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George Washington University

Students, Community Members Battle Repression Of Pro-Palestine Protesters

George Washington University, Washington, DC – On Thursday, August 22, over 300 people gathered at James Monroe Park in downtown DC to support the student intifada. Last semester, students and community members from across the DMV set up an encampment at The George Washington University (GWU), called “Shohada’ Square.” Those involved have been facing charges from the courts, repression from the university, and brutalization by the police. August 22 marked the first day of classes for the 2024 fall semester at GWU, and student organizers planned a protest to remind administration that they will not back down.

GW Pressured Federal Prosecutors To Ban Students From Campus

At The George Washington University’s (GW) request, the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutors recently included stay away orders as a condition in the stet agreement for students arrested at the Palestine solidarity encampment on GW’s campus, preventing them from entering the entirety of the Foggy Bottom campus – with Pennsylvania Ave NW, 18th Street NW, E Street NW, Virginia Ave NW, and 24th Street NW delineating the boundaries. Initially, prosecutors formulated the orders to include exceptions for commuting to and from home and work, going to classes, and meeting with faculty. However, immediately before the second round of status hearings for students arrested during the Metropolitan Police Department’s May 8th encampment raid, GW successfully pressured the government to revoke these exemptions.

GW University Students Storm Campus With Second Encampment

Washington DC—George Washington University Students stormed back by the hundreds onto the campus streets on Thursday afternoon. They told of their experiences during a police raid the day before, and then set up a second temporary encampment of tents near the University President Ellen Granberg’s F Street Home. The student-led action came 36 hours after 32 were arrested during a predawn Wednesday morning raid on the U-Yard. The Press coverage was quarantined during the police take down of their U-Yard encampment so there is limited video of the raid. However, students described a disturbing sequence of events during the raid.

George Washington University Students Create Gaza Campus Solidarity Encampment

Washington, DC—George Washington University students along with students from other universities, supporters from the local community, and some local allied groups, have joined the rising wave of university campus protests currently sweeping the nation. Unlike many other university encampment protests, police and campus security have failed to persuade students to leave and not successfully ejected them from the University Yard, which students have renamed “Liberated Zone.” Students are protesting the continued War and destruction of Gaza by Israel, and laid out five demands to University Administration for its role in supporting Israel.

DC Police Refuse George Washington University Request To Arrest Students

From the university’s perspective, it seemed like the perfect time for the police to move in and break up the students’ anti-genocide camp:  3 a.m. George Washington University had given the students until 7 p.m. on Thursday night to clear out. Instead more than a thousand students from other area universities and other supporters flooded the university yard, forming a circle around around the camp. As the time advanced beyond midnight the crowd dwindled, leaving the encampment less protected.  It seemed logical that under the cover of darkness, with fewer media also present, the police would intervene, as they have on a growing number of campuses around the United States.

Title VI Complaint Filed Against George Washington University

Last month, a Palestinian rights group filed a federal complaint against George Washington University (GW), alleging the institution allows discrimination against Palestinians to persist unabated on campus. Palestine Legal filed a federal complaint with the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, demanding it investigates what the organization describes as a “years-long, hostile environment of anti-Palestinian racism.” The legal rights group is representing three students who say they have experienced anti-Palestinian discrimination from fellow classmates, professors, administrators, and GW Hillel, a Jewish campus organization.

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