DC students, faculty launch combined pro-Palestine protest at GWU
Students and faculty from colleges and universities around the D.C. area launched a combined demonstration at the George Washington University (GWU) campus early Thursday, continuing national protests against the Biden administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Hundreds of protesters, including some university faculty, have erected tents at the center of GWU’s campus. The encampment — about a half-mile from the White House — follows a similar strategy to Columbia University protests, which sparked a national movement and have beckoned the political spotlight.
In addition to urging the Biden administration against arms sales to Israel and to support a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, protest organizers have also demanded GWU and other universities stop investment in weapons manufacturers and companies that may profit from the conflict.
The coalition of students and faculty includes representation from Georgetown University; American University; George Mason University; the University of Maryland; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Howard University; and Gallaudet University, organizers said in a social media post.
“As our people discover mass graves of our martyrs in Gaza, it is our moral imperative to disrupt business as usual for an end to institutional cooperation in genocide,” organizers wrote, referring to the discovery of multiple mass graves at Gaza hospitals this week.
GWU administrators said Thursday that the demonstration is peaceful but called on protesters to move to other parts of the campus. Administrators added that non-GWU students were not allowed on campus for demonstrations, and that the protest must stop by 7 p.m.
“At 7 p.m., the students will be required to remove tents and disperse,” the university said, citing a policy forbidding overnight encampments on campus.
About 30 Georgetown faculty members joined a march of more than 100 students to the GWU protest on Thursday morning, The GW Hatchet reported.
Protesters prepared tents and sleeping bags, setting up a conflict with university administrators and D.C. police over the 7 p.m. deadline to disperse.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), a GWU alumnus, denounced the protests Thursday.
“Alumni will never allow that to happen,” he said of the demands for the university to divest from Israeli interests.
Moskowitz is among the members of Congress who have criticized the national student protest movement as antisemitic. He joined a group of Jewish Democrats at Columbia University on Monday.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) visited Columbia on Wednesday and similarly criticized the protests.
“What we are seeing on these college campuses across the country is disgusting and unacceptable, and every leader in this country, every political official, every citizen of good conscience has to speak out and say that, ‘This is not who we are in America,'" Johnson said in a Fox News appearance before his Columbia visit.
He added there must be “accountability, and that is what my colleagues and I will be working on.”
Hundreds of students have been arrested at protests nationwide in recent days, including more than 100 at Columbia University, more than 100 at Emerson University, more than 50 at the University of Texas at Austin, more than 40 at Yale University and dozens more at the University of Southern California.
Date: |
Filter
-
UCLA faculty protest at Hammer Museum gala, decrying treatment of pro-Palestinian students
Professors crash the Hammer Museum's starry gala, calling for UCLA's chancellor to resign and for pro-Palestinian student activists to be given amnesty.Los Angeles Times - Entertainment -
From Free Speech to Free Palestine: Six Decades of Student Protest
The protests against Israel’s war in Gaza are merely the latest in a tradition of student-led, left-leaning activism dating back at least to the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protests of the 1960s.The New York Times - Top stories -
Pro-Palestinian Student Protests Spread to Australia, France, U.K. and Elsewhere
Student activists in Australia, Britain, France and elsewhere are challenging their universities’ stances on the war in Gaza and ties to Israel.The New York Times - World - United Kingdom -
Pro-Palestine demonstration interrupts University of Michigan commencement
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan briefly interrupted the spring commencement ceremony Saturday. Videos of students wearing caps, gowns and keffiyehs, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, circulated online during ...The Hill - Politics -
Student protests threaten to overshadow commencements
Pro-Palestinian student activists have one last opportunity to make a big impact before campuses are barren for the summer: commencement. Tens of thousands of families and friends will flock to campuses across the country starting this weekend ...The Hill - Politics -
Bronny among 78 invited to NBA draft combine
The NBA sent mandatory invites to 78 players -- including USC's Bronny James -- to the 2024 NBA draft combine.ESPN - Sports - NBA -
Parents of students attending universities roiled by pro-Palestinian protests are frustrated with the colleges' response and have shown themselves ready to push back financially.
Parents of students attending universities roiled by pro-Palestinian protests are frustrated with the colleges’ response and have shown themselves ready to push back financially.The Wall Street Journal - World -
LAPD officers in riot gear clear pro-Palestinian encampment on USC campus
Live images from the campus of USC showed LAPD officers creating a perimeter around the site of the encampment, with no visible protesters on-site. Tents and debris were left behind.CBS News - Top stories -
Trinity College Dublin's students' union fined €214k over protests
TCD issues fine over loss of income as a result of recent blockades of a tourist attraction.BBC News - Top stories - College Football -
How students are using Sidechat for college protests
Sidechat, an app launched in 2022 where students can post anonymously about their colleges, is becoming a tool for those choosing to protest at U.S. campuses. Amanda Silberling, a senior culture writer for TechCrunch, joins CBS News with more ...CBS News - Top stories
More from The Hill
-
Biden’s environmental agenda is a dangerous path toward an energy crisis
Ironically, Biden's anti-coal crusade will render unattainable his electric vehicle goals.The Hill - Politics - Joe Biden -
Rep. Good: Greene ‘not acting in the best interests of President Trump’
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) on Sunday railed on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for continuing to push for a vote to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from his position, saying she is “not acting in the best interests of President Trump.” “I don't ...The Hill - Politics -
University of Florida president on response to protests: 'You don't get to take over the whole university'
University of Florida President Ben Sasse responded to the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests breaking out on his college campus and others across the country, saying that while students have a right to peacefully protest, they cannot "take over the ...The Hill - Politics - Florida -
Why does beer taste better cold? New research explains
Sure, it's easy to argue beer tastes best cold - but why?The Hill - Politics -
Sen. Kelly: Kari Lake’s rhetoric ‘could result in people getting hurt or killed’
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) slammed Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake for encouraging her supporters to arm themselves ahead of the election season, saying that rhetoric could result in people getting killed. In an interview that aired Sunday on ...The Hill - Politics