Student Union
- By Devon Sgubin
How Will You Celebrate International Women's Day?
A thousand women march through the streets of YPG-held Sheikh Maqsood in #Aleppo, to celebrate the upcoming International Women's Day. pic.twitter.com/scLCcF37Kl
— Afarin Mamosta (@AfarinMamosta) March 6, 2017
International Women’s Day (IWD), which recognizes the work and achievements of women worldwide, is celebrated Wednesday.
The day also calls for attention and action to help push society towards gender equality. Women celebrate and march worldwide, including Aleppo (see video), Iran, India and the U.S.
This year’s theme is #BeBoldForChange.
The theme calls for men and women around the world to voice their concerns of gender exclusion and help promote gender parity in their day to day lives.
Similar to A Day Without Immigrants, women in the United States will participate in A Day Without Women on IWD. The strike aims to highlight the contributions women make to the economy and the impact they have on society despite discrimination, inequality and harassment.
Alexandria, Virginia, officially closed its public schools March 8, expecting most of their staff and faculty to participate in A Day Without Women. More than 300 faculty and staff have requested leave for the day.
City schools in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, North Carolina will also close for the day, citing a lack of staff to run the schools in the district.
College campuses in the U.S. have created events and celebrations in recognition of International Women's Day.
A silent auction will take place at Indiana State University on International Women’s Day to fund the international education program, She’s The First, which offers “scholarships to girls in low-income countries, fostering first-generation graduates and cultivating the next generation of global leaders.”
That auction is hosted by the International Student Leadership Council.
The Women 4 Women Student Board from University of Louisville, Kentucky, is holding a one day Cultural Awareness Event in recognition of IWD. The day’s event seeks to raise awareness of the cultural diversity on campus while celebrating the empowerment of women. The event will include interactive workshops, art, performances, free food and henna.
Ohio University's Women's Center is celebrating IWD by hosting The International Women's Day Festival on Sunday, March 19. The event will provide “an opportunity for the campus community to highlight women's and girl's achievements, to reflect on women's status today, and to imagine a future where all women are valued as local, national, and global citizens," according to Ohio University.
IWD was first internationally recognized in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland and has spread worldwide. IWD is officially recognized in over 25 countries.
Are you celebrating International Women's Day? Please leave a comment here, and visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, thanks!
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Police arrest 33 at George Washington University protest encampment
Police in Washington cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday, arresting 33 people, authorities said.
Arrests were made on charges of assault on a police officer and unlawful entry, the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department said.
A congressional committee canceled a hearing on the university encampment Wednesday. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith had been scheduled to testify about the city’s handling of the protest before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
University parents and faculty members gathered Wednesday afternoon for a press conference to condemn the handling of the protests by police and school leaders.
“The university clearly does not value the students at all and has endangered the safety of our children by unleashing officers dressed in full riot gear to assault and spray our children in their eyes with pepper spray,” said Hala Amer, whose son participated in the campus protests.
Police said they dispersed demonstrators because "there has been a gradual escalation in the volatility of the protest."
American University professor Barbara Wien said she stayed in the encampment with GW students. She described the student protesters as democratic and peaceful.
Police started to shut down the tent encampment after dozens of protesters marched to GW President Ellen Granberg's on-campus home on Tuesday night. Police were called, but no arrests were made.
Speakers at the conference called for Granberg’s resignation because, they alleged, she refused to meet and negotiate with student protesters.
“You keep inciting violence and ignoring the students,” Amer said about Granberg in an interview with VOA after the conference. “It will just lead to more violence. You need to talk to your students.”
GW officials warned students that they could be suspended for engaging in protests at the school’s University Yard, an outdoor spot on the campus.
"While the university is committed to protecting students' rights to free expression, the encampment had evolved into an unlawful activity, with participants in direct violation of multiple university policies and city regulations," a GW statement said.
More than 2,600 people have been arrested at universities across the country in pro-Palestinian protests, according to The Associated Press.
Students are calling on their university administrations to divest investments from Israel or companies with ties to Israel. Demonstrators have gathered in at least 50 campuses since April 17, carrying signs that read "Free Palestine" and "Hands off Rafah."
Rafah is Gaza’s southernmost city, where most of the territory’s population has clustered. The area is also a corridor for bringing humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, while shutting off the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups. Israel said Wednesday that it had reopened Kerem Shalom.
The nationwide campus protests started in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza that began after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel warned it could "deepen" its operation in Rafah if talks failed to secure the release of the hostages.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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