1) Once again, Dr. Granberg is stating a false equivalency between antisemitism and Islamophobia.  I'll stand corrected if you can point out Jewish demonstrations on campus against Muslims or Palestinians that have violated university policy.  I am not suggesting that Islamophobia does not exist in this world.  But our president's primary concerns need to be what's happening on GWU's campus.  And unless there's stuff I am not hearing about, you simply can't lump antisemitism and Islamophobia in the same thought, as roughly the same thing, in this moment in time,  This is what's known as a lack of moral clarity.

2) These protests are a direct response to the attacks by Hamas.  I understand there was a huge build-up prior to these heinous acts.  But the empowerment of these student protesters, the act of celebrating the loss of Jewish lives, the tacit approval of these attacks, this is all a response to what began on October 7.

3) In routine times, of course there would be nothing wrong with stating that our university does not condone antisemitism or Islamophobia.  Yet these are not routine times.  It comes off as blatantly insensitive, at least to me, to attempt to be politically correct which is what I believe Dr. Granberg is doing when making this statement (which she has now said multiple times).  IMO, it comes across much like Trump bellowing that there were good people on both sides in Charlottesville.

4) I couldn't help but notice in this updated statement, there was no mention of any penalties or punishments regarding those who broke university policy.  I suppose the school is still investigating and we certainly wouldn't want any rush to judgement.  That said, we know who the protest's organizers were (they were identified by university police) and it's been acknowledged that they broke university policy.  Am not sure what else frankly needs to be investigated.  No real point in having policies if they are not going to be adhered to, or if punishments aren't appropriately issued.  These organizers should be expelled immediately and whether they should be criminally prosecuted could better be answered by a criminal attorney.

5)  I'll end with this note.  I recently saw a listing of the top 10 colleges/university ranked by donations from Arabian countries.  GW I believe ranked 7th on this list in total dollars; however, what was truly illuminating is that maybe 8 or 9 of the schools had fewer than 100 donations (amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, or even billions in the case of Cornell), GW has received over 1,000 donations comprising its total.  I can't help but wonder whether the risk of alienating donors who are making substantial financial gifts to GW might be factoring into the school's very slow response to all of this.  I obviously can't be sure about this and it's a point that would never be acknowledged if in fact it was true.  I mention this only to point out that while GWRising alluded to Jewish donors who were growing increasingly agitated by GWU's response, I am wondering whether the school is staying more noncommittal than people like me would prefer so as to not disrupt its prolific donations from Arabian countries.

I can only hope not.
 

Thank you GW69.  Writing about this has actually been a bit therapeutic.  This is such a distressing situation to begin with, and I have to say that I really am disappointed by our school's responses.  Dr. Granberg's remarks have been something, but not nearly enough. 

A signed letter by over 1,100 Jewish GW Alumni has been sent to Dr. Granberg.  Mentioned are the very real threats to withhold donations as well as to hire new GW graduates until the school takes a much stronger stand with respect to antisemitism. 

Perhaps this will garner some attention.  I've been digging a bit and what I am hearing, at least prior to this letter being sent, was that the school was hoping that the story would go away on its own, consistent with the school's refusal to condemn student groups from spewing hate speech.  Maybe this now changes? 

As I've indicated, it's a shame that Dr. Granberg has had to walk into this devastating situation so early into her tenure.  My sense is that as a Jewish person, she is bending over backwards not to take a side or a stand, as is evidenced by her repeated remarks lumping antisemitism and Islamophobia together.  Her leadership is what's required right now.  Being on the right side of history, even if this means showing favor towards her own religious beliefs, is far more important than making sure she remains neutral at all costs.

I don't think anything will be done to the organizers of what can only be considered a hate speech demonstration.  They broke university policy, and will get away with having done so.  Really hope I am wrong for it's disgusting if I turn out to be correct about this.
 

Hopefully our President has a backbone and we see results soon.

Last edited by Mike K (11/07/2023 4:54 pm)

Columbia just came out of left field (pun intended) and suspended SJP for the fall semester with a review pending for further action. GW should do the same. Just yesterday these children had signs again talking about martyrs, intifada and river to the sea. 

SJP got suspended for 90 days.

"GW said in a statement that the group's 'actions violated university policies,' The Hill reported. 'As a result, effective immediately, the university has prohibited SJP from participating in activities on campus.'The suspension will last for 90 days and bars the group from sponsoring or organizing on campus events or 'posting communications on university property through May 20, 2024.' 

'We see this very clearly as being a political response to a growing wave of backlash and repression towards Palestinian organizing, but specifically the Palestinian student movement that’s been happening the past few weeks,' the group told the GW Hatchet.

Last edited by chrisw (11/15/2023 11:34 am)

Thank you for the update Rising.I really appreciate you being all over this story.I concur totally with 
your thoughts and feelings on this outrageous behavior of a portion of our student body.I’m glad some 
action has finally been taken by the administration.Our world has been turned upside down Rising-Thanks again for trying to turn it right side up!

Yep, and our President is silent.  I expected more from her.