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George Washington U clears professor of antisemitism charges brought by pro-Israel group
(JTA) – George Washington University has cleared a professor of allegations from a federal civil rights complaint that she discriminated against Jewish and Israeli students, in the latest instance of universities and pro-Israel groups wrangling over how to define antisemitism on campus.
The summary of the findings, by an outside law firm, also criticized the pro-Israel group StandWithUs for its “expansive view of the definition of antisemitism,” which the report’s authors said would stifle academic freedom if applied widely. The university shared the summary on Monday.
StandWithUs had brought the allegations against Lara Sheehi, a psychology professor in the university’s graduate program who was born in Lebanon. In its civil rights complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Education, the group claimed that Sheehi had made antisemitic comments in class and brought in a guest speaker who shared anti-Zionist views, and that the university hadn’t done enough to address student concerns.
In the last several years, pro-Israel legal groups have used the Department of Education’s civil rights office to file numerous federal complaints against universities for Israel-related speech they have claimed is antisemitic. Built on a recent expansion of the department’s purview into antisemitism-related civil rights violations, these complaints have resulted in some universities pledging to do more to combat antisemitism — and, occasionally, in pushback from activists and administrators who deny the charges.
In George Washington University’s case, the school announced in January it would commission a third-party investigation into the matter, to be conducted by the law firm Crowell & Moring LLP. The Department of Education has not to date opened its own investigation into the case, according to its records. The Middle East Studies Association defended Sheehi and called on the university to support her by ending the investigation; hundreds of academics signed an open letter defending her.
That investigation has now cleared Sheehi of any wrongdoing, while also critiquing StandWithUs and the Jewish and Israeli students it was representing.
Those parties, the firm said, “advocated for an expansive view of the definition of antisemitism, which, if accepted in the university environment, could infringe on free speech principles and academic freedom.”
Roz Rothstein, director and CEO of StandWithUs, called the report summary “disappointing” and “self-serving” in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, but did not address its direct critique of her organization’s definition of antisemitism.
“While we had hoped that the GW administration would take this opportunity to begin remedying its pervasive antisemitism problem, its published ‘summary’ demonstrates that it intends only to persist in its course of disregarding the rights of its Jewish and Israeli students,” Rothstein wrote. She called on the university to release the report in full, saying some of its findings were “patently untrue.”
The university endorsed the findings. “After careful review, I believe the summary faithfully represents what the university learned through this third-party investigation,” George Washington University President Mark Wrighton wrote in a letter to the university community. He added, “Looking forward, we will continue to work closely with our community members as well as campus and national partners to best support our Jewish and Arab communities.”
The university declined further comment. It has also dealt with recent antisemitism controversies involving graffiti outside the campus Hillel and a damaged imitation Torah at a Jewish fraternity.
Among StandWithUs’s more eye-catching allegations was that Sheehi had told an Israeli student, “It’s not your fault you were born in Israel.” While the investigation didn’t reference specific alleged quotes, it could not support any claims of antisemitic comments Sheehi had supposedly made in class. Sheehi’s alleged comments were “inaccurate or taken out of context and misrepresented,” the firm’s summary said, citing “those who had heard” the comments (a charge disputed by StandWithUs).
The second major allegation, concerning comments made by guest lecturer Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, could not be substantiated by a recording of the event, the summary found. It also concerned an event students were not required to attend — but even within this context, investigators said, Sheehi “repeatedly acknowledged the students’ feelings, gave the students space to express their concerns, and denounced antisemitism as a real and present danger. No student-interviewees recalled Dr. Sheehi denying that antisemitism exists or denying the students’ lived experiences.”
The findings ruled in Sheehi’s and the university’s favor on other points, too, noting that a Twitter account the professor had used in years past to decry “Israelis” and “Zionists” lay outside the purview of university discipline.
Sheehi did not respond to a JTA request for comment. In a published piece during the investigation, Sheehi accused her employer of having “colluded with StandWithUs’ misrepresentation of my classroom by being silent” about details of the allegations which she said the university could have disproven.
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The post George Washington U clears professor of antisemitism charges brought by pro-Israel group appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Years of Ignored Antisemitism Led to Terror in Australia — and the Media Helped Normalize It
Mourners carry the casket of 10-year-old Matilda the youngest victim of a mass shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach targeting an event for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on Sunday, at Chevra Kadisha Memorial Hall, in Sydney, Australia, Dec. 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Years of hatred and antisemitism that was swept aside or outright denied led to one of the most horrific attacks on the Jewish people in Australia.
The warning signs were unmistakable more than two years ago: chants of “gas the Jews” outside the Sydney Opera House days after October 7; “Jew die” graffiti scrawled outside a Jewish school; a synagogue firebombed; and a Jewish community that made clear, again and again, that it did not feel safe or protected.
A terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community should not be what it takes for the world to pay attention to the undeniable rise in antisemitism.
And yet, even now, it appears that many are still unwilling to acknowledge the attack was antisemitic.
Despite the terrorists specifically aiming at the crowd gathered at the Hanukkah event, there was initial reluctance to name the Jewish community as the target.
Rather, the attack was framed in vague terms as part of a broader act of violence and a public safety issue in Australia. This reluctance to call out antisemitism is not incidental, but part of the pattern that allowed it to foster unchecked for so long.
As the news coverage on the attack continued, outlets slowly started to shift the story away from the victims of the attack and towards the terrorists who carried it out.
While understanding the motive and background has a place in responsible reporting, many outlets instead crossed a dangerous line by subtly humanizing the perpetrators while sidelining the Jewish victims.
1/
How terrorists who murder Jews are quietly humanized in media coverage.
Not through praise – but through framing, emphasis, and omission.
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. pic.twitter.com/nOuZM0ni7V
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 16, 2025
One headline in Newsweek focused on the attacker’s relationship with his family, quoting that his mother considered him a “good boy.” But what his mother thought of him before the attack should not have been headline news — the fact that he took part in mass murdering people at a Hanukkah event should have.
The pain and trauma of the victims’ families and survivors deserved the center of the story, rather than emotional character references for the terrorist.
The Irish Times similarly stressed the terrorists had no criminal background, omitting their ISIS-inspired ideology and once again framing them as ordinary, well-meaning people.
2/
Let’s start with this headline from @Newsweek:
“Mom of Bondi terror attack suspect says he was a ‘good boy’”Pause on that.
This is not context. It’s emotional laundering – shifting attention from victims to the feelings of the terrorist’s family. pic.twitter.com/vquSod2nM3
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 16, 2025
The BBC likewise whitewashed the crimes of the terrorists by refusing to call them terrorists at all. Instead, they were described merely as “gunmen,” a term so sanitized that readers would have no idea from the headline that they carried out a deadly attack on Jews.
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Humanization also shows up in language choices.“Terrorists” become gunmen. “Murder” becomes an incident. A mass-casualty attack on Jews becomes something that “happened at Bondi Beach.”
This @bbc headline doesn’t even tell readers that people were killed. pic.twitter.com/wPelNy8Aov
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 16, 2025
Meanwhile, Sky News shifted the focus from the Jewish victims to warn that Muslims in Australia may feel unsafe. This creates a moral inversion that recasts the aftermath of an antisemitic terror attack as a story about the potential discomfort of an entirely different community.
This inversion completes a familiar pattern where Jewish victims disappear, antisemitism becomes abstract, and the media moves on without ever confronting the hatred that made the attack possible.
Jews are massacred in an Islamist terror attack.@SkyNews’ response: bring on an imam to warn that Muslims may now feel unsafe.
Victims erased.
Violence inverted.
Sympathy redirected away from the dead. pic.twitter.com/K78sZtWbuX— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 17, 2025
When explicit calls to murder Jews are dismissed as isolated incidents, when attacks on Jewish institutions are minimized, and when Jewish fear is treated as political exaggeration, violence becomes inevitable. A terrorist attack against Jews in Australia is the consequence of sustained denial, indifference, and moral failure. The minimization of antisemitic incidents and violence against the Jewish people in the media contributes to the vicious cycle.
Antisemitism does not begin with terror attacks. It begins when warning signs are ignored — and it will continue until institutions, leaders, and the media are willing to say clearly and unequivocally that Jews were targeted because they are Jews.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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Palestinian Terrorist Was Killed Throwing Grenades; PA Said He Was ‘Young Boy’ ‘Delivering a Package’
Illustrative: Palestinian demonstrators call for an end to clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in Jenin, in the West Bank, Dec. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues its hypocrisy about terrorists who are killed trying to murder Jews.
The “successful” terrorists are coined heroic fighters, and the PA names schools, streets, and squares after them.
But if they are young terrorists and the PA wants the world to condemn Israel, they are repackaged as innocent victims.
Such was the case of 16-year-old Islamic Jihad terrorist Muhammad Iyad Abahreh, who was killed after throwing hand grenades at Israeli soldiers near Jenin.
Text on picture:
“Martyr Jihad fighter
Muhammad Iyad Abahreh
One of the Jihad fighters of the Al-Quds Brigades, Al-Yamun Brigade
Al-Quds Brigades – Military Media”
Islamic Jihad’s terror wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, openly lauded Abahreh as one of its fighters.
