UO event with Miss Israel disrupted by protesters, death threats reported

Anti-Israel protesters blocked access to a University of Oregon event featuring Noa Cochva, prompting campus police to secure the area near the Lillis Business Complex and forcing organizers to move the appearance off campus before Cochva arrived.

The event was set for April 22 on Chapman Lawn in Eugene and was sponsored by Oregon Hillel, StandWithUs and Ducks4Israel. Organizers described Cochva, Miss Israel 2021, as a combat medic in the Israel Defense Forces and said she was scheduled to speak about her military service, her Miss Universe experience and social-media advocacy for Israeli hostages held in Gaza after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

About 50 protesters gathered at the site, according to KVAL, and groups including the Eugene Revolutionary Study Group and the Revolutionary Committee later claimed victory online after the cancellation. Other groups identified in reports included the University of Oregon chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Eugene Revolutionary Women’s Committee.

University officials said police were present and physically secured the area, but the protest’s volume and conduct created safety concerns that led to the relocation. Cochva did not come on site. In an April 24 advisory, the university said it had received reports that hostile or threatening language was directed at attendees, specifically members of the Jewish student community, and said it was taking the conduct seriously under Title VI and university policy.

The university said it is reviewing police body-worn camera footage and will refer possible policy or law violations through appropriate disciplinary processes. Officials also said the event had been planned with a designated perimeter and additional precautions shaped by recent disruptions in the region.

For Oregon Hillel, the episode landed hard. Executive director Lenny Steinberg said the event had been intended as one-on-one dialogue rooted in listening and learning, and he said the disruption was a setback for Jewish students and the Eugene Jewish community. He also said the organization believed conditions on campus had been improving before the incident.

The confrontation came days after a similar demonstration in Seattle tied to Cochva’s campus tour, where three protesters were arrested, and two weeks after Oregon Hillel said it had gone into lockdown over what it described as a credible threat of violence against campus Jewish and Black communities. For UO’s Jewish students, the latest disruption underscored how quickly a campus event can turn into a safety dispute when protest boundaries collapse.