This post was written by Hatchet reporter Natalie Maher.
The Student Association shot down a resolution that would have supported a Palestinian community leader on trial because it has no direct relation to campus.
During a heated debate, which lasted over 20 minutes, Sen. Brady Forrest, CCAS-G, pushed the SA to approve the resolution, saying it was a case of sexual assault, which he said is a pressing issue on the University’s campus.
Forrest said the SA’s approval of the resolution would help reinforce efforts to speak out against rape culture. He said the case is also relevant to the University’s “It’s On Us” campaign, a sexual assault awareness effort. Recently, officials released several videos as part of the campaign.
“How can we say ‘It’s On Us,’ if we don’t speak about this?” Forrest said.
If it had been approved, the resolution would have declared that the SA Senate supports Rasmea Odeh, a female activist originally from Palestine who is being charged in the U.S. for providing misinformation on her citizenship forms. Advocates for her case argue that she shouldn’t be tried for that criminal offense because her confession that the information was false came only after torture, including sexual assault.
Forrest argued the timing of Odeh’s trial on Nov. 4 made the resolution timely, but other senators pointed out that it was in Detroit, which they said made it too far removed from GW’s campus.
“I don’t understand how this relates to GW,” Sen. Casey Syron, CCAS-U, said.
Initially, the resolution was brought to the student life committee and Executive Vice President Avra Bossov, and both parties opposed it because they concluded it was not relevant to the senate’s goals.
“The Student Association as a whole exists to represent students and discuss matters specifically for GW students,” Bossov said.
But Forrest continued his campaign to have the entire senate debate his resolution. He had 100 students sign a petition in support of the resolution going before the senate, indicating that they felt Odeh’s case affected them.
In order for the bill to be brought to the floor for a vote, two-thirds of the SA – or 18 senators – would have needed to vote to move it to the floor. Since just six of the 26 members eligible to vote supported bringing the bill to the floor, it was removed from the agenda.
Sen. Sean Kumnick, CCAS-U, said he did not think the resolution should have been brought to the floor.
“Using a bill to politicize sexual assault is wrong. In the future, we shouldn’t have a bill like this that wastes people’s time,” Kumnick said.
Forrest said he plans to reconvene with the five student organizations who are in support of the bill – including The Roosevelt Institute, the Feminist Student Union, the Progressive Student Union, Amnesty International and Students for Justice – to see how they plan to make the issue more public on campus.
“This was a missed opportunity for the senate and also for the students,” Forrest said.
