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Date: 2024-12-26 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00026679

STUDENT PROTESTS BY HISTORIC STANDARDS, NOT SO BIG! WP: Hundreds of students, advocates converge at GW University to support Gaza Students and others in support of Gaza and a cease-fire set up an encampment at George Washington University on Thursday. (Jordan Tovin for The Washington Post) Original article: Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess
Hundreds of students, advocates converge at GW University to support Gaza Writtten by Ellie Silverman, Emily Davies and Justin Wm. Moyer ... Clarence Williams contributed to this report. Published April 25, 2024 at 10:32 a.m. EDT ... Updated April 25, 2024 at 6:46 p.m. EDT With signs on protesters’ tents and kaffiyehs around their necks, the pro-Palestinian encampment movement sweeping college campuses nationwide arrived Thursday in the nation’s capital. The demonstration, organized by the DMV coalition of Students for Justice in Palestine, brought together students, faculty and advocates from across the region to a lawn at George Washington University. It started with tents in the wee hours, and by the afternoon it had swelled to include drums, bullhorns and hundreds of people. Some called for schools to cut ties with Israel and protect the free speech of pro-Palestinian student organizers. Some chanted for the end of the state of Israel. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. Students at George Washington University are joined by students from Georgetown University to protest the war in Gaza. (Robb Hill for The Washington Post) The demonstration on GWU’s law campus remained mostly peaceful through the afternoon; students near the 30 or so tents read and typed on their laptops. But anticipation was building. University officials asked demonstrators to relocate to a different park and said the protest could last only until 7 p.m., according to an email and a note posted online from the school. As of 5:30 p.m., the demonstrators showed no sign of leaving. Skip to end of carousel College protests over Gaza war Waves of antiwar protests are spreading across colleges campuses, with growing police arrests as graduation season approaches. See the universities where protests are intensifying. Are you a college student? Tell us about protests on your campus. (Yana Paskova/For The Washington Post) End of carousel “We’re here to stay,” said Mahmoud Beydoun, 20, a junior at GWU who is Palestinian. “We have certain demands, and we want them to be heard and met.” GWU President Ellen M. Granberg, in emails to the school Thursday, said she had requested the assistance of D.C. police officers after “multiple instructions made by GWPD to relocate to an alternative demonstration site on campus went unheeded by encampment participants.” “We will not allow students from other local colleges or unaffiliated individuals to trespass on our campus,” she said in the statement. “We can and will enforce the time, place, and manner restrictions that continue to govern activities on our campus.” By 4:45 p.m., dozens of police officers were stationed near campus. They were located blocks away from the protest, where demonstrators were relaxing on the grass, chatting and eating pizza. Meanwhile on Thursday, police confronted protesters at college campuses across the country — deploying a stun gun at Emory University in Atlanta and arresting more than 100 people at Emerson College in Boston. The student movement has taken off in the week since Columbia University deployed New York police officers to arrest protesters occupying its lawn. Students and faculty protesting in D.C. on Thursday cited the activists at Columbia as inspiration. A protest encampment in support of Gaza at George Washington University. (Jordan Tovin for The Washington Post) At GWU, a campus located in the heart of downtown Washington, student outrage over the war in Gaza had been building since the Oct. 7 attack. In October, Students for Justice in Palestine projected images on a library saying “End the siege on Gaza” and “GW the blood of Palestine is on your hands.” The university suspended the student group in November, the school newspaper, the GW Hatchet, reported, a move many students saw as unfair treatment of those who criticize Israel. Beydoun, who is studying international relations, said student organizers at GWU had been following videos of death and destruction in Gaza for months, wrestling with feelings of despair and a desire to make change. Many of them were Palestinian, he said, and had family or friends in Gaza. Since the war began, at least 34,305 people have been killed and 77,293 injured in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The GWU students ultimately formed a coalition with regional Students for Justice in Palestine chapters, and together they organized marches and sit-ins. Then, they watched as Columbia University students launched an encampment and brought even more attention to Gaza. Beydoun said they knew they needed to do the same. And they knew that if they could pull it off in the nation’s capital, they’d show just how united they were in their demands. “We’ve been very mentally strained and we found a way to do it,” he said. “It was the networking power. It was the student power.” Grace Chinowsky, 20, the incoming editor in chief of the Hatchet, woke up at 6:30 Thursday morning to a call from one of her reporters. “It’s happening,” the reporter told her. “Let’s go,” she replied. She ripped off a piece of blue tape, wrote “PRESS,” fastened it to her jacket, and arrived to find tents erected on University Lawn, a field in the middle of her school’s law school campus. By 9:30 a.m., she was parked with her laptop on a nearby bench, chronicling the demonstration with a team of student journalists. They watched as a group of about a dozen people banged drums and led chants from the H Street sidewalk. Through bullhorns, the demonstrators called for a cease-fire, an end to all aid to Israel, and the restoration of Palestinian borders to what they were in 1948, before the state of Israel was established. “We don’t want two states,” a demonstrator said. “We’re taking back ’48.” About a dozen people echoed the chant, holding signs that said “End the occupation now.” A few feet away, two George Washington