Shohada' Square

On April 24, 2024, students from across the DMV deployed an indefinite encampment in the University Yard at The George Washington University. The student protestors renamed the space "Shohada' Square", translating to "Martyrs' Square". They intended to remain until officials divested fully from any financial ties to Israel. After orders to clear the area, police barricaded several students inside the space for days, before the community overran the barricades and reclaimed the Square. What followed were days of increasing escalations, retributions, and profound examples of community-building. Shohada' Square was violently cleared by the Metropolitan Police Department on May 8, culminating in over thirty arrests.