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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Congresswoman defends Israel

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) spoke about the importance of Israel Thursday night, in the first event sponsored by new student group the Israel Peace Project. The group, which co-sponsored the event with the College Democrats, is also a living and learning community.

Berkley discussed U.S. foreign aid policy, though the focus of the forum was politics in the Middle East.

“The survival of the Jewish people is based on the survival of the Jewish state,” she said. “It is the Palestinian authorities that make the prospect of peace between Israel and a new Palestine a distant hope.”

She said it was important for students to stay interested in the politics and conflicts of Israel and praised GW students for their awareness.

“We wanted to host (Berkley) because she has taken a proactive role in Congress and is pro-Israel,” Berger said.

More than 100 students listened to Berkley speak in a packed Marvin Center third floor amphitheater.

Berkley, a European Jewish immigrant, spoke at GW to kick off the Israel Peace Project’s first year on campus. A team of nine sophomores formed the living and learning community last November. Executive Director Alex Berger leads the group that lives at 2028 G St., formerly the Sigma Nu townhouse.

Leaders call the student peace group “an organization devoted to ending the misinformation that pervades the Middle East debate.” Of 30 members, Berger said about 75 percent are Jewish, but the group hopes to attract a larger, more diverse membership to present a non-biased view of the Middle East conflict.

“The two sides of this conflict have a lot in common,” sophomore member Mark Blohm said. “They agree in a lot of areas. We are here because we fear for the safety of Israel.”

Berger said the group wants to encourage discussion on diplomatic relations, because weapons of mass destruction are becoming a larger threat in the world.

He said the group has several events planned for the rest of the semester. The group will host five seminars documenting the history of the Israeli people, open to all students beginning Oct. 10 in the townhouse. The sessions will discuss Israeli history from 1871 to the present. The other sessions, with topics not yet determined, will be held every other Sunday after Oct. 10.

Berger said the group was encouraged by Berkley’s visit, and hopes to attract such speakers as Hillary Clinton, Elie Wiesel and Henry Kissinger.

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