Representative Elise Stefanik of New York is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to revoke the visa of a Palestinian academic with alleged ties to terror who was hired by Northwestern as part of a deal with anti-Israel student activists. 

Ms. Stefanik took to X on Tuesday morning to make her case against Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor at the Al-Azhar University of Gaza who was tapped last fall by Northwestern to teach on a visiting basis. She urges homeland security to investigate Dr. Abusada, who she says is a green card holder, over his alleged associations with “terror-linked organizations” and his history of displaying support for Palestinian terrorism. 

The Republican congresswoman goes on to levy several additional charges against Dr. Abudasa, accusing him of participating in a conference alongside the leaders of terror groups like Hamas, appearing on media outlets controlled by terrorist group Hezbollah, and being recognized by Hamas’s ministry of interior as among Gaza’s “societal elite,” among others. 

Ms. Stefanik cites as evidence a report from the Free Beacon that delves into Dr. Abusada’s board positions on two organizations that “present themselves as human rights groups” but are, in reality, “founded by and frequently partner with Palestinian terrorists.” 

The Free Beacon dispatch further alleges that Dr. Abusada was brought to Northwestern as part of a controversial deal that President Michael Schill struck with anti-Israel student activists in an effort to shut down the disruptive encampments that roiled the campus last spring. One of the stipulations of the deal required Northwestern to hire two Palestinian professors and cover the tuition for five Gazan students. 

Soon after, the school brought in Dr. Abusada, who was born in the Gaza Strip, to teach a weekly undergraduate course on the “Palestinian National Movement” as a visiting associate professor of political science. 

Ms. Stefanik calls out the “crazy” arrangement in her post, chiding it as “an appeasement deal with radical antisemitic encampment organizers” that was “negotiated by failed University President Michael Schill.” 

Ms. Stefanik’s case against Dr. Abusada comes as Northwestern is facing pressure from the federal government over its handling of anti-Israel protests and its failure to address campus antisemitism. In April, the administration froze $790 million in funding amid an investigation into the school’s alleged civil rights violations. 

Northwestern has also come under fire for its ties to Qatar — a key financial supporter of Hamas — which has forked over at least $600 million to the university to fund its campus in Doha. Northwestern Qatar, founded in 2008, offers undergraduate degrees in journalism and communication. The school opted to terminate its partnership with a Qatari-run news outlet, Al Jazeera, following a probe by congressional Republications in October 2024.