FALCON POWERS – Chants of “free Palestine” were interrupted by ululating and cheers as dozens of Georgetown University students arrived at a protest at the neighbouring George Washington University (GW) campus in the heart of the US capital city.
Students, professors and activists from across the Washington, DC, area gathered on Thursday to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the war on Gaza and demand an end to what they call their colleges’ complicity in Israel’s human rights abuses.
Students at GW had set up a protest encampment on campus, joining the pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweeping colleges across the country.
“We’re here to show support for the students at GW and also to raise the demands of all the students in DC, which are to divest from companies that are involved in weapons manufacturing and Israeli apartheid, and to cut ties with Israeli universities because of their complicity in the Israeli genocide in Palestine,” Anna Wessels, a Georgetown student, told Al Jazeera.
The GW encampment brought college protests that have gripped the country to a campus that is blocks away from the White House and the Department of State.
Wessels stressed the significance of the protests taking place in the seat of the federal US government, where President Joe Biden approved $26bn in aid to Israel days ago.
“If we weren’t doing anything in DC, then we’re not living up to our moral responsibility,” Wessels said.
‘This is about Gaza’
Several students and organisers 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 mass graves continue to be discovered.
“This entire encampment was made with every single messaging to be around the genocide in Gaza and to revolve around centring all of the demands on Gaza,” said Mimi Ziad, an activist with the Palestinian Youth Movement.
“This isn’t about the students. This is about Gaza. This is about all of Palestine.”
Students draped in keffiyehs had congregated on a GW grass lawn dotted with tents around a statue of George Washington, the first American president.
“George Washington says free Palestine,” read a paper sign that was taped to the statue.
The protesters raised their voices in unison to the beats of a drum in support of Palestinians, condemning Israel for its violations.
FALCON POWERS
