U.S.: Massachusetts – Eye on Islamism

Harvard tells students calling someone a ‘terrorist sympathizer’ can violate school policy Guidance comes after 33 student groups blamed Israel for Hamas's terrorist attacks

September 4, 2025 Aaron Sibarium

(Free Beacon) Harvard University, where 33 student groups signed a statement blaming Israel for Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, now says that calling someone a “terrorist sympathizer” can violate the school’s anti-discrimination policies, according to a mandatory training for all Harvard students obtained […]

Harvard co-sponsors event featuring activist who helped Palestinian suicide bomber org

August 15, 2025 Jaryn Crouson

(Daily Caller) Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies and several other prominent schools are co-sponsoring an event featuring a Palestinian activist who pleaded guilty to conspiracy with a designated terrorist organization. The event, titled “Teaching Palestine Today: On Zionism,” is hosted […]

Federal court denies Boston bomber’s request for new judge to oversee death sentence appeal

July 31, 2025 Leah Willingham

(AP) A federal court on Thursday denied a request by attorneys for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to remove the judge overseeing the protracted legal battle over his death sentence. The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the argument made by […]

‘Systemic failure’: At the State House, Muslims tell stories of Islamophobia, advocate for permanent civil rights commission

June 10, 2025 Emily Spatz

(Boston Globe) They were stories of hatred. One girl was playing in the yard with her sister, both wearing their hijabs, when a neighbor offered to take off their religious head coverings unprompted. A woman attending graduate school at Harvard said she […]

Harvard commencement speaker lauds classmate who assaulted Israeli student — to whoops and cheers from the crowd Elom Tettey-Tamaklo was ordered to complete anger management course and perform 80 hours of community service

May 30, 2025 Jessica Costescu and Jessica Schwalb

(Free Beacon) A Harvard Divinity School graduate selected by faculty members to speak at the school’s commencement ceremony used her address to praise Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, a classmate who faced criminal charges for assaulting an Israeli classmate. “Class of 2025, Palestine is waiting for us […]

Harvard Law Review gives $65,000 fellowship to anti-Israel student charged with assault Ibrahim Bharmal will work at Council on American-Islamic Relations, write article

May 1, 2025 Ira Stoll

(Editors) Harvard Law Review, which the federal secretary of education announced this week is the subject of a discrimination investigation, is awarding a $65,000 fellowship to the student who faced misdemeanor criminal charges for assaulting a Jewish student during an anti-Israel campus protest. […]

Harvard ‘human rights’ lecturer fawned over ‘hero’ Hamas leader Diana Buttu called Hamas a 'movement for freedom, for liberation'

April 30, 2025 Chuck Ross

(Free Beacon) A Harvard University faculty member who teaches courses on human rights law and international “negotiation skills” recently praised the slain leader of Hamas as a “hero” and called the terrorist organization a “movement for freedom, for liberation.” Harvard refers to […]

Harvard students ordered to enter pretrial diversion program over assault of Israeli classmate Ibrahim Bharmal and Elom Tettey-Tamaklo were filmed accosting a Jewish classmate

April 28, 2025 Collin Anderson

(Free Beacon) The two Harvard University students who faced criminal charges for assaulting an Israeli classmate during an anti-Israel “die-in” protest will take an in-person anger management class and perform 80 hours of community service as part of a pretrial diversion program, […]

Harvard Law publishes fond reminiscence from student facing criminal charges for assaulting Jewish classmate 'As I look to the future, I do so with a full heart and a clear mind,' Ibrahim Bharmal writes in blog post featured on HLS website

April 15, 2025 Collin Anderson

(Free Beacon) Harvard Law School published a blog post from one of the students facing criminal charges for assaulting an Israeli classmate. The post, from Harvard Law Review editor Ibrahim Bharmal, features Bharmal’s praise for something called the “Crimmigration Clinic,” a law […]

No evidence linking Tufts student to antisemitism or terrorism, State Dept. office found An internal memo, prepared days before Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by ICE agents, raises doubts about the Trump administration’s claims that she supports Hamas.

April 13, 2025 John Hudson

(Washington Post) Days before masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk to deport her, the State Department determined that the Trump administration had not produced any evidence showing that she engaged in antisemitic activities or made public […]

Palestinian-American billionaire quits Harvard post after lawsuit claims he helped build Hamas terror tunnels, rocket launch sites

April 10, 2025 Josh Christenson

(NY Post) A billionaire Palestinian-American developer accused by Oct. 7 victims’ families of “aiding and abetting” Hamas has resigned from his position on the dean’s council at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, the Post can reveal, with the school acknowledging the civil […]

‘Common sense’ arrest of pro-Hamas protester Rumeysa Ozturk, says Homeland Security Federal investigations found that the Turkish national and Tufts student 'engaged in activities in support of Hamas,' the Department of Homeland Security told JNS.

