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Advocacy Group Blasts George Washington University Over Fundraising Drive Amid Antisemitism Crisis

On March 21, 2025, in Washington, DC, a group of George Washington University students protest the school for not divesting their investments and allowing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement on their campus. Photo: Andrew Thomas via Reuters Connect

George Washington University must address the campus antisemitism crisis before soliciting donations from community members who feel that more is needed to stem the tide of anti-Jewish hatred sweeping across the Washington, DC-based school, a concerned parent and co-founder of the advocacy group GWU Jewish Pulse wrote to the school in a blistering letter shared with The Algemeiner on Monday.

On April 3, the university held its fifth “Giving Day” campaign, through which it raised over $2 million from 3,500 parents who were implored to support “GW faculty and its cutting edge research.” The 24-hour event featured “matches & challenges,” with some parents agreeing to write checks totaling as much as $100,000 or to match donations when certain criteria were met. It was a resounding success, according to the university.

“We are blown away by your commitment to providing a world-class education to our students,” said a mass email sent on Friday. “Your passion and dedication on Giving Day and throughout the year strengthen every aspect of the student experience, from academic programs and athletic teams and student support resources.”

“Giving Day” may have scored GW a cash windfall, but it was offensive to GWU Jewish Pulse co-founder Lea Wolf. Writing to university president Ellen M. Granberg, she accused Granberg of being derelict in her duty to protect Jewish students from pro-Hamas extremists among the student body and faculty.

“Before asking parents and alumni to contribute financially, perhaps it is time to confront the environment the university has actively cultivated — and what, if any, meaningful measures have been offered to Jewish students amid rising hostility, blatant hatred, and a stream of empty institutional platitudes,” said the letter, which will be released to the public later this week. “For many families, George Washington University has indeed been transformational — but due to the intense and painful realization that GW is tolerant of Hamas propaganda and is willing to sacrifice its Jewish community in pursuit of financial gain, shielding liability, and a dangerous political agenda.”

Wolf went on to enumerate a litany of antisemitic incidents that occurred on GW’s campus since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel — from Jewish students being “demonized” to their being “subjected to predatory faculty practices.” She also accused GW of obstructing investigations of antisemitism, issuing “evasive” statements which falsely implied it was committed to addressing antisemitism and launching “sham” investigations of people who reported experiencing antisemitism.

“The administration’s political games and refusal to lead in moments of rising terrorism speaks volumes,” Wolf continued. “When leaders fail to name antisemitism as a form of misconduct or treat Jewish concerns as politically inconvenient, that silence becomes complicity.”

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, George Washington University has become a hub of extreme anti-Zionist activity that school officials have struggled to quell. A major source of the troubling conduct is Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which recently escalated its behavior by issuing an ominous warning to a professor who was involved in crafting a proposal to relocate Palestinians in Gaza.

“This notice is to inform you that you are hereby evicted from the premises of the George Washington University,” SJP wrote in a missive it taped to the office door of international affairs professor Joseph Pelzman, who first shared the resettlement plan with Trump’s presidential campaign in July 2024, according to an account of events he described to the podcast “America, Baby!” the following month.

Denouncing Pelzman as the “architect of genocide,” SJP added, “Pelzman’s tenure is only one pernicious symptom of the bloodthirsty Zionism permeating our campus … The proprietors of this eviction notice demand your immediate removal.”

SJP’s threat to Pelzman, an accomplished academic who has focused heavily on the Middle East region, came as the group served probation for breaking a slew of school rules during the 2023-2024 academic year — a term which saw it heap abuse on school officials, visitors to campus representing former US President Joe Biden’s administration, and African Americans. Earlier this year, SJP held a “teach-in” that commemorated the First Intifada, an outbreak of Palestinian terrorism which began in Dec. 1987 and, lasting for nearly six years, claimed the lives of scores of Israelis.

The group is currently suspended, according to The GW Hatchet, as the university has decided it is “a threat to the stability and continuance of normal university functions.”

GW faculty have also proved problematic. In 2023, former psychology professor Lara Sheehi was accused of verbally abusing and discriminating against her Jewish graduate students.

As recounted by a civil rights complaint filed by StandWithUs, Sheehi expressed contempt for Jews when, on the first day of term in Aug. 2022, she asked every student to share information about their backgrounds and cultures. Replying to a student who revealed that she was Israeli, Sheehi said, “It’s not your fault you were born in Israel.” Jewish students said they made several attempts to persuade the university to correct Sheehi’s behavior or arrange an alternative option for fulfilling the requirements of her course. Each time, StandWithUs alleged, administrators said nothing could be done.

Later, the complaint added, Sheehi spread rumors that her Jewish students were “combative” racists and filed misconduct charges against them. One student told The Algemeiner at the time that she never learned what university policies Sheehi accused her and her classmates of violating.

In Monday’s letter, Lea Wolf complained that these issues, and more, remain uncorrected.

“Giving is a two-way relationship,” she concluded. “Trust is earned, not assumed. If you want the Jewish community to give, then demonstrate genuine leadership and meaningful accountability to restore the integrity and mission of this educational institution. Honor the values and principles this institution claims to uphold — through decisive action, honest words, and the courage to lead when it matters most.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Advocacy Group Blasts George Washington University Over Fundraising Drive Amid Antisemitism Crisis first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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