D.C. College Students Walk Out on Oren
A group of protesting students silently walked out of a speech by Israel’s U.S. ambassador, Michael Oren, at George Washington University.
Near the beginning of the speech Monday night in Washington, more than a dozen students walked out of the room, with one holding a sign that read “Oren supports Colonialism.” Some audience members applauded lightly while Oren continued with his presentation.
According to GW Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Yoni Kaiser-Blueth, Oren asked the students to stay and participate in dialogue, but they formed a small protest outside the event. Kaiser-Blueth said the protest did not disrupt the event and told JTA that it was a “wonderful evening.”
While no student group has identified itself with the protest, GW does host a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. A Muslim Students’ Association also exists at the university; Kaiser-Blueth said Hillel has strong, friendly relations with the group.
Students have protested Oren’s speeches at several campuses, most notably in February 2010, when 11 Muslim students at the University of California, Irvine, shouted slogans at Oren and walked out. Ten of the students were found guilty of misdemeanors for disrupting the speech and were sentenced to community service and three years of probation.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.