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George Washington University Barricades Nearly All Outdoor Campus Spaces Following Anti-Israel Encampment Raid

George Washington University blocked off most outdoor campus spaces on May 9, 2024 after clearing out an anti-Israel encampment from the Washington, DC campus the prior day. Photo: Jack Elbaum

George Washington University blocked off most outdoor campus spaces on Thursday after clearing out an anti-Israel encampment from the Washington, DC campus the prior day.

Photos taken by The Algemeiner show tall fencing surrounding University Yard (U-Yard), where the almost two-week-long encampment protest took place. The company that installed the fencing has been used by the US Capitol to erect fencing in recent years, according to the GW Hatchet.

Students are unable to enter U-Yard, whether it be from H Street, 21st Street, or 20th Street. It is the primary grassy area on campus and is surrounded by multiple academic buildings — which were largely closed by GW amid the encampment, causing some classes and even finals to be canceled.

George Washington University blocked off most outdoor campus spaces on May 9, 2024 after clearing out an anti-Israel encampment from the Washington, DC campus the prior day. Photo: Jack Elbaum

Additionally, Kogan Plaza has been fenced off since the beginning of the encampment on April 25. All three entrances remain barricaded and security ensures nobody breaches the barricades. Kogan Plaza is where many significant university events take place. It is also surrounded by the Gelman Library and includes a popular study space.

The fence surrounding Anniversary Park has also been closed and pad-locked. The only major outdoor space not completely closed to students is Square 80.

George Washington University blocked off most outdoor campus spaces on May 9, 2024 after clearing out an anti-Israel encampment from the Washington, DC campus the prior day. Photo: Jack Elbaum

According to the GW Hatchet, U-Yard and Kogan Plaza will remain closed through commencement. No specific reason was given, but it is likely to prevent a re-occupation of any major university space.

George Washington University blocked off most outdoor campus spaces on May 9, 2024 after clearing out an anti-Israel encampment from the Washington, DC campus the prior day. Photo: Jack Elbaum

Such fears may have arisen due to the persistence of the protesters as they were being cleared out and even afterward. Within 48 hours of clearing the encampment, its organizers have already planned or carried out three new protests.

At approximately 3:00 am on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) raided the anti-Israel encampment. Previously, Washington, DC’s Mayor, Muriel Bowser, did not allow the encampment to be cleared — despite a request to do so from GW — citing bad optics, according to The Washington Post

However, the encampment broke school rules and was unlawful from the beginning, GW President Ellen Granberg noted. It also became increasingly hostile and volatile. Videos showed protesters calling for the execution of Granberg, along with other GW administrators. They also raised the Palestinian flag over U-Yard and desecrated a statue of George Washington.

“Harassing and degrading people based on their beliefs or background, assaulting police officers, illegally occupying and destroying university property, and displaying violent imagery and language are simply unacceptable,” Granberg said in a statement on Wednesday.

After three warnings, the MPD moved in to arrest those who did not leave. When they continued not to comply, at least two officers used pepper spray while confronting those breaking school rules and the law.

Granberg thanked the MPD, writing, “We are also grateful for MPD’s continued assistance and the tireless efforts of our GWPD, security, and maintenance personnel.”

The post George Washington University Barricades Nearly All Outdoor Campus Spaces Following Anti-Israel Encampment Raid first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays

A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 NewsAhead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.

The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.

“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.

“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.

The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”

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Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives

Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.

Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.

The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.

Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.

“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.

ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK

He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.

US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.

Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.

Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.

It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.

Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.

Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.

Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.

“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.

Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.

Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.

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Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

i24 NewsAn Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.

Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.

Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.

On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”

A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”

Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.

Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.

Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.

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