an extensive rap sheet with Canary Mission, which tracks professors with a history of agitating for and promoting antisemitism. Not only does she target students, she also spreads her ideology to faculty by developing workshops, such as “Teach Palestine.” This is the kind of propaganda that leads to pro-Hamas activity on campus.

Before the class began, efforts were made to learn more about the course content. The chancellor was contacted with a request to audit the class or record it, but there was no response. UNC protocol states the instructor must give permission to audit, but these inquiries were denied when the instructor claimed the course was full.

Requests for records were placed with UNC’s public records system, asking only for the instructor name and syllabus for the “Imagining Palestine” course, as well as for the course “Conflict Over Israel/Palestine,” which is notorious for its antisemitic teachers.  The records department responded with, “There are no existing or responsive University records subject to disclosure under the North Carolina Public Records Act.” 

A state senator was contacted for assistance and recommended either hiring an attorney or contacting the NC Open Government Coalition at Elon University. Per the latter’s recommendation, UNC was asked to clarify if the materials were a) not in their possession or b) not subject to disclosure. If not subject to disclosure, which specific statutory exception justifies the refusal to release the information? No response.

A second inquiry was placed for the same courses, this time requesting any and all materials (to include printed, online documents, videos, social media). It garnered the same non-response. No records were found “subject to disclosure.” In reviewing the list of records exempt under the Freedom of Information Act in NC, none of the requested materials should have been withheld. The course proceeded behind a curtain, shielded from public view.

Many taxpayers see the pro-Hamas, antisemitic, and anti-American activity on campus and they don’t want to pay for it. The sources of these ideological issues must be brought to light, yet North Carolina citizens are being blocked from learning the truth. It’s time to demand an honest accounting of what’s happening on campus, or the rot will continue to fester and damage what was once a fine institution.