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Sana Rizvi
Sana Rizvi participated in the pro-Hamas encampment at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and in an anti-Israel campus walkout during Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists. Israel launched the war after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks.
Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds that day. For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
The Penn encampment was in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of February 2025, Sana Rizvi was listed on the Penn website as a PhD student in the Department of Religious Studies.
As of February 2025, Sana Rizvi's LinkedIn profile said she had worked as a student assistant in the Department of Eastern Art at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England.
As of the same date, Sana Rizvi's LinkedIn said she graduated with a master's in philosophy in modern South Asian studies from the University of Oxford (Oxford) in 2023. Oxford is located in Oxford, England.
Date: April 25, 2024
Organizers: Philly Palestine Coalition (PPC)
Location: Penn campus, Philadelphia, PA
Event Flyer: Instagram
On April 25, 2024, anti-Israel activists from Penn, Temple University and Drexel University set up the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the Penn campus to protest Israel's war against Hamas.
PPC also promoted the encampment by posting an Instagram graphic that said: "Join The Penn Encampment! Rally to Support Our Students and Stand With Gaza!"
The encampment was part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Date: October 16, 2023
Organizers: Penn Against the Occupation (PAO)
Location: Van Pelt Library at Penn, Philadelphia, PA
Event Flyer: Instagram
On October 16, 2023, Penn professors and students staged a “walkout” in support of the Hamas terror attack against Israel nine days earlier. The aim of the event was to “protest the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and stand in solidarity with Palestine.”
The protest, which was organized by Penn Against the Occupation (PAO), was titled: “Collective Walkout for Palestine,” where participants walked out of classes to the on-campus rally.
One professor led [00:00:03] the chant: “When people are occupied, resistance is justified!” Palestinians and anti-Israel activists often use the term “resistance” as a euphemism for nationalistic terror and to glorify anti-Semitic violence.
Another professor claimed [00:00:07] Israel “desecrates the memory of the Nazi Holocaust,” and at least one speaker accused [00:00:48] Israel of “genocide.”
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.
