Antisemitic Organizations & Individuals

Nihad Awad is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Under his leadership, CAIR has become the most visible Muslim advocacy group in the United States. Awad has faced longstanding concerns over his ties to Islamist movements and allegations of misconduct. Before founding CAIR, Awad was a senior official at the now-defunct Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which was linked to U.S.-based support networks for the Hamas terrorist organization. In 1994, Awad publicly expressed support for Hamas over the Palestine Liberation Organization. Though he later claimed to have changed his views, his past statements and affiliations continue to raise red flags. Awad has also faced scrutiny for his authoritarian control over CAIR. As both Executive Director and a board member, Awad has consolidated power over the nonprofit, preventing internal challenges to his leadership. This has led to claims of a toxic work environment where dissent is punished, allegations of discrimination against Shia Muslims, and efforts to prevent CAIR employees from unionizing. A 2021 NPR report revealed accusations of sexual harassment with claims that Awad himself engaged in inappropriate behavior toward a female employee. Additionally, he and other senior CAIR officials allegedly covered up misconduct within the organization, allowing serial offenders to remain in positions of power. In October 2023, following the Hamas attack that took the lives of more than 1,200 Israeli civilians, Awad gave a speech during the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) convention in Chicago in which he stated he was “happy to see” the October 7 attack, which he praised as Palestinians “breaking the siege” and “walking free into their land.” Awad’s remarks were widely condemned and resulted in the Biden Administration banning Awad and CAIR from the White House in January 2024. While Awad later attempted to clarify his statements, his comments were seen as an endorsement of terrorism, reinforcing concerns about his longstanding sympathies. 

In January 2025, Tajiran was apprehended after issuing threats to a Jewish funeral home, claiming he wanted to “behead” and “bury” Jews. He was arrested on charges of terrorist activity.

An activist organization based in New York City, in January 2025 the Palestine Solidarity Working Group, along with Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and NYC Resist with Gaza, claimed responsibility for vandalizing Columbia University’s Henry R. Kravis Hall. Activists spraypainted pro-Hamas slogans and cemented the building’s sewage system, protesting the university’s expansion projects in Harlem and its association with the Apartheid Global Center in Tel Aviv. 

Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) is a student-led organization at Columbia University advocating for the institution to divest from companies associated with Israel. According to their Instagram account, CUAD is a “Coalition of 100+ Columbia University student groups who see Palestine as the vanguard for collective liberation” and claims to be a “continuation of the Vietnam anti-war movement and the movement to divest from apartheid South Africa.” On September 16, 2024, CUAD shared a post by the Unity of Fields Instagram account calling for the mass evasion of public transportation fares and labeling police, “Zionists,” and “surveillance infrastructure” as targets for violence. The post stated: “Fares are free. Don’t pay. Join us in mass fare evasion. Take our city back from the pigs. Let repression breed more resistance. All zionist, police & surveillance infrastructure are legitimate targets.” This post and CUAD’s promotion of it contributed to a large anti-police riot in New York City demanding taxpayer-funded public transportation. The Unity of Fields account that posted the original call for violence was later disabled by Meta, as confirmed by a post from an alt-account on September 25, 2024. In January 2025, CUAD, alongside the Palestine Solidarity Working Group and NYC Resists with Gaza, vandalized Henry R. Kravis Hall. Activists spraypainted pro-Hamas slogans and cemented the building’s sewage system, protesting the university’s expansion projects in Harlem and its association with the Apartheid Global Center in Tel Aviv. On February 27, 2025, Barnard College dean Leslie Grinage was held captive by pro-Hamas members of CUAD and Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. Reports claim that two university employees were physically assaulted, the campus was vandalized, and classes were canceled. Protesters were calling for the reinstatement of two pro-Hamas classmates who were expelled for interrupting a History of Modern Israel class with antisemitic propaganda. Grinage was eventually released and the protest moved from the university to the streets of New York City. 

A New York-based activist group supporting Palestinian causes, in January 2025, NYC Resist with Gaza collaborated with the Palestine Solidarity Working Group and Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) to vandalize Columbia University’s Henry R. Kravis Hall. Activists spraypainted pro-Hamas slogans and cemented the building’s sewage system, protesting the university’s expansion projects in Harlem and its association with the Apartheid Global Center in Tel Aviv. On January 28, 2025, the group celebrated the vandalism of Jewish-owned restaurant Miriam’s in Brooklyn, New York in an Instagram post that stated, “Not only was this act condemned by pig mayor Erikkk Adams and Zionist senator Chuckkk Schumer, but ‘pro-Palestine’ mayoral hopeful Zohran Kwame Mamdani decided to join in on the disavowal. Zohran was infamously arrested outside of Schumer’s house at a protest, but here it looks like they agree that fighting genocide supporters outside of ‘permitted’ protests is too far.” 

A Senior Student Success Advisor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, in December 2024 Flores reportedly posted an advertisement seeking to sublet a room in her apartment that noted “no Zionists” should apply. Massive backlash ensued for the perceived antisemitism of this provision.