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Janay Draughn
Janay Draughn was a member of a Penn student group that signed a statement supporting Hamas war crimes against Israeli civilians, including mass murder, torture, rape, beheadings and kidnappings, carried out on October 7, 2023.
On October 11, 2023, the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) anti-Israel group Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine (PAO) authored a statement in support of Hamas titled: “Statement of Solidarity with Palestine.” Four other groups co-signed the statement, which praised [slide 2] Hamas as “the Palestinian resistance.” The statement described [slide 4] Hamas’s war crimes against Israeli civilians, such as mass murder, torture, rape, beheadings and kidnappings, as “resistance efforts.”
The statement began [slide 2]: “We, the undersigned, write this statement in support of Palestinians who are fighting to liberate their lands from the Israeli Occupation.” The statement also said [slide 2] the groups “unequivocally condemn” Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hamas, asserted [slide 5] that Palestinians had the “right to resist” Israel “by any means necessary” and claimed [slide 4]: “Israel bears sole responsibility for the violence” since Hamas invaded Israel.
On Saturday, October 7, 2023, approximately 2,900 heavily armed Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s border with Gaza. They executed numerous war crimes on civilians, including mass murder, beheadings of children, rape of men and women, torture, kidnappings and mutilation.
Hamas broadcast videos of their butchery on social media, often to victims’ accounts for families to see. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.” As of November 10, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians, were murdered during the attacks. Hamas kidnapped 242 Israelis, including at least 30 children. At least 3,500 people were wounded, many severely.
A terrorist detained by Israel admitted he raped an Israeli woman when he broke into a kibbutz house during the October 7, 2023 attack. In March 2024, a former hostage of Hamas publicly stated she was sexually abused and tortured while in captivity.
For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, European Union, Israel and other countries. Founded in 1987, it has killed thousands of Israeli civilians through mass shootings and suicide bombings. Hamas has also kidnapped children, families and the elderly and held them hostage in Gaza. It has desecrated [slide 7] dead bodies and launched numerous rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.
At the time of the October 2023 PAO statement, Draughn was reportedly a member of Police Free Penn when the group signed the statement.
As of October 2023, Draughn’s LinkedIn profile said she was studying for a bachelor’s degree in English at Penn, slated to graduate in May 2024.
Draughn’s LinkedIn said she had been a “Research Peer Advisor” at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (Penn CURF) since October 2021.
Draughn’s LinkedIn also said she had been a “Student Mentor” at The Pregame at Penn since June 2022. She wrote on her LinkedIn: “I’m a mentor to incoming Black undergraduate student [sic] at Penn.”
As of the same date, Draughn’s LinkedIn said she was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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