Jewish Students Refuse to Back Down in the Face of Harassment: ‘We Have to Stand Proudly’

Washington — When the anti-Israel tent encampment movement made its way to the nation’s capital on Thursday, a resilient group of Jewish George Washington students was there to meet it.

As their peers gathered on the main campus quad to call for the elimination of the state of Israel, the Jewish counter-protesters stood around the perimeter, defiantly holding flags that showcased U.S. support for the Jewish state.

Jewish students who spoke to NR explained that they couldn’t stand by as the campus became a threatening environment for Jews.

“The campus environment for Jewish students has been tumultuous, it has been very difficult to be able to stand proudly, but we still do,” one Jewish student told NR. “We have to stand proudly with our flag, we have to stand firmly with our identity. It’s very sad to see some of these things happening.”

Another Jewish student recalled a recent incident in which a small Jewish woman was harassed by a group of five or six anti-Israel protesters.

“It’s a little bit funny when they say it’s meant to be directed towards Zionists but they still found a way to attack Jews. And not even a Jew that can defend themselves, but a Jewish woman that can’t fight back,” he quipped.

The anti-Israel activists have even taken to following around and filming students who make their Judaism known through their dress.

“I was just out here trying to see if my exam was going to be here today. I was with my friend over here, and I was just looking at it. And this girl started videoing me and following me around, and I walked up to her and asked me why, and she couldn’t give me a reason,” he said. “It occurred to me it’s definitely my Star of David. There’s no other reason.”

“I don’t think it’s the time to hide. I’m proud, I’m here, and I’m going to keep supporting my fellow Jewish students whether or not they feel like they’re safe to be here.”

As they stood firm, expressing their support for Israel, the Jewish students were confronted with the radical views of leftist activists.

An older protester held a sign that read “final solution” next to an Israeli flag.

“It appears that the Netanyahu strategy is to cleanse Gaza,” the man said of his “final solution” sign. “Cleanse it means clean it of all Arabs, that’s what I mean. And it refers to what Jews went through.”

“For 50, 60 years Palestinians have been on the defense fighting back and one of the results of that is Hamas. It’s an outgrowth of fighting back. It’s defending itself,” the protester said of Hamas, though he did condemn the group’s attack on Israeli civilians.

Other activists chanted “Intifada revolution, there is only one solution” and “long live the intifada.” The “intifada” refers to a series of armed, violent uprisings against Israel by Palestinians in the late-20th and early-21st centuries.

“We don’t want no two-state. We want 48,” went one chant. “GW to Gaza, globalize the intifada” went another chant later in the rally.

Many of the protesters inside the encampment and surrounding it covered their faces with masks and keffiyehs. Activists also handed out generic anti-Israel leftist signage and patrolled the area in vests to control the large crowd that formed and took up over half the quad.

George Washington University notified student protesters they had until 7 p.m. to demonstrate peacefully until police would arrive to clear the area. However, the police did no such thing when the time came, and the rally carried on long after the deadline.

Two George Washington University law students told NR the school moved final exams scheduled for late Thursday afternoon to a different location because of the demonstration’s proximity to the main law building.

One of those students, Tahmineh Dehbozorgi, a Persian immigrant from Iran, said she’s been called “Islamophobic,” “cunt,” and other names by fellow law students after October 7. She is an outspoken conservative student and a strong supporter of Israel.

George Washington University is one of many campuses nationwide where students have installed anti-Israel tent encampments over the past few days. The anti-Israel encampments began popping up after Columbia University’s student encampment drew national attention last week for antisemitic incidents in and around campus.