University Postpones ‘Diversity Summit’ After Students Broadcast Pro-Hamas Statements

George Washington University (GW) postponed a diversity summit after students broadcasted pro-Hamas statements on a university building.

GW students held pro-Palestinian rallies and projected pro-Hamas statements on a campus building after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel earlier this week. The university was scheduled to hold a diversity summit this week, but will no longer be doing so due to the need to prioritize “campus safety” and due to the “war in the Middle East,” according to an update on GW’s website. One of the speakers during the keynote of the event was slated to be Associate Professor Arshad Ali, who helped create a syllabus linking to resources and essays pushing anti-Israel movements.  

“Our community is particularly impacted by the war in the Middle East. Prioritizing campus safety and support is critical.  Given the current climate at GW, nationally, and globally, in addition to recent events on campus in the last 24 hours, we believe it is important to pause.  Proceeding with the schedule would be dismissive to the pain, loss of life, and impact that many members of our community are experiencing,” a statement from GW reads, postponing the event.

Ali’s anti-Muslim racism resource guide provides a multitude of anti-Israel resources. “Palestinianization is a process that non-Palestinians and non-Arabs also experience, as they challenge U.S. collusion with Israeli settler colonialism and warfare, and subsequently encounter repression and demonization,” a resource linked to Ali’s “Islamophobia Teaching Guide” reads.

Another resource links black liberation movements and the Black Lives Matter movement to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Student organizations at several universities around the country held pro-Palestinian rallies following the Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.

GW Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) hosted an event on the school’s campus called “Vigil for the Martyrs of Palestine.” The chapter published a statement Oct. 9 that said it “stands in full support of the liberation of our homeland and our people’s right to resist the violent 75-year long colonization of our homeland by any means necessary.”

Student groups at other elite universities and colleges, including Columbia University and Yale University also put out pro-Palestinian statements following the terrorist attacks on Israel.

GW and Ali did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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