Pro-Palestine Student Protest in Washington Continues Despite Demands to Remove Camp

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Dozens of students are still camped out at the George Washington University (GWU) in the US capital to protest against Israeli military actions in Gaza, despite demands by officials to disperse, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday.

The protests at GWU have emerged alongside other pro-Palestine demonstrations at US college campuses across the country in recent days, some of which have seen intense clashes between protesters and law enforcement.

Students began protesting at GWU on Thursday to condemn Israel's assault on Gaza and demand a halt to US arms supplies to the Jewish state. The epicenter of the demonstrations remains the square at the university's Law School, which is located within walking distance from the White House.

Student demonstrations are also taking place at Columbia University, Yale, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Emory, the University of Texas and Ohio State, among others. In some universities, police are using force to remove protesters, and their interventions have resulted in hundreds of arrests.

Protesters at George Washington University are holding signs with slogans including “Stand with Palestine,” and “Stop the Genocide,” among others.

Officials and police stationed at George Washington University have not yet moved to break up the ongoing protest. On Thursday, officials demanded that the protesters vacate the territory by the end of the day, but on Friday the protest continued without intervention by law enforcement officers.

The territory of the protest encampment has been fenced off, with only protesters and several police officers inside. The officers have not interfered with the demonstrations.

Police squads are stationed outside the campus grounds and restrict the movement of vehicles along the adjacent street. Police say they do not have any information about when the protesters will leave their encampment.