A student at George Washington University spotted a “Free Palestine” sticker on the bumper of a university police department car this past week.
The student, who asked to remain anonymous, was walking near Phillips Hall on the downtown Washington D.C. campus when he spotted the university police squad car.
According to Maralee Csellar, GW’S Director of Media Relations, upon the last inspection of all UPD vehicles last Tuesday no bumper stickers were found. Furthermore, she stated, “The George Washington University Police Department prohibits the placement of non-university signage on its police vehicles. During routine inspection of vehicles, officers will remove any objects that do not belong on a vehicle.”
In an unrelated incident, last month a GW student was told by campus police to remove a Palestinian flag that hung outside his residence hall window.
Last March, the university investigated two separate incidents involving swastikas appearing inside campus buildings. In one such incident, multiple swastikas were drawn on the wall inside a residence hall lobby. Later that month, the symbol was posted on the bulletin board of a Jewish fraternity at the university. The student was expelled by the fraternity’s national leaders.
University president Steve Knapp said, “Our entire community should be aware of the swastika’s association with genocide perpetrated against the Jewish people and should be concerned about the extremely harmful effects that displaying this symbol has on individuals and the climate of our entire university community.” He added, “The university will embark on a program of education to ensure that all members of our community understand the damage that symbols of hatred do to us all.”
