Georgetown University Law Center abandoned the pretense of being a serious institution long ago—and keeps finding new ways to remind us. This is, after all, the same school that claims as an alum the brilliant legal mind hermetically sealed in Mazie Hirono’s noggin.
Georgetown is home to the Hoyas, a sprawling evergreen shrub with waxy, ornamental flowers. (And no, before you ask, there’s no known connection to the Bush family.) Hoyas are climbers, after all—which fits perfectly, considering the law school’s proximity to Capitol Hill. You’re bound to find more than a few social climbers lurking around.
Lurk around and find out.
The school loves to tout its Jesuit tradition of Cura Personalis—Latin for “care of the whole person.” But lately, it seems that care extends primarily to convicted terrorists and their apologists, with Cura Palestina—care for the whole of Palestine—taking precedence over care for its Jewish students or basic moral clarity.
And recently, Georgetown decided its care should extend to hosting a convicted terrorist. Shocking? Hardly. This is just the next logical step in their downward spiral.
A Platform for Terrorism, Courtesy of Georgetown
On February 11, Students for Justice in Palestine (“SJP”)—which really, in the interest of transparency, should change its name to “Students for Hamas”—planned to roll out the red carpet for Ribhi Karajah, a criminal with ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)—a U.S.-designated terrorist organization responsible for, among other things, murdering a 17-year-old Israeli girl in 2019.
Karajah wasn’t just some bystander, mind you. He admitted in a plea deal that he had prior knowledge of the bombing that killed Rina Shnerb and maimed her father and brother—but did nothing to stop it. That got him a three-year stint in an Israeli prison. Thanks to Georgetown Law, he was about to upgrade from a prison jumpsuit to a guest speaker.
It would be one thing if Karajah were coming to Georgetown to express the tremendous regret he should feel for his role in ending the life of an innocent teenager and brutally maiming her family. But that’s not the story “SJP” wanted to tell.
Instead, they packaged him as a “political prisoner” and framed the event as a discussion on “arrest, detention, and torture” in the so-called “Israeli military judicial system.” Never mind that his imprisonment had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with his connection to a terrorist bombing that left a 17-year-old girl dead.
But then something funny happened. The event was postponed. The official reason from “SJP”? “Inclement weather.” It snowed. But let’s be honest—snow wasn’t the only thing piling up.
According to Jewish Insider, the University hit the pause button after Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and various advocacy groups started asking inconvenient questions.
Then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed in. That’s a curious coincidence. The timing suggests Georgetown wasn’t just worried about the cold weather—it was worried about political heat. Maybe, just maybe, the administration buckled—this time.
Still, Georgetown’s leading advocates for Palestinian “resistance” apparently weren’t up for braving the elements or serious scrutiny. Their idea of “resistance” doesn’t encompass weather resistance or resistance to Georgetown’s so-called safety and security concerns.
Snowflakes, indeed.
Let’s just say these aren’t the hardiest souls.
A Pattern of Academic Complicity
Still, the invitation alone tells us everything we need to know.
And this isn’t a one-off mistake. This is who Georgetown is now.
In 2022, the school gave a platform to Mohammed El-Kurd, an antisemitic conspiracy theorist, on the eve of Yom HaShoah—when the world pauses to honor the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Georgetown chose that moment to hand the mic to someone who has compared Zionists to Nazis.
Its Qatar campus—funded by a regime that has funneled billions to Hamas—has hosted speakers who have framed violent resistance in ways that downplay or justify terrorism.
This is a pattern. A sickness. A brain worm, if you will. Even if you won’t.
Months before the Karajah event, Jewish students at Georgetown Law were already fearing violence amid heated rhetoric from classmates and anti-Israeli groups. As one student put it, “Sitting in class next to someone who advocates the destruction of Israel is frightening.”
The posers in the Georgetown administration know this and seemingly do nothing unless the heat reaches a certain level. There’s a message in that.
It will be telling if this postponement is permanent or if the event is rescheduled—and, of course, the results of the University’s “serious investigation.”
What the Feds and the Public Must Demand
Enough is enough. If Georgetown’s leaders refuse to clean up their act, Congress and the Executive Branch must intervene.
The Jesuits Would Know What to Do
The Jesuit founders of Georgetown are no doubt ashamed of what the University has become. One gets the sense they wouldn’t have needed a congressional hearing—or a reminder of what accountability looks like—to make a course correction. I understand they had a certain way with apostasy.
Shut It Down
At this point, we should ask the obvious: What would Georgetown do differently if it were openly recruiting for Hamas?
They’ve already platformed terrorists, given academic cover to their apologists, and now they’re educating the next generation of Hamas-aligned activists, all while cashing in on taxpayer dollars and foreign funding.
Congress must act, the administration must act, and donors must act. And if
Georgetown’s leadership won’t clean house, then maybe it’s time for someone else to do it for them.
Because this isn’t academic freedom, it’s academic complicity.
And the public has been complicit for far too long. And complacent.
Charlton Allen is an attorney, former chief executive officer, and chief judicial officer of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. He is the founder of the Madison Center for Law & Liberty, Inc., editor of The American Salient, and the host of the Modern Federalist podcast. X: @CharltonAllenNC
Image: Free image, Pixabay license.