Students from Washington-based Universities Gather at GW Campus to Express Solidarity with Palestinians

Washington, MINA – Pro-Palestine students continued their encampment at George Washington University (GW) campus in the heart of the US capital on Friday, despite widespread crackdowns on university protests across the country.

As quoted from Anadolu Agency on Saturday, students from various Washington-based universities, along with academics and activists, gathered at GW campus for a second day to express solidarity with Palestinians and demand that their universities divest from financial ties with Israel.

The students established the encampment on GW’s university yard early Thursday, located just over three blocks from the White House.

Protests are sweeping college campuses nationwide following a police attempt to clear a pro-Palestine encampment at Columbia University, resulting in the arrest of over 100 students.

Police erected barricades around the encampment in early hours of Friday, restricting access to the area. However, students remained steadfast, refusing to leave until their demands are met, while others continued their protests outside the camp.

In an interview with Anadolu, Selina Al Shihabi, a 20-year-old undergraduate student at Georgetown University, said the students are demanding their universities to immediately divest from companies “that are supporting the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and are actively contributing to this genocide.”

“We demand that it stops. And in solidarity with the people of Gaza, we have created camps to demonstrate how people in Gaza have lost their homes, and are currently now living out of tents,” she explained.

“We don’t plan to leave until the university divests,” she stressed.

Samar Saeed, a PhD student at Georgetown University, called for an “end to the Israeli genocide in Gaza,” highlighting the US role in funding the conflict in the Palestinian enclave.

“This genocide has been funded by the US. And we’re here to remember that Israel has destroyed all the universities in Gaza,” she said. “They have killed professors, students and staff.”

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023. More than 34,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 77,300 injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)