Natalie Abulhawa Was Not Fired for Being Pro-Palestinian
The Philadephia Inquirer is now engaging in full-scale apologetics for Natalie Abulhawa, rebranding her antisemitism as merely “pro-Palestinian activism.”
On August 23, 2022, the newspaper ran a lengthy article supporting Abulhawa, a Palestinian-American who was fired from her job in November 2021 as a school athletics trainer for posting vile antisemitism, threats and endorsements of violence on social media.
Abulhawa caught the attention of Canary Mission in 2017. Shortly afterward, she was hired by the Agnes Irwin School, a private school in suburban Philadelphia, Abulhawa’s profile gained the attention of faculty and parents. The school summarily fired Abulhawa.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s article reads like a press release written by CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations), who Abulhawa retained to file an anti-discrimination lawsuit against the school.
The article, titled “She was fired for being publicly pro-Palestine. One year later, no one is hiring her,” defames Canary Mission for publishing Abulhawa’s publicly sourced social media posts. The 1,600-word article paints Abulhawa as a victim while whitewashing her antisemitism.
Abulhawa Antisemitic Tweets
Numerous times, the article claims that the school fired Abulhawa merely for her “pro-Palestinian activism.” Conveniently missing are Abulhawa’s egregious posts, save two that are buried deep in the article.
When Abulhawa makes the claim: “Israel doesn’t have the right to exist,” the Philadelphia Inquirer disingenuously writes, “Some supporters of Israel interpret statements criticizing Israel as an attack on whether Jews have the right to live in the Middle East.”
Wrong. Supporters of Israel correctly interpret this statement for what it is: a call for the complete destruction of the state of Israel. Some would say genocide.
Even the Philadelphia Inquirer’s most generous interpretation, that it is merely a criticism of Israel – namely, “an attack on whether Jews have the right to live in the Middle East" – sounds a lot like calling for ethnic cleansing.
Conveniently omitted from the article were Abulhawa’s posts expressing antisemitic hate, endorsing violence and laced with profanity. For example:
Violent Tweets
A number of times she tweeted about stone throwing, a deadly tactic often downplayed by the media. These posts of Abulhawa were also not included in the Philadelphia Inquirer’s article. Here are some of them:
- “bruh I didn’t get to throw any rocks this year” to which she commented “Palestinian problems.” (August 10, 2016)
- “israeli soldiers are in my neighborhood yay lemme go stock up on some rocks.” (July 15, 2016),
Abulhawa further published posts demonizing Israel and Jews, including:
- On Facebook (March 20, 2016), Abulhawa posted a picture of herself at a rally holding a sign that read “FREE PALESTINE Support the Right of Return,” a euphemism for the complete destruction of the state of Israel.
- May 20, 2013, Abulhawa tweeted a Holocaust “joke” which read, “‘Why were you in the kiln?’ –Ella. ‘Because I am a Jew’ – Sammy”
- On July 25, 2014, Abulhawa tweeted: “One day our children will be learning about the Palestinian holocaust, just like we learned about the Jewish holocaust.”
Is this the kind of person any parent would want around their K-12th grade child, Jewish or not? The Agnes Irwin School was correct to fire Abulhawa. She is not a victim.
For the Philadelphia Inquirer to characterize the reason for Abulhawa’s firing as “pro-Palestinian media posts” is grossly incorrect and dishonest. She is someone who has spewed hate-filled antisemitism, promoted violence and called for the destruction of the only Jewish nation in the world.
Further, by terming Abulhawa’s posts as “advocacy for Palestine,” the Philadelphia Inquirer has lost its moral compass.
Natalie Abulhawa [Natalie Abulhawa-Hackett] spread anti-Semitism, glorified the Hamas terror organization and led multiple anti-Israel rallies in late 2023 and early 2024.Abulhawa also expressed support for a terror organization and spread hatred of Zionists and Israel on social media.