FBI investigates death threat against Palestinian employee at American University

Police and the FBI are investigating a death threat slipped under the office door of a Palestinian employee at American University.

Wassim Aburakia-Einhorn has spent much of his adult life at American University — first as a student, then as an IT specialist.

He found the threat earlier this week in his office in Kerwin Hall, home to the School of Public Affairs.

“What was terrifying was what was written in it, and as soon as I read it, this whole eerie feeling took over,” Aburakia-Einhorn said. “My heart sank.”

It read, “Go back where you came from. You might get lucky with a missile, and meet your Allah sooner! Death to all Palestinians!”

“Is there someone hiding in my office? What’s going on?” he wondered. “Terrified. Confused.”

It shook him and he called American University police.

“He asked me, ‘Hey, would you like to be escorted back to your vehicle?’” Aburakia-Einhorn said. “Which I of course took him up on it, ‘cause I don’t know the extent.”

That night, he called longtime friend Andrew El-Kadi, who is also an American University employee and a Palestinian citizen of Israel. El-Kadi said his friend’s pain is his pain and he, too, feels fear about the note. 

“I had my office checked the next day, in the morning, to make sure there wasn’t something in there,” he said. “I was wondering how widespread it was.”

American University President Sylvia Burwell released a statement that says, in part, “This vile and dehumanizing act targeting our Palestinian community is reprehensible and will not be tolerated. The office belongs to a staff member who is Palestinian. No act of hate will deter us from supporting community members who are not only feeling the pain and weight of traumatic global events, but also the vulnerability of being subject to hateful acts in our own community.”

University officials say the note and an antisemitic graffiti incident last week have been brought to the attention of the FBI.