March 26, 2025 Izzy Salant

(JNS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested the Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, a doctoral student at Tufts University in the Boston area, for supporting Hamas, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Ozturk was “granted the privilege to be in […]

DA backs away from deal to keep Scott Hayes from going to trial for shooting anti-Israel attacker Hayes was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after shooting a man who charged through traffic to tackle him.

March 5, 2025 Kassy Akiva

(Daily Wire) Scott Hayes, 48, says he will likely have to go to trial for shooting an anti-Israel man who tackled him after a district attorney backed away from finalizing a disposition to resolve the case outside the courtroom. Hayes was charged […]

Two charged in connection with Iran-backed drone strike that killed 3 US troops in the Middle East

December 16, 2024 Steve LeBlanc, Eric Tucker and Tara Copp

(AP) Two men, including a dual Iranian American citizen, have been charged with conspiring to export sensitive technology to Iran that was used in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American troops early this year and injured dozens of other […]

Muslim Justice League to host vigil for anti-Israel extremist shot after tackling veteran Group says Caleb Gannon 'was shot by a Zionist' while confronting people 'defending genocide.'

September 16, 2024 Kassy Akiva

(Daily Wire) The Muslim Justice League announced it is holding a vigil for Caleb Gannon, the man who was shot in the stomach after he tackled a veteran at a peaceful pro-Israel protest on Thursday in Newton, Mass. “Caleb, a lifelong Newton […]

Appeals court orders judge to probe claims of juror bias in Boston Marathon bomber’s case

March 21, 2024 Alanna Durkin Richer

(AP) A federal appeals court on Thursday ordered the judge who oversaw Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial to investigate the defense’s claims of juror bias and determine whether his death sentence should stand. A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. […]

Biden admin probes alleged anti-Muslim incidents at Harvard at behest of pro-terrorist group The Muslim Legal Fund of America's chairman has a history of anti-Semitic comments

February 7, 2024 Chuck Ross

(Free Beacon) The Biden administration launched a civil rights investigation into anti-Muslim incidents at Harvard University based on a complaint from a Muslim legal fund that has represented convicted terrorists and pushed anti-Semitic rhetoric. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights […]

Father of Wakefield teen charged in alleged terrorist financing scheme calls son ‘a loyal American’

June 8, 2023 Lance Reynolds

(Boston Herald) Paul Ventura was about to leave his Wakefield home Thursday morning when the FBI showed up looking for his 18-year-old son Mateo. Hours later, the dad opened up to reporters for more than 20 minutes outside the federal courthouse in […]

Massachusetts teen accused of buying $1,670 in gift cards to support ISIS He allegedly tried to get $10 million from the FBI

June 8, 2023 Rick Sobey

(Boston Herald) A Wakefield teenager is accused of buying $1,670 in gift cards to support ISIS and the terrorist organization’s fighters, allegedly sending the gift cards to an undercover FBI agent posing as an ISIS supporter. Mateo Ventura, 18, who told the […]

Senate talks terror prevention since Boston Marathon bombing

April 26, 2023 Michael Casey

(AP) The chair of the U.S. Senate subcommittee on emerging national security threats said at a hearing Wednesday that much has been learned about enhancing emergency response and counterterrorism efforts in the decade since the Boston Marathon bombing, but more can still […]

Boston remembers deadly marathon bombing 10 years later

April 15, 2023 Michael Casey

(AP) With a bagpiper playing “The Bells of Dunblane” and a few runners looking on, families of those killed in the Boston Marathon bombing marked the 10th anniversary of the tragedy early Saturday by slowly walking together to the memorial sites near […]

McKinsey says it canceled sponsorship of Arab Conference at Harvard The consulting giant was a major corporate sponsor of the weekend gathering before learning of the antisemitic views of one of the speakers

March 8, 2023 Gabby Deutch

(Jewish Insider) The consulting giant McKinsey & Company announced on Monday that it “stepped away” from last weekend’s Arab Conference at Harvard after learning of antisemitic views of one of its speakers. The firm’s statement followed a Jewish Insider report from the […]

