U.S. Dep’t of Education Opens First of its Kind Investigation into Anti-Palestinian Discrimination at George Washington University

Professors Gate located on The George Washington University campus in Washington, D.C. SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

CONTACT: Danya Zituni, Palestine Legal | media@palestinelegal.org | (312) 547-0766

May 11, Washington, DC – The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced yesterday that it has opened a formal investigation into a complaint alleging George Washington University (GW) discriminated against Palestinian students and students perceived to be Palestinian. This is the first public investigation into anti-Palestinian racism by OCR.

OCR will look into allegations that for years, Palestinian students and students perceived to be Palestinian have been denied access to mental health services, disproportionately investigated by campus police, put through months-long disciplinary processes for infractions that non-Palestinian students admitted to, falsely accused of committing crimes, and subjected to racist anti-Palestinian comments in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

While OCR looks into all complaints it receives, it only opens formal investigations when it determines the facts warrant a deeper look.

According to the complaint, which Palestine Legal filed on behalf of three students in February, GW cancelled a virtual processing space for Palestinian students after Hillel (a pro-Israel campus organization) complained. As a result, a Palestinian student who had been injured  by an Israeli soldier while studying remotely from her home in the West Bank was denied the chance to access much needed mental health services.

Another student was falsely accused of vandalism by GW Hillel’s executive director and forced to answer for an infraction that a white, Jewish student had already admitted to. The targeted student, who is president of GW Students for Justice in Palestine, later learned that it was GW’s own DEI Vice Provost who called the police on SJP and initiated the complaint process. Hillel and GW have refused to apologize.

The complaint also describes how, after GW professor Dr. Lara Sheehi organized an optional brown bag lunch featuring a Hebrew University professor who is a Palestinian citizen of Israel, anti-Palestinian students took over her class the following week, making numerous anti-Palestinian statements, including that the Palestinian speaker “would dance on [the student’s] niece’s grave”, that Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli army are terrorists, and that Trump had made it illegal to criticize the political ideology of Zionism. 

GW has failed to take any action to support Palestinians and others in its community affected by these racist comments. 

“This is an important step that shows OCR is taking anti-Palestinian discrimination seriously,” said Palestine Legal senior staff attorney Radhika Sainath. “Even if pro-Israel groups don’t like it and complain, the law is clear – Palestinian students are entitled to the same educational opportunities and services as other students.”

Palestine Legal’s complaint asks OCR to bring GW in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by taking several remedial measures, including ensuring that Palestinian students are able to access services on an equal basis as other students; ending discriminatory investigations of Palestinians and allies who advocate for Palestinian rights and apologizing to the Palestinian students and community members that were harmed; recognizing that opposition to the political ideology of Zionism is anti-racist and integral to supporting Palestinian equality; and refusing to adopt, enforce or rely on a politicized definition of antisemitism that is being weaponized against Palestinians and their allies. 

The discrimination, harassment, stereotyping, disparate treatment and racial profiling described in the complaint are not isolated incidents, but are the product of both deep-rooted, dehumanizing bigotry against Palestinians and decades-long systematic efforts by anti-Palestinian groups and their allies to target Palestinians and their allies in order to stop a growing human rights movement to hold Israel accountable for its violations of Palestinian rights to self-determination, equality and freedom in their own land.  

Since 2014, Palestine Legal has responded to over 2200 incidents of suppression of Palestine advocacy, many involving harassment and censorship attempts by university administrations and anti-Palestinian organizations aimed at intimidating Palestinians and their allies into silence and inaction.

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