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Henna Ayesh
Henna Ayesh served as the media liaison for the pro-Hamas encampment at DePaul University (DePaul) in April and May 2024.
Ayesh also spread an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, expressed support for terrorists, promoted hatred of Israel. She engaged in anti-Israel activism and wrote her social media posts during Israel’s war against Hamas. Israel launched the war after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks.
Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, injured thousands and kidnapped hundreds more that day. For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
As of February 2025, Ayesh was listed as the president of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at DePaul (SJP DePaul). She was co-president [00:00:14] in September 2024. DePaul is located in Chicago, Illinois.
In February 2025, Ayesh said [00:00:55] she was a "Co-Event Coordinator" for SJP Chicago, an umbrella group for SJP chapters in the Chicago area.
Ayesh is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of February 2025, Ayesh's LinkedIn profile said she was studying for a bachelor's degree in political science at DePaul, slated to graduate in 2026, and that she was located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
On May 4, 2024, The DePaulia reported that Ayesh was the "media liaison" for DePaul's pro-Hamas encampment, which was held from April 30, 2024 until May 16, 2024, when it was cleared by the police.
On August 6, 2024, Ayesh was featured in an Instagram video speaking about the DePaul encampment. She said [00:00:02]: “When we're chanting at night and we’re saying intifada revolution... it really does make it feel like this is what it would be like if we were in Falastin, in a liberated Palestine where you know there was no occupation, there was no apartheid system, it just, it gives us a sense of like what it would be like if the, you know, 1948 Nakba never happened."
The term “intifada” translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection” and carries the connotation of terrorist violence, including suicide bombings, hijackings, shootings and stabbings.
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
During the DuPaul encampment, Jewish students were reportedly harassed by members of the encampment.
On May 20, 2024, The DePaulia reported that the university "received over 625 registered complaints from neighbors and community members related to the encampment, 34 reports of antisemitism and four credible threats of violence."
Close to 200 anti-Israel college encampments were set up in North America in the spring of 2024. The first took place at Columbia University. Protesters harassed Jewish students, blocked Jews from campus facilities, used anti-Semitic language in their activism, promoted BDS and protested Israel’s war against Hamas.
On November 8, 2024, while Ayesh was the president of SJP DePaul, the group posted on Instagram a series of slides titled: "How America is Ran [sic] By Zionists." The group wrote in the post: "It’s important to address the power AIPAC has in our nation. We as American citizens should be concerned as to what organizations are funding our politicians. How AIPAC—an organization rooted in the erasure of the Palestinian people— is influencing our elected officials and their decisions."
The stated mission of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is to “strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.”
The implication that AIPAC buys political support for Israel has been described as playing into “anti-Semitic tropes” that led to “centuries of stereotypes about Jews using money to control the world.”
Ayesh commented on the post: "🔥🔥🔥🔥."
On October 7, 2023, SJP DePaul posted on Instagram a flyer calling for an emergency protest titled: "PALESTINE RESISTS OCCUPATION" to be held outside the Israeli consulate on October 8, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.
The post said: "...On October 6th, 2023, Palestinians exercised their right to resist their oppressor...”
Ayesh commented on the post with two Palestinian flag emojis.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped hundreds and wounded thousands. War crimes included mass rape and torture. Many Palestinian civilians participated in and supported the attacks, and Gazans working in the targeted Israeli communities gave intelligence to Hamas on where to strike.
For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
Anti-Israel activists use the term “resistance” to refer to violence and terror perpetrated against Israeli civilians and their allies. It is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence. Anti-Israel activists chant slogans such as: “Resistance by any means necessary!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” in response to terror attacks.
On September 1, 2023, SJP DePaul posted on Instagram a series of slides titled: "A Profound Hypocrisy: isr*eli Terrorism.”
Ayesh commented on the post: "Sjp did it again..."
On January 15, 2025, while Ayesh was the president of SJP DePaul, the group was listed as a collaborator on an Instagram post titled: "CEASEFIRE IN GAZA!" by SJP Chicago.
The post said [slide 2]: "OVER THE LAST 15 MONTHS, ISRAEL HAS UNLEASHED ITS FULL TERRORISM ON THE REGION...IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR THAT THIS EXPANSIONIST, COLONIAL STATE HAS NO LIMITS AND FOLLOWS NO LAWS IN ITS BARBARISM..."
On October 7, 2024, CBS News reported that Ayesh was the lead organizer of a student walkout held at DePaul on the same day. She spoke at the student walkout, saying [00:00:44]: "...October 7th unfolded a rise of resistance and resilience..."
Among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” is a euphemism for nationalistic terror and is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence.
During the walkout, anti-Israel protesters held signs, including one that featured a picture of Leila Khaled holding a rifle and text that said: “BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.”
Leila Khaled is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau. Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated [00:36:07] for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.
Anti-Israel activists use the phrase “by any means necessary,” as one of multiple euphemisms for terrorist violence, including “resistance.”
SJP is the leading student organization engaged in anti-Israel activity on North American college and university campuses. The first chapter of SJP was founded in 2001 at the University of California at Berkeley by Professor Hatem Bazian, who has spread anti-Semitism and defended the Hamas terror group.
SJP organizes anti-Israel campus campaigns, including running annual Israel Apartheid Weeks and pushing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. SJP activists have reportedly physically assaulted, intimidated and harassed Jewish students, and SJP chapters have often endorsed and campaigned for terrorists.
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.
