Georgia State University is being pressured to rescind an honor bestowed upon an alumnus attorney whose public social media posts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have offended more than 100 Georgians, including current and former judges and legislators.
The university’s alumni association included Atlanta lawyer Ali Awad in its latest annual “40 Under 40″ awards program, which recognizes and celebrates the most influential and impactful graduates who embody the institution’s values.
In a quote posted on the university’s website, GSU president M. Brian Blake said the 2024 honorees are “standouts in their respective fields, leaders in their communities and outstanding ambassadors for Georgia State University.”
Credit: court
Credit: court
Letters addressed to Blake have called for the revocation of Awad’s award, citing the attorney’s posts on his public Instagram and X accounts, which have 1.5 million and 25,000 followers, respectively.
“There must be some mistake. Mr. Awad has a prodigious record of propagating antisemitism, racism, and bigotry,” stated a Feb. 4 letter to Blake from 10 nonprofit Jewish organizations, including the GSU College of Law Jewish Alumni Association. “Georgia State University should know better than to prop him up as someone to admire.”
In a statement provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Awad said he won’t apologize for condemning the “genocide” in Gaza, where he said dozens of his relatives have been murdered. He said his issue is with the Israeli government and those who support it.
“The attacks that anti-Palestinian groups have launched against me are dishonest and defamatory,” Awad stated Wednesday. “I reject all forms of bigotry, including antisemitism, and I have never said anything remotely critical of the Jewish community. I am compelled to speak up against injustice wherever I see it. That includes the gross injustice the Israeli government is perpetrating against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
In an Instagram post last week, he wrote the university “just called me and said they received tons of emails from people telling them to rescind my 40 under 40 award.” Awad said in the post that he was proud of GSU, which he said “sided with me and not the Zionists.”
A university spokesperson told the AJC that the selection committee for the awards was not aware of Awad’s social media presence when it reviewed nominations in November.
“The committee is evaluating this issue and will be making a recommendation to the (GSU) Alumni Association,” the spokesperson said Wednesday.
They said letters sent to Blake about Awad’s award have been shared with the association’s selection committee for review.
In its recognition of Awad, GSU noted that he has established a personal injury law firm in Atlanta with more than $20 million in annual revenue. The university stated on its website that Awad is fluent in Arabic, English and Spanish, helping his “ability to connect with people from all cultures and walks of life.”
Blake was sent a letter on Monday from Atlanta attorney Scott Grubman, a Jewish GSU graduate who has been an adjunct professor at the university’s law school for almost 10 years. Grubman’s letter was co-signed by 129 attorneys, including Stacey Hydrick, who serves as a DeKalb County judge, and State Representatives Stacey Evans and Esther Panitch.
“Put bluntly, the only thing that is seemingly remarkable about Mr. Awad is his persistent commitment to anti-Semitism and pro-violence rhetoric, which can be viewed on his various, and popular, social media accounts,” Grubman’s letter stated.
Grubman told the AJC that he’s particularly offended by Awad’s Dec. 2 post on X that states in part “all Israelis are terrorists and there’s no such thing as an innocent Israeli.” In the same post, Awad wrote that the Palestinian military “should drop bombs on all Israeli civilians, including women, kids, the elderly and the sick.”
“If this isn’t blatant antisemitism, I don’t know what is,” Grubman said Tuesday.
In a press conference on Wednesday, both Awad and members of the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the Dec. 2 post had been taken out of context. Awad said his post highlighted common anti-Palestinian sentiments by replacing the word “Palestinians” with “Israelis.”
At the end of the post, Awad wrote “if this offends you, just switch the countries and you’ll know how Palestinians feel.”
Awad said he’s the victim of a smear campaign. He said he loves Jewish, Christian and Muslim people alike.
Awad has publicly stated online that “criticizing the Israeli government does not make you antisemitic.”
Cheryl Dorchinsky, the Atlanta Israel Coalition’s founding executive director, told the AJC that the university’s recognition of Awad is “hurtful, to say the least.” She said she received a response to a personal letter she sent, in which the university’s alumni association promised to review its award criteria.
“It gives the green light to people who spread hate and misinformation,” Dorchinsky said Tuesday of Awad’s award. “Georgia State recognizing him in a positive light after he’s gained all these followers based on his hate, that’s not okay. People are outraged.”
In an email Dorchinsky received Monday from the Georgia State University Alumni Association, it said 175 completed applications were reviewed and ranked by a committee of faculty, staff and alumni, based on nominees’ career success and commitment to GSU.
“We are currently reviewing our processes, and plan to make adjustments going forward,” it said in the email.