The group proudly described him as a “Jihad fighter,” declared that he died as a “Martyr,” and vowed to continue armed resistance:
Headline: “The Al-Quds Brigades accompany to his wedding Martyr Muhammad Abahreh from Jenin”
“The Al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine’s military wing, accompanied to his wedding [i.e., a Martyr’s funeral is considered his wedding to the 72 Virgins in Paradise in Islam] Martyr Muhammad Iyad Abahreh …
In a statement on Sunday, [Dec. 14, 2025,] the brigades said that Abahreh is one of the Jihad fighters of the Al-Yamun Brigade and that he ascended to Heaven as a Martyr after he managed to engage with the occupation [i.e., Israeli] soldiers and threw several hand grenades at them during an invasion of the town of Silat Al-Harithiya yesterday evening, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025.
The brigades emphasized that they will remain steadfast on the path of Jihad and resistance until liberation and return.”
[Safa, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 14, 2025]
Just one day later, the Palestinian Authority’s official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, published a fabricated version of the attack.
The “Jihad fighter” became a “young boy,” the grenade attack was erased, Islamic Jihad was not mentioned, and Israeli soldiers were accused of killing him while he was “delivering a package.”
Abahreh was painted as a “loved, diligent, seeker of knowledge” whose “death as a Martyr halted his aspirations” to graduate high school and help his parents.
Headline: “Young Muhammad Abahreh”
“Al-Yamun and Silat Al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, were partners in grief two nights ago, Saturday, [Dec. 13, 2025]. The two neighboring towns mourned 16-year-old boy Muhammad Iyad Muhammad Abahreh, who ascended to Heaven in Silat Al-Harithiya, and the occupation seized his body…
Family sources told Al-Hayat Al-Jadida that young Abahreh is the eldest [child] in the family and that he was looking forward to finishing his experimental matriculation exams, but the occupation’s bullets changed the course of his dreams.
They noted that Muhammad was on his motorcycle on his way to deliver a package in nearby Silat Al-Harithiya, but the occupation soldiers shot him with six bullets and seized his body…
Al-Yamun High School Principal Radwan Freihat described the loss experienced by the school with Muhammad’s death … who was loved, diligent, and a seeker of knowledge. He said that his death as a Martyr halted his aspirations to earn a high [school graduation] certificate to help his parents.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 15, 2025]
The Palestinian Authority routinely rewrites terrorist attacks to demonize Israel and mislead international audiences and donors.
It did this just a month ago after terrorists from its own ruling party murdered Aharon Cohen and injured three others. The PA denies the October 7 atrocities. And it lies to world leaders about condemning terrorism and antisemitism.
Itamar Marcus is Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)’s Founder and Director. Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
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Foreign Press Correspondents Honored Terrorists, Awarded Al Jazeera Cash Grant
The Al Jazeera Media Network logo is seen on its headquarters building in Doha, Qatar, June 8, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon
The Association and Club of Foreign Press Correspondents USA bestowed honors on some of America’s most distinguished journalists at its gala in Washington, D.C., including veteran NBC journalist Andrea Mitchell.
Yet the same organization also chose to bestow posthumous honors on individuals later exposed as active terrorists who had worked as “journalists” for Al Jazeera, the Qatari state broadcaster and a co-sponsor of the event.
The channel itself was even awarded the association’s so-called “press freedom grant.”
An elite American press organization is honoring Hamas terrorists. That’s according to an astonishing scoop by @HonestReporting’s @Gil_Hoffman on a December 4 gala held by the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the U.S., the self-described “leading independent… pic.twitter.com/itH7gxX4W9
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) December 8, 2025
According to a dinner attendee, the ceremony included a moment of silence for 10 Al Jazeera reporters and media workers killed in Gaza while “covering the Palestinian conflict with Israel,” with their photos displayed at a memorial table — a disturbing imitation of the empty hostage tables used to honor Israelis kidnapped by Hamas.
During the event, Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst used his acceptance speech to eulogize Gazan reporters. He criticized Israel for restricting independent journalistic access to Gaza, while omitting a crucial fact: Hamas routinely threatens, censors, and kills journalists, while selectively protecting cooperative reporters who comply with its messaging.
Yingst praised the “fearless and tenacious Palestinian journalists in Gaza who don’t have the luxury to leave when reporting becomes too dangerous,” adding after applause: “May we not forget their sacrifice and contributions to our industry.”
Since these “contributions” went unnamed, they deserve documenting.
Western press have eaten up Al Jazeera *cough* Hamas propaganda over Anas al-Sharif’s elimination by the IDF.
Here’s a
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 12, 2025
By memorializing known terror operatives and rewarding a propaganda outlet, the Association and Club of Foreign Press Correspondents USA transformed what should have been a celebration of journalistic integrity into a moral failure.
This was not an act of solidarity with journalism — it was the elevation of militants masquerading as reporters.
The author is the Executive Director of HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.