University police officers watched the demonstration. One had an AirPod in and sipped his coffee. “Among many, many students on campus, especially those here today, there is a strong feeling of injustice,” Chinowsky said. “Both about the violence happening abroad in Gaza, and also how university officials have chosen to respond to it.” She stressed that there is a long tradition on campus of students advocating in support of Palestine, even before the Oct. 7 attack. She said that she recognized classmates and professors in attendance Thursday but speculated that at least some people demonstrating on the sidewalk — which is located just outside of GWU’s property — may not be enrolled at the school. About 10 a.m., a man who said he was a university student walked into the crowd holding an Israeli flag above his head. A school police officer stepped into the crowd, apparently trying to separate the pro-Israel demonstrator from the swarm of people around him, who chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” A pro-Israel demonstrator entered the crowd at a Gaza protest on the George Washington University campus. (Jordan Tovin for The Washington Post) Police then seemed to want the man to leave the area — to which he responded by holding up his flag, shaking his head and saying to police, “This is my campus.” Police momentarily stepped back, before the man appeared to push or make contact with a pro-Palestinian demonstrator in front of him. At that point, the officers forced the man away from the demonstration and into a university building, with his hands behind his back. Around the same time about two miles away, a group of protesters gathered on the steps of Healy Hall at Georgetown University. They chanted “Free, free Palestine” and cautioned those gathered not to speak with police or the media. Students and faculty leave Georgetown University after a walkout and rally to link up with protesters at George Washington University. (Robb Hill for The Washington Post) Around 11:30, the protesters wound their way through the neighborhood’s cobblestone streets, headed to meet up with fellow protesters at GW. Briefly blocking traffic on M Street, they chanted “Israel is a terror state” and “Down, down, Genocide Joe” as passing cars honked in support. Just before 12:15 p.m., the group arrived on the GWU campus to cheers from people around the tents. The two groups chanted in unison, “There is only one solution, intifada revolution.” Students at Georgetown University gather to protest the war in Gaza. (Robb Hill for The Washington Post) Members of the faculty of Georgetown University lead students on a march to George Washington University. (Robb Hill for The Washington Post) At the encampment a few hours later, Fida Adely, an associate professor of anthropology at Georgetown, linked hands with other faculty and staff from area universities. They formed a human chain around the tents. “We may not be the ones holding encampments, but we need to be here to support our students who are really willing to kind of suspend their studies, suspend their academic lives, and be out here to fight against the genocide,” Adely said, dressed in a light blue regalia gown from her alma mater, Columbia. “This is a turning point in our history.” As the university’s deadline for clearing the yard approached, three counterprotesters holding Israeli flags stood about 20 yards from the encampment. Dylan Lyman, a GWU senior from Long Island who was holding one of the flags, said he showed up to demonstrate against some of the chants he heard. “We’re Zionists,” he said. “We think Israel should exist.” Lyman said he recognized classmates on the other side of the yard and hoped the division over the war would not end friendships. Clarence Williams contributed to this report. MORE ON CAMPUS PROTESTS Next Where campus protests have led to arrests across the U.S. Where campus protests have led to arrests across the U.S. Why students are protesting at Columbia, other colleges over Israel-Gaza war Why students are protesting at Columbia, other colleges over Israel-Gaza wa... Columbia orders student protesters to leave encampment or face suspension Columbia orders student protesters to leave encampment or face suspension More than 90 protesters arrested at Virginia Tech, school says More than 90 protesters arrested at Virginia Tech, school says Trump, GOP seize on campus protests to depict chaos under Biden Trump, GOP seize on campus protests to depict chaos under Biden For Jewish students, protests stir fear, anger, hope and questions For Jewish students, protests stir fear, anger, hope and questions Commencement photos and protests define two realities at Columbia Commencement photos and protests define two realities at Columbia GW University suspends students involved in protest encampments GW University suspends students involved in protest encampments Hundreds of students, advocates converge at GW University to support Gaza Hundreds of students, advocates converge at GW University to support Gaza ‘DIVEST’: College endowments turn into flash point of student protests ‘DIVEST’: College endowments turn into flash point of student protests Criticism, praise of Texas governor after dramatic use of troopers on protesters Criticism, praise of Texas governor after dramatic use of troopers on prote... Secret meetings, social chatter: How Columbia students sparked a nationwide revolt Secret meetings, social chatter: How Columbia students sparked a nationwide... USC cancels main commencement ceremony as campus is roiled by protests USC cancels main commencement ceremony as campus is roiled by protests Colleges change graduation plans as protests spread to more campuses Colleges change graduation plans as protests spread to more campuses More arrests and a canceled commencement as college antiwar rallies spread More arrests and a canceled commencement as college antiwar rallies spread Columbia president facing intense pressure on numerous fronts Columbia president facing intense pressure on numerous fronts 120 antiwar protesters arrested at NYU; Calif. students form barricade 120 antiwar protesters arrested at NYU; Calif. students form barricade Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Yale, NYU Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Yale, NYU

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