Abeer AbouYabis #

Introduction #

Dr. Abeer AbouYabis is a hematologist who served as an assistant professor at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta, where she had been with the institution since 2018. In mid-October 2023, the private university placed her on administrative leave after a Facebook post attributed to her appeared to praise Hamas as “resistance fighters” following the October 7 attack, in which terrorists flew hang gliders into a music festival and killed civilians. By early November 2023, Emory confirmed that “Dr. Abeer AbouYabis is no longer employed or practicing at Emory, including the Winship Cancer Institute,” a statement delivered by university spokeswoman Laura Diamond. The case drew national attention after a Jewish advocacy organization flagged the post, and it became a flashpoint in a broader argument over whether punishing a physician for political social media speech crosses the line.

Background Information #

AbouYabis worked as a hematologist and assistant professor at the Emory Winship Cancer Institute, part of Emory University, a private university in Atlanta, and had been with the institution since 2018. After the controversy became public, her photograph and profile page were removed from the Emory University website. The post that ended her time there was flagged in October 2023 by Stop Antisemitism, a Jewish advocacy organization that connected the professor to her work at Emory and asked its audience, “would you want YOUR Jewish family member to be treated by this woman?” The post attributed to her also referenced Students for Justice in Palestine, the student activist group that coverage noted has been gradually banned from U.S. college campuses, including Columbia University and Brandeis University.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

According to Stop Antisemitism, which publicized the post, Dr. AbouYabis wrote on Facebook after attending a rally with Emory Students for Justice in Palestine: “They got walls we got gliders. Glory to all resistance fighters.” The comment was part of a longer poem, reproduced in coverage, that celebrated the attackers who flew hang gliders into an Israeli music festival on October 7 and included the line “No peace on stolen land.” In the post attributed to her, AbouYabis also thanked Emory Students for Justice in Palestine. Commenters quickly tagged the university and demanded action, with one writing, “@EmoryUniversity this woman has no place in medical care,” and another warning, “Your students and patients should not have to fear that their doctors call for their murder.”

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Emory placed AbouYabis on administrative leave pending an internal investigation, saying in a statement, “We are aware of the recent antisemitic comments made on a private social media account by one of our assistant professors. We condemn such comments in the strongest possible terms and have immediately placed this individual on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.” Emory’s medical school leadership had released a statement in October, as the post began to garner attention: “We expect all members of the Emory community to treat each other with dignity and respect at all times,” the leadership wrote, adding that “there is no place in our community for language and behavior based in hatred, that incites violence and is counter to the values that unite us as health care professionals and educators.” The Winship Cancer Institute expressed deep regret for any distress that AbouYabis’ comments may have caused and reaffirmed its commitment to unbiased patient care, telling FOX 5, “We condemn any language or action that threaten or compromise that value.” By early November, the university announced that “Dr. Abeer AbouYabis is no longer employed or practicing at Emory, including the Winship Cancer Institute,” adding that it was “working with all affected patients to facilitate their uninterrupted access to high-quality care at Emory Healthcare.”

Not everyone celebrated the outcome. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression criticized the employment action, with program officer Graham Piro writing, “Punishing faculty members for their extramural expression about geopolitical conflicts chills faculty expression, even when that expression is offensive to others,” and urging Emory, “Absent some substantive indication that AbouYabis’s posts crossed the line into harassment or another form of unprotected speech, or caused some substantial workplace disruption,” to restore her good standing under the university’s own free expression promises. FIRE had previously written to Emory in October, arguing that while her expression was not shielded from criticism, “Emory chills faculty extramural speech when it publicly announces that it is suspending a faculty member for doing nothing more than expressing their views passionately.”

Current Status #

As of early November 2023, Emory confirmed AbouYabis was “no longer employed or practicing at Emory,” in an email from Laura Diamond, Assistant Vice President of University Communications, to the student newspaper the Emory Wheel. The school did not say whether AbouYabis was fired or if she resigned, leaving the precise terms of her departure publicly unresolved. Her photograph and profile page had been removed from the Emory website, and the university said it was working with affected patients to maintain uninterrupted access to high-quality care at Emory Healthcare. The coverage did not report any subsequent professional role for AbouYabis.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The controversy ended AbouYabis’ five-year affiliation with Emory, removing her from both the university and its cancer institute within roughly three weeks of the post’s spread. Her name is now carried in national coverage of the fallout from October 7, filed under topics ranging from antisemitism to the Israel-Hamas conflict, and the quoted “gliders” line has become the phrase most associated with her. The case also became a cited example in the debate over extramural speech: FIRE publicly urged Emory to restore her standing under its “strong free expression promises,” while critics who flagged the post argued that praise for the October 7 attackers had no place anywhere in medical care. Whether her departure was a firing or a resignation has never been disclosed.