Student groups at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., have called on the school to adopt the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism in the aftermath of a viral video displaying a student saying that Israel should be bombed.
Leaders from GW for Israel, the Jewish Student Association, GW College Republicans, GW College Democrats and the university’s student association wrote a joint letter to GW president Thomas LeBlanc to “express our grave concern about the persistent, undeterred presence of anti-Semitism amongst our community,” adding that Jew-hatred has occurred on campus, for example, in the “past refusal of the Student Association to hold this form of intolerance to the same level of scrutiny as other forms of hate, because the intolerance is directed towards Jews.”
The letter also mentions that anti-Semitism on campus has included anti-Israel rhetoric.
In April 2018, the GW Student Association passed a resolution calling on the university to divest and boycott firms doing business in Israel.
Earlier this month, a Snapchat video showed an apparently intoxicated student being asked by a male, “What are we going to do to Israel?”
She responded, “We’re gonna f***ing bomb Israel, bro. F*** outta here Jewish pieces of s***.”
The video, which has almost 30,000 views on Facebook, had a graphic that read, “Hot Girl Rosh Hashanah.”
The university blasted the video.
“Comments from a GW student posted on social media are disturbing and hateful, and they are antithetical to our university’s core values of diversity and respect,” said LeBlanc. “We will not tolerate anti-Semitism or any form of bigotry on our campuses.”
He continued, “As we continue to gather more information about this incident and provide support to our students, I urge all members of our GW community to take seriously our responsibility to uphold our values and demonstrate them in our words and actions.”
GW spokesperson Crystal Nosal told The GW Hatchet, “There is no apparent credible threat to our students or our campus at this time.”
