University Denounces ‘Glory to Our Martyrs’ Projections Onto Building By Students Protesting War at Israel
The antisemitic display drew a rebuke from Senator McConnell on the floor of the Senate Wednesday morning.
Administrators at George Washington University Wednesday sought to distance the school from an incident Tuesday night during which pro-terrorism language was projected onto the school’s library by a group of students.
The language beamed onto the Gelman Library on the Washington, D.C. campus read “Glory to Our Martyrs,” “GW the Blood of Palestinians is On Your Hands,” and “Your Tuition is Funding Genocide in Gaza” along with other language that was decried as antisemitic.
In a statement posted to Twitter Wednesday, school officials called the projections “unauthorized” and a violation of the university’s policies.
“The statements made by these individuals in no way reflect the views of the university,” the statement said. “We are reviewing this incident and will take any appropriate steps with respect to the individuals involved in accordance with university policies.”
The statement said the school’s president, Ellen Granberg, would be addressing the issue at some point in the future and promised “support resources” for the “distress, hurt, and pain” caused by the incident.
Images of the projections posted to social media generated considerable outrage Tuesday night and into Wednesday, and even drew a rebuke from Senator McConnell on the floor of the Senate Wednesday morning.
“Last night, at George Washington University here in the nation’s capital, student activists projected antisemitic messages on the side of a campus building named for a pair of Jewish benefactors,” Mr. McConnell said. “They issued a call to, ‘free Palestine from the river to the sea.’ For anyone unfamiliar with Israel’s geography, that is a call for the destruction of the Jewish state.”
A number of pro-Palestinian campuses have rocked the GW campus since the Hamas attacks on civilians October 7. Students with their faces covered by keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags have marched to protest Israel’s response to the terrorism.
The identities of the students involved remains unknown, but video that surfaced on social media showed them sitting near the library after being stopped by police. In the video, police are informing them that they are being ticketed.
