Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the Elliott School of International Affairs to protest an event co-hosted by the school and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Thursday.
About 35 protesters gathered on the sidewalk of the 1900 block of E Street to rally against a seminar hosted by the Elliott School about NATO’s agenda on emerging and disruptive technology. The protest was the first event hosted by GW’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine following the organization’s suspension, which concluded in December.
Students gathered outside the school at noon, chanting statements like “We want justice you say how? NATO off our campus now,” and “NATO, NATO, you’re a tyrant, we will never be silent,” before a representative from GW Dissenters spoke about the history of NATO’s formation and military interventions, kicking off four speeches from student organizations.
“GW has historically indoctrinated students into warmongering weapons development industries and continue to do so today,” the representative said.
Students from organizations including Dissenters, Socialist Action Initiative, Arab American Student Association, Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects and SJP spoke to the crowd about how the Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic — a NATO organization which provides companies with resources to develop technologies to solve security challenges — funds companies that develop surveillance and defense technology for both military and civilian purposes.
SJP, along with Jewish Voices for Peace, Dissenters, Black Defiance and SAI, are currently on disciplinary probation for their alleged involvement in campus protests last spring, including the encampments in University Yard and F Street and an April protest at the Elliott School, where the Student Coalition for Palestine at GWU hung a giant Palestinian flag from the roof of 1959 E Street, the residence hall adjacent to the Elliott School.
The representative said NATO has a history in supporting wars and intervening in nonimperial countries like launching a military campaign in Libya with NATO members like the United States, United Kingdom and France, conducting an air and naval strike against Colonel Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi’s forces — the ruling force of Libya from 1969 to 2011. The representative said DIANA produces technologies like artificial intelligence that weaken international stability and human security.
“NATO’s innovation programs like DIANA aren’t just about technology. They’re about deepening imperialist military networks that mistake severed colonial violence,” the speaker said.
A representative from ASA said it’s difficult for Arab students to feel recognized at a university where “explicitly imperialist organizations” like NATO are normalized and accepted in international affairs and political science studies.
“A ceasefire has been our deepest hope for over 400 days and for the people of Gaza to return to their homes,” the speaker said. “We, as they and Palestinians around the world, must push further. We must push for the end of occupation and apartheid, which NATO sanctions in its unequivocal support for the Zionist state.”
An AAAEA representative referenced Anthony Hinton, Canada’s former deputy ambassador to Israel, as one of the speakers at the seminar, who the representative said honored Israeli Defense Force soldiers during his tenure.
After about an hour of chanting and speeches from student representatives, organizers instructed protesters to sit on the steps in front of Elliott to participate in a teach-in of the history of NATO. Protesters followed along the teach-in on their phones through a Google Slides presentation distributed by a QR code.
“We’re going to have a teach-in today about NATO’s history, its role in facilitating imperialism and its connection to the struggle for liberation of Palestine and, specifics of why we’ve chosen to protest this event today, why it’s disgusting that GW would host an event like this on our campus,” an organizer said.
The presentation states NATO acts as an “armed wing” of U.S. imperialism by imposing sanctions, cyber-warfare, mass surveillance and lobbying for increased military spending. The presentation also stated that Israel is a “major non-NATO ally” that receives benefits from NATO like joint exercises, counter-terror operations and access to the Department of Defense contracts and that Israel can “punish” Palestinians for resisting imperialism with the support of NATO.
“According to NATO, they are interested in having a foothold in the Mediterranean as it connects all of the world’s political, economic, and energy hubs,” the presentation reads.
An SJP protester, who requested anonymity due to fear of doxxing and retaliation, said SJP incorporated a lesson about the history of NATO into Thursday’s demonstration to emphasize different ways the University contributes to the war in Gaza in addition to investing in Lockheed Martin and other military industrial companies. They added that NATO is a “key element” that drives imperialist efforts globally and that NATO works to subdue socialist and revolutionary movements.
“We really want to highlight that because we are one of the biggest feeders into that imperialist framework, and it’s our responsibility to make sure that our community is aware of it because it’s hard to learn by yourself sometimes,” the protester said.
The protester said through SJP and the Student Coalition for Palestine at GWU, they have been able to learn about the broader struggles of community groups like the Palestinian Youth Movement and African People’s Revolutionary Party.
“Something really beautiful about the coalition and the SJP space is that there’s so much that I can learn from other people who know about their struggles back in their homelands,” the protester said.
Former President Joe Biden announced earlier this month that Israel and Hamas entered a three-phase ceasefire deal in which Hamas will release the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. The protester said despite Israel and Hamas entering the first stage of the ceasefire, community members are uncertain the agreement will be upheld into the remaining phases.
“We have to continue to apply pressure, let the whole world know that eyes are all still on Palestine, and there’s still massive support for the Palestinian people,” the protester said.
The protester said student groups will continue to demonstrate in the future to protect their community as President Donald Trump signs executive orders targeting pro-Palestinian protesters and Arab and Muslim community members.
“We’re always here to apply pressure where there needs to be pressure,” the protester said.