A GoFundMe page created for the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC) has raised 10 times as much as a pro-Palestinian fundraising page at the college.
Earlier this week, a pro-Palestinian protest at UNC was met with counter-protesters on the campus's main quad. Pro-Palestinian protesters removed an American flag on the campus and replaced it with a Palestinian flag, prompting many students and members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity to step in and protect the American flag.
Since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, tensions on college campuses have remained high, with many campuses seeing pro-Palestinian protests in recent weeks. Similar protests have occurred at Columbia University, George Washington University and the University of California, Los Angeles, among numerous other schools.
The video at UNC captures the students keeping the flag from touching the ground while being targeted by a group of protesters hurling objects at them. The incident went viral on social media and a GoFundMe was created for the fraternity, titled "Pi Kappa Phi Men Defended their Flag. Throw 'em a Rage."
"Commie losers across the country have invaded college campuses to make dumb demands of weak University Administrators," the GoFundMe page said. "These boys... no, men, of the UNC Chapel Hill Pi Kappa Phi, gave the best to America and now they deserve the best. Help us raise funds to throw this frat the party they deserve, a party worth [sic] of the boat-shoed Broleteriat who did their country proud."
As of Friday afternoon, the GoFundMe page has raised more than $500,000, and the organizers disabled further donations.
"We are overwhelmed by you glorious, Patriotic Americans who value good beer and great times," an update from the organizers said.
Newsweek reached out to the organizers via the GoFundMe website and the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity via email for comment.
On the other hand, a pro-Palestinian GoFundMe page was also created for protesters at UNC titled "Support for UNC Encampment Arrestees." The page has raised just over $46,000, surpassing its goal of $40,000, as of Friday.
"On Tuesday, April 30th—the fifth day of the Triangle Solidarity Encampment at UNC—student, faculty, and community protesters were twice violently brutalized by police from across the state," the GoFundMe organizers said on the page.
"30 protesters were arrested and trespassed from UNC campus, many of them UNC undergraduate and graduate students. As of May 1st, the administration suspended all UNC arrestees. Undergrads have been kicked out of their homes in the dorms and withdrawn from their classes; grad students are now unemployed without their stipend, healthcare, or any income."
Newsweek reached out to the organizers via the GoFundMe website for comment.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
