Jewish Onliner is an independent publication. If you find our work valuable, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You can also subscribe to us on WhatsApp and Telegram. Follow us on Instagram, Discord, and X.
George Washington University will host a two-day conference in September whose organizers describe the United States as an “empire” perpetuating “multiple genocides,” invoke the “historical legacy of ‘Amerikkka,’” portray comparisons between Hamas and ISIS as part of an Israeli propaganda campaign, and offer workshops teaching activists how to “identify targets” and “continue resistance.”
The September 17-18 conference, When Will This War End? Lessons and Legacies of the War on Terror, is organized by the Muslim Counterpublics Lab and co-sponsored by George Washington University’s Institute for Middle East Studies, according to the conference website.
Muslim Counterpublics Lab states that it is a fiscally sponsored project of Defending Rights & Dissent, a Washington-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations to MCL are processed through the tax-exempt fiscal sponsor.
Its published program places those themes alongside relatives of men convicted in major Hamas and al-Qaeda-related terrorism cases, speakers who publicly promoted Palestinian “resistance” during or after October 7, and advocacy organizations that have challenged landmark post-9/11 terrorism prosecutions.
Conference Accuses U.S. of ‘Multiple Genocides’
The conference’s own descriptions frame the War on Terror as an extension of what organizers call “systems of capitalism serving empire,” U.S. “militarism and policing,” and broader structures of “state violence.”
Its opening plenary places the post-9/11 wars within what organizers describe as a “long arc of extraction, land theft, and systems of capitalism serving empire,” connecting the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan to what the program calls the “US-Israeli genocide in Gaza.” Another session is titled State Violence by Design: Anti-Indigenous Racism, Anti-Blackness and the Historical Legacy of “Amerikkka.”
That session says anti-Indigenous and anti-Black frameworks have been used by the state to advance “land theft, forced labor, and resource extraction,” and describes anti-Muslim bigotry as an ideological foundation for the War on Terror.
A media workshop says “mainstream corporate media” has been complicit in “manufacturing consent for violence and genocide” and promises to train participants in reporting on Muslim “resistance movements” while creating “counternarratives against state propaganda.”
The Palestine panel, titled Palestine and the War on Terror: (Dis)arming Genocidaires and State Repression, calls Israel’s actions in Gaza the “current stage of genocide,” describes Israel as a “settler state,” and says its “Hamas is ISIS” messaging is part of a propaganda campaign. Participants will learn about organizing arms embargo and divestment campaigns, according to the event description.
Another workshop promises instruction on how activists can “identify targets,” mobilize communities and organize against governments and corporations, while a session examining the “terrorism paradigm” promises strategies to “challenge repression, continue resistance, and build collective power.”
The closing plenary states that “U.S. empire” is perpetuating “multiple genocides in Muslim countries and throughout the Global South” and describes the United States’ trajectory in terms of “genocide, land theft, regime changes, mass incarceration, and militarism.”
Organizer Promoted ‘Resistance’ on October 7
Muslim Counterpublics Lab founder Maha Hilal posted on October 7, 2023, as the Hamas-led attacks were unfolding, that “#PalestineWillbeFree & no power in the world can stop the #resistance #FreePalestine.”
Later that month, Hilal delivered a presentation comparing political rhetoric surrounding September 11 with the response to October 7. According to the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, she criticized political leaders for describing both attacks as “evil,” saying that framing left no possibility to consider either as a “struggle for resistance.” Hilal also questioned grouping Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah together as an “axis of evil,” saying doing so removed each from its individual context. Her remarks were published later that month.
The coalition’s own history says its origins included handwritten prison notes produced by former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian. Al-Arian pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiring to provide services to Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
His daughter, Laila Al-Arian, a journalist and executive producer with Al Jazeera English, is also scheduled to speak at the conference in a session titled Manufacturing Consent for State Violence: Media Complicity in the War on Terror.
Additional Speakers Celebrated Oct 7th
Another session, titled Palestine and the War on Terror: (Dis)arming Genocidaires and State Repression, features Sara Arman of the Palestinian Youth Movement, Dylan Saba of Palestine Legal, Tina Al-Khersan of Project South and American University professor Irene Calis.Saba drew attention for comments posted as the October 7 attack unfolded. He wrote “Glory to the resistance” and said he could not be more proud of Palestinians fighting for liberation, remarks documented by The Forward.
The Palestinian Youth Movement separately described the October 7 breach of Israel’s Gaza border as a “prison break actualizing the right of return” in a 2025 anniversary statement.
‘Political Prisoners’ Panel Includes Relatives of Terrorism Convicts
One of the conference’s most notable sessions is titled We Refuse to Be Silent: Testimonies of Survivors and Political Prisoners Post 9/11.
The conference schedule lists former Guantanamo detainee Mansoor Adayfi alongside Nida Abu Baker, daughter of Holy Land Foundation president Shukri Abu Baker, and Mariam Abu-Ali, sister of convicted al-Qaeda defendant Ahmed Omar Abu Ali.
Shukri Abu Baker was among five Holy Land Foundation officials convicted in a federal terrorism-financing case involving Hamas. He received 65 years in federal prison following convictions on material-support, money-laundering and related offenses.
Mariam Abu-Ali’s brother, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was convicted of offenses including providing material support to al-Qaeda, conspiring to assassinate the president of the United States, conspiring to commit air piracy and conspiring to destroy aircraft. The Justice Department said Abu Ali was convicted on all counts following a federal trial.
Controversial Organizations Listed as Conference Sponsors
Listed conference sponsors include the Muslim Legal Fund of America, Coalition for Civil Freedoms, Muslim Justice League, Center for Constitutional Rights, Rutgers University's Center for Security, Race & Rights, Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism.
The Muslim Legal Fund of America has directly challenged the Holy Land Foundation prosecution, and its 2019 annual report describes the HLF defendants as “humanitarian leaders.” MLFA attorney Sufia Khalid is also scheduled to appear during a conference workshop titled Who Can Say What? The Terrorism Paradigm and Criminalization of Dissent.
The Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism states in its governing principles that Zionism is a “settler colonial racial project,” explicitly opposes Zionism and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Adalah Justice Project Among Sponsors
Another conference sponsor is the Adalah Justice Project, a Palestinian-led U.S. advocacy organization involved in boycott and divestment campaigns against Israel.
Adalah Justice Project describes its work as combining political education, coalition building, boycotts, divestment and other forms of organizing. Its website also states that the organization is fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center.
On October 7, 2023, AJP posted an image of a bulldozer breaching the Gaza border barrier accompanied by the words “No cage goes unchallenged.”
Recasting 9/11 Through a Radical Anti-American Lens
GWU has previously provided a platform to figures behind the event. In April 2024, its Institute for Middle East Studies featured Muslim Counterpublics Lab founder Maha Hilal at its annual conference, Middle East Knowledge Production in the Aftermath of October 7.
The September gathering extends that relationship into a program that seeks to recast the post-9/11 legacy through an anti-imperialist and anti-Israel lens, using the aftermath of the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history to advance arguments about “U.S. empire,” “genocide,” state violence and “resistance.”