Georgetown's Upcoming Gaza Lecture Series to Feature Radical Professors
The series features scholars who deny Hamas' sexual violence on October 7, call to "abolish Zionism," accuse Israel of "genocide," and mock deceased political commentator Charlie Kirk as a "dead Nazi"
Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies is hosting a multi-part “Gaza Lecture Series” this spring featuring prominent academics who frame the Israel-Hamas War as genocide, according to event listings reviewed by Jewish Onliner. The February and April lectures come as the university continues programming that applies accusations of genocide to the Israel-Hamas War, following Jewish Onliner’s recent reporting on a similar February 17 event at Georgetown featuring Stanford historian Joel Beinin.
A lecture in the series on February 11 features Dr. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, the same scholar Jewish Onliner previously reported was arrested in Israel for suspected incitement in April 2024 and subsequently appointed as Princeton’s Global South Visiting Scholar.
Her talk, titled “From Scattering to Gathering: Flesh, Nonbeing, and the Work of Life in Gaza,” is co-sponsored by Georgetown’s Arab Cultures and Middle East Politics Unit (ACMCU), the African Studies Program, Georgetown University Qatar, and the Department of Theology & Religious Studies.
From Israeli Arrest to American Lecture Circuit
Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s Georgetown appearance comes nearly two years after her March 2024 suspension from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she was a professor. The suspension followed her televised statement that “It’s time to abolish Zionism. It can’t continue, it’s criminal.” In the same interview, she questioned reports of Hamas sexual violence on October 7th, stating: “They will use any lie. They started with babies, they continued with rape, and they will continue with a million other lies.”
Hebrew University said her statements took advantage of her academic freedom of expression “for incitement and to create division,” making suspension necessary to “ensure a safe and conducive environment for our students on campus.”
One month after her suspension, Israeli police arrested Shalhoub-Kevorkian on suspicion of incitement, though a court found insufficient evidence to extend her detention and released her. She retired from Hebrew University in August 2024.
Princeton’s “Reproductive Genocide” Course
As Jewish Onliner previously reported, Shalhoub-Kevorkian teaches a Princeton course titled “Gender, Reproduction, and Genocide” that lists as its central focus “the ongoing genocide in Gaza”.
The course description states students will explore “how genocidal projects target reproductive life, sexual and familial structures, and community survival,” comparing Gaza to “the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, and genocide against Black and Indigenous populations.”
April Event Focuses on “Palestinian Reproduction” After “Genocide”
Georgetown’s second lecture on April 8 features Duke University Professor Frances S. Hasso, whose talk is titled “Palestinian Reproduction, Regeneration, and Collective Futurity In/After Genocide.” According to the event description, Hasso will examine “Israeli demographic anxieties” and consider “why extermination is the current strategy” while arguing that “Palestinian resistance and existence make that impossible.”
The event description characterizes the Israel-Hamas War as genocide without qualification, stating Hasso will examine matters “in light of the Gaza Genocide” as established fact rather than a contested claim.
The Algemeiner previously reported how Hasso questioned allegations of rape and sexual torture of Israelis by Hamas on October 7.
Fida Adely, moderating the April 8 event and serving as CCAS Director, is described by the Middle East Forum as “a staunch supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.” Adely spoke at a 2024 Georgetown University event in Doha alongside operatives with alleged ties to Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Additional Lecture Series Events Feature Controversial Speakers
Additional events in the lecture series include a February 4 lecture by Columbia University’s Hadeel Assali titled “Opacity in Gaza: Intimate Relations as Resistance,” and a February 20 talk by Barnard College and Columbia University Professor Nadia Abu El-Haj titled “What Do They Know? A Portrait of Perpetration and Complicity in the Gaza Genocide.” All events are held in the same CCAS Boardroom and share the same institutional sponsors, with each event description tagged with keywords including “Palestine,” “SWANA,” “humanitarian,” and “genocide.”
Assali’s appearance at Georgetown comes months after she sparked controversy at Columbia by calling Charlie Kirk a “dead nazi” following his January 2026 assassination. According to the Washington Free Beacon, Assali shared a photo from a graffiti artist showing a wall defaced with inflammatory messaging and added: “And Columbia university has flags at half mast for the dead nazi.”
The Columbia lecturer also endorsed Palestinian "resistance in ALL its forms" shortly after the October 7 terror attack and published an essay describing Hamas's underground tunnels as "an essential form of resistance".
Abu El-Haj, the February 20 speaker, was among Columbia University professors who signed a 2023 letter following October 7 claiming that the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians on October 7 can be viewed as a "military action." The letter stated that the terror attack must be put "within the larger context of the occupation of Palestine by Israel."
Implications for America’s Future Diplomats
Georgetown's choice to host speakers who deny or downplay Hamas sexual violence, call to "abolish Zionism," praise terrorism against Israelis, and celebrate the murder of Charlie Kirk raises concerns about the university's role in training America's future diplomats and foreign policy officials. The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies operates within Georgetown's prestigious School of Foreign Service, which trains students who frequently enter the State Department, CIA, and other government positions where their perspectives shape American foreign policy.
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Seriously, they are so bamboozled I am embarrassed for them.