Convicted al-Qaida terrorist trainer returned to England

November 10, 2022 Flint McColgan

(Boston Herald) ICE agents returned a British-born member of al-Qaida, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to trying to start a terrorist training camp in Oregon, to England. Haroon Rashid Aswat, 48, of Batley in West Yorkshire, England, had been at a federal […]

Massachusetts student receives uniform violation for hijab

August 21, 2022 Unlisted Author

(AP) A Massachusetts charter school where an eighth grade student was written up for a uniform infraction for wearing a hijab says it understands its “handling of the situation came across as insensitive.” A family member of the Mystic Valley Regional Charter […]

Complaint: McDonald’s intentionally sold Muslim family bacon

June 1, 2022 Mark Pratt

(AP) Workers at a McDonald’s restaurant in Massachusetts intentionally put bacon on a fish sandwich that a Muslim woman had ordered for one of her children, a civil rights organization said Wednesday. The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a discrimination complaint on […]

High court reimposes Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence

March 4, 2022 Mark Sherman

(AP) The Supreme Court has reinstated the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The justices, by a 6-3 vote Friday, agreed with the Biden administration’s arguments that a federal appeals court was wrong to throw out the sentence of death […]

Boston Marathon bomber hasn’t paid victims even though thousands were deposited in his fund, officials say Among the deposits was a Covid-19 relief payment for $1,400, prosecutors said.

January 5, 2022 Tom Winter and Tim Stelloh

(NBC) Convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hasn’t been paying fines or victims with the tens of thousands of dollars deposited into his trust fund, including a Covid-19 relief payment he received in June, federal prosecutors said in a filing Wednesday. In […]

Muslims win office in US municipal elections in 2021 Three years after the first Muslim women were elected to Congress, successful campaigns in Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania put Muslims in key local offices.

November 10, 2021 Joseph Hammond

(Religion News) In Dearborn, Michigan, where the mayor once promised to do something about the city’s “Arab problem,” Abdullah Hammoud, a Lebanese American Muslim, was elected this month to fill that post. In New York, Bangladeshi American Shahana Hanif became the first […]

Are Arab Americans people of color? Mayor vote raises issue

October 31, 2021 Steve LeBlanc

(AP) Are Arab Americans people of color? The question has been bubbling beneath the surface of Boston’s historic mayor’s race, where one of the two candidates, Annissa Essaibi George, has found herself challenged on the campaign trail about her decision to identify […]

Arab Americans poised to win in November elections

October 23, 2021 Ray Hanania

(Arab News) Arab Americans are among the thousands of candidates across the US who are seeking election to local municipal and regional offices on Nov. 2. Key races include campaign battles for the mayoralty in Boston, Massachusetts, and in Dearborn and Dearborn […]

Justices seem set to revive marathon bomber’s death sentence

October 13, 2021 Mark Sherman

(AP) The Supreme Court sounded ready Wednesday to reinstate the death penalty for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. In more than 90 minutes of arguments, the court’s six conservative justices seemed likely to embrace the Biden administration’s argument that a federal […]

Marathon bomber faces revived death sentence in high court

October 9, 2021 Mark Sherman and Alanna Durkin Richer

(AP) The Biden administration will try to persuade the Supreme Court this week to reinstate the death penalty for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by arguing that a jury had no need to examine evidence that the government itself relied on […]

Egyptian man charged in Boston rabbi stabbing overstayed student visa, was in US illegally: ICE ICE has requested to take custody of Khaled Awad once criminal proceedings in Boston are finished

July 3, 2021 Louis Casiano

(Fox) An Egyptian man who is accused of stabbing a rabbi outside of a Jewish day school in Boston on Thursday overstayed his student visa and lost his legal status on May 14, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Fox News. Khaled Awad, […]

College roommates of Khaled Awad, suspect in Brighton rabbi stabbing, say he was ‘very much anti-Semitic’

July 2, 2021 Kristina Rex

(WBZ) College roommates of Khaled Awad, the man accused of stabbing Rabbi Shlomo Noginski eight times outside a Jewish school in Brighton Thursday, say he was “violent” and “very much anti-Semitic.” Investigators say Awad approached Rabbi Noginski outside the Shaloh House Thursday […]

Chabad emissary stabbed outside Boston

July 1, 2021 Jacob Kornbluh

(Forward) A Chabad emissary was stabbed multiple times outside a synagogue and Jewish day school he heads in Brighton, Massachusetts, on Thursday afternoon. Rabbi Shlomo [Noginski], a rabbi at the Chabad House in Brighton Commons Park, known as the “Shaloh House” in […]

