Last spring, the world watched as thousands of college students across the country set up encampments on their campuses. We witnessed as our Jewish and Israeli friends were heckled and spat at, with comments, like “death to Zionists” and “Zionists go to hell.” Signs like “go back to [your] real homes in Europe” appeared, and we watched as our administrators were “put on trial” and set for the “guillotine.” Encampment participants stalked my friends and me with their cameras during a Holocaust Memorial Day walk and, one night, repeatedly shoved them in their faces. Human chains and beating drums, compounded with shouts that call for the annihilation of our people, like “Intifada” and “we don’t want no Zionists here” surrounded us. We witnessed riots where campus property was desecrated lasting through the night before final exams. We saw our Jewish families harassed for walking through University Yard — the very heart of campus that is supposed to beat with welcoming love. Yet, Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine wrote about the protest as an nondisruptive, peaceful form of activism in a recent Hatchet op-ed.
The encampment saw our professors not only participating in its activities, but professing support for the protest during classes. Last spring, one of my professors said we should sympathize with the protesters because they might be “hungry and tired” or “haven’t showered in a few days.” This commentary was offensive and neglectful for not mentioning the Jewish students who have lost family and friends due to Hamas’s terror or have experienced anti-Zionist harassment. One professor invited encampment students to explain to the class why their peers should join. Other professors incentivized students to join in the demonstration for extra credit. Some exams were rescheduled, and my friends avoided walking to class fearing physical assault. GW grounds grew unrecognizable, with outside agitators waving swastikas and a sign reading “Final Solution.”
The newly formed FSJP contributes to a surging pipeline of hate and pro-terror ideology at GW. FSJP’s endorsement of the unlawful, inflammatory encampment undermines their fiduciary obligations and constitutes academic malpractice. GW’s Faculty Code of Ethics states that faculty “shall be guided by the requirements of adherence to…sound scholarship” and is “responsible for the character of the instruction, the maintenance of good order, and the observance of University regulations.” Faculty shouldn’t have been involved with the encampment in the first place.
William Youmans, the former interim director of GW’s Institute of Middle East Studies and a lecturer at the School of Media & Public Affairs, addressed the encampment, asserting, “Even the faculty that don’t turn up, many have sympathy for you cause you are enacting what we teach.” It’s no surprise that in several classes, some of my peers have cheerfully expressed being proud to have been radicalized since coming to college. Anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiments in our classrooms have intensified into harassment.
GW has held symposiums slandering Israel and justifying Hamas’s “right to resistance” lacking viewpoint diversity. I listened to panels, like “Middle East Knowledge Production in the Aftermath of October 7th” where academics discussed methods to “decolonize Middle Eastern” knowledge production, spewed antisemitic allegations of dual loyalty and delegitimized Jews’ connection to Israel and claimed that knowledge from “white scholars” is “not objective.” Most insidiously, a panelist from Princeton University suggested that fellow academics should teach pro-BDS material “quietly in the classroom” where they have the power, notably in states where the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has been outlawed.
A guest panelist at an Elliott School of International Affairs symposium in April suggested to fellow scholars that the word “genocide” cannot be used loosely when describing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza because of the term’s legal definition as “the committing of certain acts with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group,” offering that “dehumanization” should be the preferred terminology. While the International Court of Justice found it is “plausible” that some of Israel’s actions in Gaza could amount to genocide in January, I agree with its ultimate ruling, and the stance of the United States in April, that there is not sufficient evidence to prove that Israel is committing genocide. The panelist made a de facto acknowledgment that Israel’s military defense efforts do not meet the criteria for the term — and scholars, including those authors of the FSJP, continue to falsely propagate Israel’s genocidal intent in their words.
Much of the rhetoric aired in the panels above was repeated by students at the encampment. Those so-called peaceful ‘teach-ins’ at the encampment have licensed rule-breaking students to shout “Zionists are not welcome here” and “resist” against their “white,” “oppressive,” “genocidal,” “racist” peers — baseless, vilifying labels pinned upon my friends and me. The formation of FSJP emboldens such rhetoric and action. Where is GW’s commitment to shaping leaders who uphold human decency and the free world?
GW’s weak disciplinary record illustrates deliberate indifference to abating the pipeline of hate. A recent report, titled “Antisemitism on College Campuses Exposed” published by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, documents that for varying instances on campus since Oct. 7, 2023, including the encampment, GW has only suspended one student, placed 16 on varying lengths of disciplinary probation, censured three and issued warnings to three others. One suspension and disciplinary probation fall short of genuine accountability. Many more students should have been suspended and some should have faced academic sanctions for indecency, harming GW’s Jewish and Zionist communities, breaking several counts of school policy and committing unlawful behavior. And for spearheading this hate and misconduct, the ring leaders of the encampment should have been expelled.
GW’s condemnations of antisemitism and illegal actions ring hollow. Appearing as a reward for their behavior, the University administration has “negotiated” with previously suspended students and one barred from campus. Professor Ilana Feldman, who has voiced support for BDS, appears on behalf of the GW Student Coalition for Palestine. What do rules serve if those who break them are rewarded a seat at the table? GW’s future leaders are learning that inciting hate and breaking rules can lead to appeasement instead of accountability.
As a conscientious American-Israeli member of the GW community who deeply cares about human rights, I empathize with all civilian lives lost. I will unequivocally, however, call out those professors who legitimize terrorism, weaponize higher education for sinister political agendas and encourage criminal behavior. I will call out professors who disseminate lies about Israel with little viewpoint diversity. I will call out professors who ignore the pain and promote harassment of Jewish and Israeli students. I will call out those professors perpetuating the pipeline of hate.
Sabrina Soffer is a senior double majoring in philosophy with a public affairs focus and judaic studies.
