Proposed court agreement would give 6-month partial campus ban for anti-Israel protesters at GWU

A reported court agreement has recently been proposed that could see pro-Palestine student demonstrators at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. barred from entering the school’s campus for more than a full semester.

As part of the agreement, the student activists—six of whom were arrested during an anti-Israel protest in May—would have their charges dropped if they agree not to go on most of GWU’s campus for six months.

Specifically, they would not be able to go into the library or dining halls, and would only have access to their residences and classrooms, according to The Washington Post.

[RELATED: Meet the University of Wisconsin-Madison students, faculty, and alumni arrested at anti-Israel encampment]

One student, named Alivia Valauri, said that she has chosen to take the deal. 

“As far back as students have existed they have challenged and debated those who put societal laws and norms in place,” she reportedly stated. “I’m a little nervous … about my ability to effectively complete my coursework given these restrictions.”

Another one of the students who was arrested during the demonstration, Gabriela Lee, refused to admit to wrongdoing and doubled down on her anti-Israel position.

“This is definitely not my first choice,” Lee told The Washington Post. “I am in this situation not because I did anything wrong, but because the university is trying to target me and repress me as an individual who stands for Palestinian activism.”

In May, GWU President Ellen M. Granberg stated that the anti-Israel demonstrators had “overrun” the university’s barriers.

[RELATED: BDS-supporting Brown prof was previously head of school that supported ‘right of Palestinians to self-defense’ after Oct. 7]

“I know that some in our community and others across the country argue that this, too, is simply a peaceful protest – and, at certain times, this has been true,” Granberg noted at the time. 

“However, when protesters overrun barriers established to protect the community, vandalize a university statue and flag, surround and intimidate GW students with antisemitic images and hateful rhetoric, chase people out of a public yard based on their perceived beliefs, and ignore, degrade, and push GW Police Officers and university maintenance staff, the protest ceases to be peaceful or productive,” she concluded.

Granberg also specifically noted that the demonstrations were illegal—contravening both Washington, D.C. law and university policy.

“It is also essential to highlight that at no point was this encampment lawful,” she added. “From the moment GW students declared their intent to establish an encampment on University Yard, they were in direct violation of multiple university policies and were trespassing on a space explicitly reserved for the GW Law final examinations.”

Campus Reform has contacted George Washington University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.