Sarah Nichols

On October 31, 2023, 120 students and alumni of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) signed a petition accusing Israel of "ongoing genocidal violence" in its war against Hamas, launched after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped hundreds and wounded thousands. War crimes included mass rape and torture. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.”

The SP2 student and alumni statement blamed Israel for the war. Referencing the 75 years since Israel had been founded in 1948, the statement said: "We are in unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people in their movement for safety and liberation. We recognize the critical context of the 75-year Israeli military occupation of Palestine as the root cause of the ongoing loss of both Palestinian and Israeli lives."

The statement accused Israel of "settler colonialism" multiple times. It further claimed Israel's war against Hamas was a "genocide" that was an example of "settler colonial violence" and "racialized violence."

The statement also demanded "an end to the siege on Gaza," alleging that Gaza was an "open-air prison," a reference to the 2011 UN-approved [pp. 39–41] joint blockade of the Gaza Strip by Egypt and Israel to stop Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets. Hamas went around the blockade by smuggling weaponry through tunnels under the Philadelphi corridor separating Gaza from Egypt.