DOJ asks Supreme Court to revive Boston Marathon bomber death sentence

June 14, 2021 John Kruzel

(Hill) The Biden administration on Monday urged the Supreme Court to reinstate the death penalty against the Boston Marathon bomber in an apparent break with the president’s stated opposition to capital punishment. In a 48-page brief, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the […]

Court could reimpose Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence

March 22, 2021 Mark Sherman

(AP) The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, presenting President Joe Biden with an early test of his opposition to capital punishment. The justices agreed to hear an appeal filed by […]

U.S. asks top court to reinstate Boston marathon bomber’s death penalty

October 6, 2020 Nate Raymond and Brad Brooks

(Reuters) The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to reinstate Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence for helping carry out the 2013 attack that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others. The department argues in its […]

Convicted ISIS terrorist out to ‘kill boys in blue’ resentenced to 30 years in prison Protesters call for his freedom outside federal court in Boston

September 28, 2020 Joe Dwinell

(Boston Herald) Convicted ISIS terrorist David Daoud Wright of Everett — part of a terror cell out to “kill boys in blue” — was resentenced Monday to 30 years in prison and a lifetime of supervision. Wright, brought back to Boston, fought […]

‘Day of Rage’ protests across US featured support for Palestinian terrorists

September 23, 2020 Kaylee Greenlee

(Daily Caller) Nationwide protests organized by pro-Palestine and anti-Israel groups featured anti-American rhetoric and support for known terrorist groups, videos from the protests show. Pro-Palestine protests occurred in at least 16 cities including Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Brooklyn, New York, since July 1, […]

Feds to seek death sentence for Boston bomber

August 20, 2020 Michael Balsamo and Alanna Durkin Richer

(AP) The Justice Department will seek to reinstate a death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man who was convicted of carrying out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Attorney General William Barr said Thursday. In an interview with the Associated Press, Barr said […]

As Massachusetts bans female genital cutting, survivors and activists celebrate

August 7, 2020 Aysha Khan

(Religion News) When Mariya Taher moved to Massachusetts five years ago, she was shocked to find out the state had no legislation in place against female genital mutilation and cutting. Taher launched a petition, which earned more than 400,000 signatures, urging the […]

Trump calls for death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber after appeals court vacated death sentence

August 2, 2020 Rebecca Klar

(Hill) President Trump on Sunday called for the death penalty for the Boston Marathon bomber, just days after an appeals court overturned the death sentence. “Rarely has anybody deserved the death penalty more than the Boston Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,” Trump tweeted. “The […]

Ruling renews fairness debate in Boston Marathon bomber case

August 1, 2020 Jim Mustian and Wilson Ring

(AP) ”Boston Strong” remains a ”vibrant” rallying cry more than seven years after the marathon bombing killed three people and injured more than 260 others, a federal appeals court noted as it threw out the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. But even […]

Court overturns Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence

July 31, 2020 Alanna Durkin Richer

(AP) A federal appeals court Friday threw out Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, saying the judge who oversaw the case did not adequately screen jurors for potential biases. A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court […]

Massachusetts House passes bill to establish criminal and civil penalties for female genital mutilation

July 17, 2020 Katie Lannan

(MassLive) A bill the Massachusetts House passed on Thursday would establish criminal and civil penalties for the practice of female genital mutilation. The bill (H 4606) would set a penalty of up to five years in state prison, or a fine of […]

‘We’re going beyond identity’: Shiite students head to Harvard for first national conference

February 28, 2020 Aysha Khan

(Religion News) Laila Tauqeer has only been president of the Harvard Islamic Society for three months, but she has been busy. This weekend, she’s hosting the country’s first national conference for Shiite Muslim college students around the country. On Friday (Feb. 28), […]

Iranian student whose deportation spurred Dem outcry has family ties to IRGC, Hezbollah: DHS official

January 24, 2020 Adam Shaw

(Fox) An Iranian student who was denied entry to the United States on arrival and deported this week, amid objections from top Democrats and left-wing activists, has family ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, a Department […]

Did marathon bomber get fair trial? Court weighs arguments

December 12, 2019 Philip Marcelo

(AP) The Boston Marathon bomber’s lawyers urged a federal court to overturn their client’s death sentence, arguing Thursday that intense media coverage and signs of juror bias led to an unfair trial. The three-judge panel for the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of […]

Court to explore whether marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev got a fair trial

December 11, 2019 Phillip Martin

(WGBH) On Thursday, lawyers representing convicted 26-year-old Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will go before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals to argue that their client did not receive a fair trial in 2015. They will also ask that […]