Washington DC – Shouts of “Free Palestine” were interrupted by howls and applause as dozens of Georgetown University students arrived at a protest on the nearby George Washington University (GW) campus in the heart of the US capital.
Students, teachers and activists from across the Washington, D.C. area gathered Thursday to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the war in Gaza and demand an end to what they call their colleges’ complicity in the human rights abuses of Israel.
GW students set up a protest camp on campus, joining the pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweeping colleges across the country.
“We are here to show support for GW students and also to raise the demands of all students in DC, who must divest from companies involved in weapons manufacturing and Israeli apartheid, and cut ties with Israeli universities because of their complicity in the genocide Israeli in Palestine,” Anna Wessels, a student at Georgetown, told Al Jazeera.
The GW camp brought campus protests that have gripped the country to a campus that is a few blocks from the White House and the State Department.
Wessels emphasized the importance of the protests taking place at the headquarters of the US federal government, where President Joe Biden approved US$26 billion in aid to Israel a few days ago.
“If we weren’t doing anything in D.C., we wouldn’t be fulfilling our moral responsibility,” Wessels said.
‘This is about Gaza’
Several students and organizers told Al Jazeera on Thursday that they remained focused on Gaza and Palestine, where the Israeli military has killed more than 34,000 people and where mass graves continue to be discovered.
“This whole camp was done with all the messages around the genocide in Gaza and to focus all the demands on Gaza,” said Mimi Ziad, an activist with the Palestinian Youth Movement.
“This is not about the students. This is about Gaza. This is about all of Palestine.”
Students dressed in keffiyehs gathered on a GW lawn lined with tents around a statue of George Washington, the first American president.
“George Washington says free Palestine,” read a paper sign taped to the statue.
Protesters raised their voices in unison to the beat of a drum in support of the Palestinians, condemning Israel for its violations.
“Students, united, will never be defeated,” they shouted, as Palestinian flags waved alongside posters calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Student organizers, wearing yellow and pink vests, directed foot traffic within the rally and handed out bottles of water to people.
“It’s great to be around other people who see the reality that we see and who share the outrage and frustration and also share the energy to solve the problem,” said Elliott Colla, a Georgetown professor who joined the protest at GW.
Several protesters said pressuring universities to divest from Israel could have a tangible effect on the conflict, since boycotts of South Africa helped end the apartheid system in the early 1990s.
Campus activism around Gaza has taken center stage in US politics in recent days.
A Palestine solidarity camp at Columbia University in New York faced a police crackdown and arrests last week as the college administration called on authorities to end the protest. The university has now set a deadline of Friday for the protest to end.
But the students continued to demonstrate. Their campaign has spread to other colleges across the country, including the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Boston’s Emerson College, Georgia’s Emory University, and the University of Southern California (USC), with dozens of students also imprisoned in institutions.
Accusations of anti-Semitism
Pro-Israel politicians from both major parties have condemned the protesters and accused them of anti-Semitism – an accusation that Palestinian rights activists reject.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson visited the Columbia campus and accused protesters of intimidating and threatening Jewish students. He also suggested withholding funding for universities that allow pro-Palestinian protests.
“If these campuses can’t control this problem, they don’t deserve taxpayer money,” Johnson, who was greeted with “Mike, you suck!” chants, he said.
But student protesters across the country have condemned anti-Semitism, noting that many of the protesters are Jewish. Donia, a GW protester, said such accusations of anti-Semitism are harming the fight against intolerance.
“When you accuse someone who is against the genocide in Gaza of being anti-Semitic, you are missing the true meaning of the movement against anti-Semitism,” Donia, who chose to be identified by her first name only for fear of reprisal, told Al Jazeera.
She added that pro-Israel advocates were “going crazy” and trying to suppress the student movement with allegations of anti-Semitism because they know it is effective.
“A large part of the future generation of politicians in this country are in these universities and no longer believe their lies. That’s what really scares them,” Donia said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed in on the protests on Wednesday, calling them horrific. “Anti-Semitic mobs have taken over major universities,” he said.
His remarks drew a rebuke from progressive U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish.
“No, Mr. Netanyahu. It is not anti-Semitic or pro-Hamas to point out that in just over six months their extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and injured more than 77,000 — 70 percent of whom are women and children,” Sanders said in a statement Thursday. .
‘How can I be afraid?’
Zaid Abu-Abbas, an 18-year-old GW student, said the protesters are simply calling for the protection of Palestinian rights, dismissing accusations of anti-Semitism as false.
He said he was encouraged by the turnout at the protest, expressing hope that student-led demonstrations can bring change beyond campus.
“We’re in DC, close to all these government and political buildings; they have no choice but to see what we are doing,” Abu-Abbas told Al Jazeera.
The joyful atmosphere at GW on Thursday contrasted sharply with images of violent arrests on other campuses.
However, students interviewed by Al Jazeera played down the prospect of police pressure to clear the camp.
Ziad, the Palestinian Youth Movement activist, said she is worried about the students, but she herself is not scared. “How can I be afraid if I’m Palestinian?”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
