Sonya Stacia
Sonya Stacia was a spokesperson for a pro-Hamas encampment at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) during Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists. Israel launched the war after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks. She has also engaged in anti-Israel campus activism.
Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, injured thousands and kidnapped hundreds more that day. For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
The encampment was part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Stacia has been active with the anti-Israel campus group Freedom School of Palestine (FSP) since at least November 2023.
In May 2024, Stacia was suspended by Penn for violating university policies while participating in the pro-Hamas encampment.
In October 2023, Sonya Stacia's since-deleted LinkedIn profile said she was studying for a bachelor's degree in international relations at Penn. As of May 2024, she was listed as a junior at Penn.
Penn is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
On April 30, 2024, during Israel's war against Hamas terrorists, Sonya Stacia spoke [00:00:31] with CBS Philadelphia as one of encampment organizers at Penn.
In her interview, referring to anti-Israel activists at the encampment, Stacia said [00:00:31]: "This is a broad coalition. This is Philadelphia community members. It's Penn's staff. It's Penn faculty. It's students..."
Stacia also said [00:01:51]: "We think it is imperative that in a time of genocide like that which we are seeing in Gaza, that Penn uses its power to help those who are currently under siege."
Israel and Egypt implemented a UN-approved [pp. 39–41] joint blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2011 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.
On May 9, 2024, CBC News reported that Sonya Stacia and five other anti-Israel activists were suspended by Penn for violating university policies while participating in the pro-Hamas encampment.
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.
The encampment was one of about 200 anti-Israel college encampments set up in North America, and over 20 globally, in the spring of 2024. The first began on April 17, 2024, at Columbia University. Protesters harassed Jewish students, blocked Jews from campus facilities and used anti-Semitic language in their activism. They also promoted BDS and protested Israel’s war against Hamas, launched after Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023.
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.
On October 16, 2023, during Israel's war against Hamas terrorists, Stacia participated in an anti-Israel protest at Penn titled: "Collective Walkout for Palestine."
The protest aimed to “protest the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and stand in solidarity with Palestine.”
During the protest, one professor led the chant: “When people are occupied, resistance is justified!”
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.
On February 26, 2024, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that Stacia participated in an anti-Israel study-in and rally with the anti-Israel campus group Freedom School of Palestine (FSP) at Penn.
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.