Credit: Court
Credit: Court
The letter to Mr. Blake calls for Mr. Awad’s award to be revoked, citing posts by the lawyer on his public Instagram account and the X account, which have 1.5 million and 25,000 followers, respectively.
“There has to be something wrong. Mr. Awad has an alarming history of spreading anti-Semitism, racism, and bigotry,” said a group of 10 nonprofit Jewish organizations, including the GSU Law School Jewish Alumni Association. A letter from the organization to Mr. Blake, dated February 4, states: “Georgia State should be smarter than to hold him up as someone to be admired.”
In a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Awad condemned the “genocide” in Gaza and said he would not apologize for what he said were dozens of relatives killed. Ta. He said his problem is with the Israeli government and those who support it.
“The attacks launched against me by anti-Palestinian groups are disingenuous and defamatory,” Awad said on Wednesday. “I reject all forms of bigotry, including anti-Semitism, and have never said anything critical of the Jewish community. I will continue to speak out against injustice wherever I see it. This includes the grave injustices committed by the Israeli government against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
In an Instagram post last week, the university wrote, “Someone just called me and said they had received a ton of emails from people asking me to revoke my 40 Under 40 award.” In his post, Awad said he was proud of the GSU, which “sided with me, not the Zionists.”
A university spokesperson told the AJC that the award’s selection committee was not aware of Awad’s social media presence when it reviewed nominations in November.
“The committee is evaluating this matter and will make a recommendation to the (GSU) Alumni Association,” a spokesperson said Wednesday.
They said a letter sent to Blake about Awad’s award was shared with the association’s selection committee for review.
In honoring Mr. Awad, GSU noted that he founded a personal injury law firm in Atlanta with annual revenues of more than $20 million. Awad is fluent in Arabic, English and Spanish, which lends to his “ability to connect with people from all cultures and walks of life,” the university said on its website.
Blake received a letter Monday from Atlanta attorney Scott Grubman. Grubman, a GSU graduate and Jewish, has been an adjunct professor at the university’s law school for nearly a decade. Grubman’s letter was co-signed by 129 attorneys, including DeKalb County Judge Stacey Heidrick and state Reps. Stacey Evans and Esther Panich.
Grubman’s letter states, “Frankly, the only thing seemingly noteworthy about Mr. Awad is his consistent commitment to anti-Semitism and pro-violence rhetoric, which is reflected in his various popular social media posts. You can see it in your account.”
Grubman told the AJC that he was particularly offended by Awad’s Dec. 2 X post, which said in part that “all Israelis are terrorists and there are no innocent Israelis.” Ta. In the same post, Awad wrote that Palestinian forces should “drop bombs on all Israeli civilians, including women, children, the elderly and the sick.”
“If this isn’t blatant anti-Semitism, I don’t know what is,” Grubman said Tuesday.
At a press conference Wednesday, Awad and members of the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the Dec. 2 post was taken out of context. Awad said his own post highlighted general anti-Palestinian sentiment by replacing the word “Palestinian” with “Israeli.”
At the end of her post, Awad wrote, “If you’re offended, change your country and you’ll understand how Palestinians feel.”
Awad said he was the victim of a smear campaign. He loves Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, he said.
“Criticizing the Israeli government does not make you an anti-Semite,” Awad has publicly stated online.
Cheryl Dochinsky, founding executive director of the Atlanta Israel Coalition, told the AJC that the university’s evaluation of Awad is “hurt 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 the criteria for the award.
Dorchinsky said Tuesday that Awad’s award “gives a green light to those who spread hate and misinformation.” “It’s not good for Georgia State to perceive him in a positive light when he’s gained such a following based on hate. People are outraged.”
In an email that Druchinski received from the Georgia State University Alumni Association on Monday, the school said the 175 completed applications were reviewed by a committee of faculty, staff, and alumni to determine candidates’ career success. He said they were ranked based on their contributions to GSU.
“We are currently reviewing our processes and will make adjustments in the future,” he said in an email.