Amy Offner

On May 10, 2024, during Israel's war against Hamas terrorists, Amy Offner was featured in a video of a press conference by Penn faculty posted on YouTube, in which she said [00:00:54]: "We condemn in the strongest possible terms the decision of the Penn administration to call in riot police early this morning to arrest students and faculty [at the encampment]."

Offner continued [00:02:21]: "We demand that all charges be dropped, that the university reverse the mandatory leaves and other sanctions imposed on students, that the university dismiss all disciplinary cases against students targeted for their participation in the encampment."

Amy Offner also said [00:10:11]: "We stand with our students and colleagues who have displayed moral courage and discipline in the face of threats and police aggression."

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 part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Nearly 200 anti-Israel college encampments were set up in North America in spring 2024. Activists harassed Jews with antisemitic slurs, expressed [slide 5] support [00:02:45] for Hamas terrorism and called [00:04:45] for Israel's destruction. They blocked Jews from campus facilities and limited access to those with special wristbands or who said they weren't a Zionist.

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.

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.

Support for the Pro-Hamas Encampment at Penn

The Pro-Terror & Anti-Israel Movement After 10/7/2023

The BDS Movement

Social Media and Weblinks