About 40 pro-Palestinian protesters stood outside of the University Student Center on Friday to call out the Board of Trustees during their first meeting of the academic year, continuing months of protest against the University’s decision to not divest from Israel.

In the demonstration organized by DMV Students for Justice in Palestine, protesters gathered at James Monroe Park at 9:30 a.m. — thirty minutes after the meeting’s scheduled start time — and ​​marched to the student center, where the Board typically meets. Five students from the Student Coalition for Palestine at GWU, the Muslim Students’ Association and the Lebanese Student Association spoke to the crowd and said they would continue to protest on campus until the Board meets their demands for financial disclosure and divestment from Israel. 

University Spokesperson Julia Metjian said the Board moved their meeting to another location to ensure they did not disrupt “academic operations” and “student experience” in the student center. She said officials on Thursday invited Board observers, deans and other senior administrators to attend the meeting virtually, before moving the location of the meeting. 

Demonstrators at James Monroe Park initiated chants of “We will honor all our martyrs, all our siblings, sisters and brothers,” while standing in a circle, clapping to the beat of the chant. The crowd began marching on Pennsylvania Avenue toward 21st Street at 9:54 a.m., while more than a dozen Metropolitan Police Department cars trailed behind, closing off the streets that protesters walked through. 

Four minutes later, protesters stopped in front of the 21st Street entrance to the student center, chanting “Board of Trustees have some shame, all our martyrs have a name” and “Stop funding genocide,” before turning the corner to gather in front of the H Street entrance. The group continued chanting for about an hour and a half, while some organizers handed out flyers to passersby that outlined the coalition’s divestment and disclosure demands.

The protesters are demanding that GW disclose all investments and funding sources for the endowment, donations, externally funded research and the decision-making process around finances, according to the flyer. The flyer also calls on GW to divest from all companies profiting from the violence in Gaza and asks that officials “commit to a timeline” for both disclosure and divestment. 

A second flyer read “Meet your trustees 4 out of 20 war criminals & genocide profiteers.” The flyer claimed that Board Chair Grace Speights defends corporations in discrimination cases and “purportedly supports” Israel and outlined two trustees’ connections to Israel. Jefferey Flaks partnered with the Israeli Innovation Authority, the investment arm of the Israeli government, and Charles Bendit was honored by Israel bonds and awarded the Israel Peace Medal, the flyer reads. 

The flyer also states that Bendit’s real estate firm is buying buildings and land in Manhattan’s cheapest neighborhood, which the flyer says would likely displace Dominican residents. The flyer claims that Board member Ali Kolaghassi trapped thousands of South Asian workers without food in Saudi Arabia and served as the Senior Advisor to Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who was forced to resign in 2019 after embezzling money and electricity. 

A representative from the Student Coalition for Palestine at GWU said the Board plays an integral role in developing the University’s endowed resources and participates in their strategic initiatives. They added that the University has a $2.8 billion endowment, part of which goes toward weapon manufacturers that collaborate with Israel.

“Most of these trustees, in their own personal endeavors, too, have direct ties to Zionism,” the representative said in a speech. “Charles Bendit won an Israeli war bonds award, and Jeffrey Flaks is partnered with the Israeli government’s investment arm. For each of these trustees at this university, the ties only run deeper.” 

Last Wednesday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators allegedly spray-painted in front of the homes of several Board members and sent letters about the University’s alleged role in the war in Gaza, according to an anonymous submission to the coalition’s Instagram. 

Earlier this semester, officials suspended GW’s chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace and placed six other student organizations on disciplinary probation, according to one of the coalition’s Instagram posts. The representative said the sanctions against student organizations is the only response to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza from the University. 

“Why are we here? Because in each horror we see this university’s contribution, because we still stay in this unbearable reality,” the representative said in their speech. “This university gains a gallon of blood on its hands, because while this university is complicit and makes it possible for this genocide to continue, it is also capable of stopping its complicity.”

The representative said students are the “backbone” of the University, and it is their responsibility to ensure officials adhere to their demands for disclosure and divestment. 

“This university is willing to sacrifice our loved ones on the altar of capitalist profit,” the representative said in their speech. “We are willing to sacrifice their profits and hit them where it hurts.”

Representatives from the coalition have met with GW officials at least three times since local police cleared the pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard on May 10 to discuss their demands. Officials have reiterated that the University will not be able to meet their divestment demands.  

During a speech at the protest, a representative from the Muslim Students Association said officials have told coalition representatives that they cannot divest from a specific industry but noted the Board in 2020 committed to divesting from fossil fuels. 

“What they’re saying is that divestment for our people is not possible,” the MSA representative said.

Officials resumed negotiations with the coalition at the start of the semester after accepting the group’s conditions for continuing conversations. Earlier this month, the coalition “walked away” from their last meeting with the University after officials allegedly refused to have conversations that would result in “material outcomes,” according to the coalition’s Instagram. 

Another representative from the coalition — who requested anonymity due to fear of doxing — said in an interview that the negotiations meetings were one of “many tactics” officials used to discourage students from organizing on-campus demonstrations

“They were a tactic to stall us,” the representative said. “To satisfy us for the time being with the false hope that there would be material commitments made in the future.”

The representative said students in the coalition already sent their proposals for disclosure and divestment to each member of the Board and officials, like Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes.