Washington, D.C. – Cries of “free Palestine” were punctuated by cheers and cheers as dozens of Georgetown University students arrived for a protest at the neighboring George Washington University (GW) campus in the heart of the US capital.
Students, professors and activists from across the Washington, D.C. area gathered Thursday to show solidarity with the Palestinians in the war on Gaza and to demand an end to what they called their campuses’ complicity in Israel’s human rights abuses.
GW students had set up a protest camp on campus, joining pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweeping college campuses across the country.
“We are here to show our support for the students at GW and also to raise the demands of all students in DC to divest from companies involved in weapons manufacturing and Israeli apartheid and for this reason the connections to drop out of Israeli universities “of their complicity in the Israeli genocide in Palestine,” Anna Wessels, a Georgetown student, told Al Jazeera.
The GW camp brought college protests that have swept the country to a campus just blocks from the White House and the State Department.
Wessels emphasized the importance of the protests at the headquarters of the US federal government, where President Joe Biden approved $26 billion in aid for Israel days ago.
“If we didn’t do anything in DC, then we would be failing in our moral responsibility,” Wessels said.
“This is about Gaza”
Several students and organizers told Al Jazeera on Thursday that they remain focused on Gaza and Palestine, where the Israeli military has killed more than 34,000 people and mass graves continue to be discovered.
“This entire camp was built with every single message centered around the Gaza genocide and centered around focusing 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 the whole of Palestine.”
Students clad in keffiyehs had gathered around a statue of George Washington, America’s first president, on a tent-strewn GW lawn.
“George Washington says free Palestine,” read a paper sign attached to the statue.
The demonstrators collectively raised their voices to the beat of the drums in support of the Palestinians and condemning Israel for its violations.
“United, the students will never be defeated,” they chanted, as Palestinian flags flew next to signs calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Student organizers wearing yellow and pink vests directed foot traffic within the demonstration and handed people water bottles.
“It feels great to be with 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 faculty member , which joined the protest at GW.
Several protesters said that pushing universities to divest from Israel could have a tangible impact on the conflict, as boycotts of South Africa helped end the apartheid system in the early 1990s.
Higher education activism around Gaza has moved to the center of U.S. politics in recent days.
A Palestine solidarity camp at Columbia University in New York was subject to a police crackdown and arrests last week as university administrators called on law enforcement to investigate the protest. The university has now set a deadline of Friday for the protest to be resolved.
But the students continued to demonstrate. Her campaign spread to other colleges across the country, including the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Emerson College in Boston, Emory University in Georgia and the University of Southern California (USC), with dozens of students also participating were arrested in the institutions.
Accusations of anti-Semitism
Pro-Israel politicians from both major parties have condemned the protesters and accused them of anti-Semitism – a charge that Palestinian human 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 from universities that allow pro-Palestinian protests.
“If these universities don’t get this problem under control, they don’t deserve taxpayer dollars,” said Johnson, who was met with “Mike, you suck!” chants said.
But student protesters across the country have condemned anti-Semitism and pointed out that many of the protesters are themselves Jews. Donia, a protester at GW, said such accusations of anti-Semitism would harm the fight against bigotry.
“If you accuse everyone who is against the Gaza genocide of being anti-Semitic, you lose the very meaning of the movement against anti-Semitism,” said Donia, who chose to be referred to by her first name only out of fear of retribution, said Al Jazeera.
She added that pro-Israel advocates are “freaking out” and trying to suppress the student movement with accusations of anti-Semitism because they know it is effective.
“Many of the future generation of politicians in this country are studying at these universities and are no longer buying their lies. That’s what really scares them,” Donia said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the protests on Wednesday, calling them terrible. “Anti-Semitic mobs have taken over leading universities,” he said.
His comments prompted a rebuke from progressive U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish.
“No, Mr. Netanyahu. It is neither anti-Semitic nor pro-Hamas to point out that your extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and injured more than 77,000 in just over six months – 70 percent of whom are women and children,” Sanders said in a statement on Thursday.
“How can I be afraid?”
Zaid Abu-Abbas, an 18-year-old GW student, said the protesters were simply calling for the rights of Palestinians to be protected and dismissed the allegations of anti-Semitism as false.
He said he was encouraged by participation in the protest and expressed his hope that the student-led demonstrations can inspire change beyond campus.
“We’re in D.C. near all these government buildings and politicians; They have no choice but to see what we are doing,” Abu-Abbas told Al Jazeera.
The cheerful atmosphere at GW on Thursday was a stark contrast to footage of violent arrests at other locations.
However, students interviewed by Al Jazeera downplayed the prospect of a law enforcement push to clear the camp.
Ziad, the Palestinian youth movement activist, said she was worried about the students, but she wasn’t afraid herself. “How can I be afraid if I’m Palestinian?”