Blocks from the White House, US students stand steadfast with Gaza

Palestine solidarity encampment springs up at George Washington University despite crackdown and arrests across US.

Washington, DC – 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.