Evie Knowlton

On April 25, 2024, anti-Israel activists and UConn students set up a pro-Hamas encampment on the UConn campus to protest Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

The encampment was started by local activist groups CT Palestine Solidarity Coalition and UConnDivest. Both groups have spread pro-terror and pro-Hamas material on social media, including the "" symbol, which is a show of support for the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023.

One prominently positioned sign at the UConn encampment read: "RESIST GENOCIDE BY ANY MEANS." Anti-Israel activists use the phrase “by any means necessary” as one of multiple euphemisms for terrorist violence, including “resistance.”

Activists called the encampment, which was located outside the school’s Dove Tower, the “UCommune.” The encampment was also in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

On April 30, 2024, following several warnings to take down the tents, police went into the UConn encampment and arrested 25 people, charging them with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.

There were over 200 pro-Hamas and anti-Israel college encampments set up in North America, and over 20 more globally, in the spring of 2024. The first began on April 17, 2024, at Columbia University. The encampments were unofficially known as the “student intifada,” borrowing a term associated with terrorist violence.

Protesters harassed Jewish students, blocked Jews from campus facilities and shouted anti-Semitic slogans. They occupied campus grounds, in many cases illegally, caused property damage, violently took over buildings, celebrated terrorism and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Activists set up encampments to oppose Israel’s right to wage war against the Hamas terror group following October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 people, including 32 American and 8 Canadian citizens. Hamas also kidnapped 252 people, including 11 Americans and the bodies of 2 murdered Canadians.

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents and pro-terror activism on campus.