Suspended UW student group hosts fundraiser to 'materially support' Hezbollah

A suspended University of Washington student group previously tied to over $1 million in damage during a violent building takeover on campus is fundraising for what it calls the “Lebanese resistance,” also known as the US-designated terrorist group Hezbollah.

Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER UW), a suspended campus group linked to last year’s occupation of the university’s Interdisciplinary Engineering Building, is promoting an April 21 “Fundraiser for Lebanon” aimed at raising money to “materially support” the cause.

In promotional materials, the group urged supporters to attend the event at Seattle’s Cherry Street Village, calling it a “crucial time to raise funds to materially support as well as deepen our understandings of the Lebanese resistance.” The phrase “Lebanese resistance” is widely used in reference to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.

The fundraiser will include a screening of The Last Sky, a documentary that focuses on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and explores support for “armed resistance” against Israel. SUPER UW is also organizing a merchandise and bake sale, with a stated goal of raising $1,500 for what it describes as “mutual aid in Lebanon.”

The effort follows earlier fundraising campaigns by SUPER UW and affiliated Seattle-area groups, which promoted donations to organizations including the Al Naqab Center Fund, Solidarity Network Lebanon, and the Ainata Municipality. Those efforts were framed as humanitarian aid for individuals displaced by fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

“For those of us in the imperial core, direct aid is the least we can do to help ameliorate the conditions created by the violence bankrolled and carried out in our names,” the group wrote in a prior social media post. “As we organize for an end to US-Zionist imperialism in the region, from Beirut to Gaza to Tehran, we must show up…for the immediate survival of our siblings and comrades in Lebanon.”

SUPER UW has been linked to a broader network of organizations tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, another US-designated terrorist group. SUPER UW was part of the violent campus Gaza encampment in 2024 and was previously suspended following a 2024 occupation of the Husky Union Building that caused more than $50,000 in damage.

The group gained widespread attention following its role in the May 2025 occupation of UW’s newly opened engineering building, which resulted in more than $1 million in damage. Protesters barricaded exits, set fires outside the building, and were later arrested by police. Despite the scale of the incident, 33 individuals ultimately faced only misdemeanor trespass charges after prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to support felony charges. Roughly two dozen students connected to the group were suspended by the university but have since been allowed to return to campus.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire.