Israel-Hamas war protests continue at GW University for 5th day

WTOP/Linh Bui

WTOP/Linh Bui

WTOP/Linh Bui

Pro-Palestinian protests at George Washington University continued for a fifth day Monday in DC, as the war in Gaza shows no signs of an end.

Protesters next to the encampment at George Washington University’s University Yard “breached and dismantled” barriers used to secure the area early Monday, the university said.

WTOP’s Linh Bui reported those metal barriers are now stacked in a pile in the center of University Yard. She said “the entire Yard” is covered in tents, about 100 of them.

“This is an egregious violation of community trust and goes far beyond the boundaries of free expression and the right to protest. The university will use every avenue available to ensure those involved are held accountable for their actions,” read a statement issued by the university.

The university told a student “jumped over the barricade” to University Yard and was removed by officers with the George Washington Police Department, but “no arrest was made.”

It said the group of about 200 protesters at the encampment, included “professional organizers, activists, and university students” from across the DC area.

Dozens of tents on and in front of University Yard and along H Street remain, according to The Hatchet, the GW University student newspaper.

It reported that protest leaders asked demonstrators at the encampment to keep the area clean shortly after 3 am, about an hour after the group was heard repeating “we’re not leaving.”

“There have been no incidents of violence,” according to George Washington University President Ellen Granberg in an update provided by the university Sunday night.

Granberg said the university wanted all protesters to move demonstrations to nearby Anniversary Park, but protesters told WTOP over the weekend that they would not leave until all their demands are met.

What protesters are demanding

Moataz Salim, a GW University graduating student told WTOP that protesters have “a list of demands.”

He said they want the university to be open about “any sort of donor money that they receive, endowments, to disclose all their investments, to have full transparency. And then building on that, to divest from any investments they have in any sort of Israeli tech companies or Israeli weapons manufacturing or weapons technologies companies.”

Salim said protesters also want the university to “end any academic partnerships they have with Israeli institutions.”

He said protesters are also calling on the university “to do a lot more to protect their Black and brown students, especially those who are aligned with our movement and who are pro-Palestinian, like myself.”

“We’re staying until the demands are met. Otherwise they’re gonna have to drag us out of here,” Salim said.

The demands were also listed in an Instagram post by organizers.

WTOP’s Linh Bui contributed to this report from the campus of George Washington University.

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