Latest news with #HelyehDoutaghi
The National
04-04-2025
- Politics
- The National
Jewish Onliner: AI-powered site that resulted in pro-Palestine Yale scholar's suspension addresses criticism
A scholar of international law is continuing her fight against Yale University following a suspension she said was prompted by website Jewish Onliner, which uses artificial intelligence to expose "anti-Israel movements'. The site claimed Helyeh Doutaghi was connected to the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which the US Treasury Department in 2024 designated a 'sham charity' and an 'international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organisation'. In a statement posted to X, Ms Doutaghi called the report untrue and said Jewish Onliner was using AI as a weapon 'to target students, faculty and organisers who dare to speak out against genocide, systemic starvation and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians'. She also said Jewish Onliner's report falsely accused her of being a terrorist. A petition calling on Yale University to reinstate Ms Doutaghi has so far received more than 1,100 signatures and she has retained legal counsel amid the suspension. Not much is known about the origins of Jewish Onliner, and efforts to learn about the owner of the site through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) do not yield many results. According to Icann, the registrant contact information listed for the site is Perfect Privacy LLC, a VPN provider. The URL is privately registered through the limited liability company with a mailing address in Jacksonville, Florida. The site was registered on December 12, 2024. Jewish Onliner describes itself as 'your online hub for insights, investigations, data and exposes about issues impacting the Jewish community. Empowered by AI capabilities". Stories on the site often lack by-lines and there is an emphasis on anonymity. "The reason for the anonymity is pretty straightforward – and unfortunately necessary in today's climate, where anti-Semitism has reached truly disturbing levels,' Jewish Onliner said in an email to The National, adding that those who operate the site are from various countries. "Given the nature of the Jewish Onliner initiative and the kind of work we're trying to do – often investigating individuals and organisations with troubling connections – keeping things anonymous is the best way for all of us on the team to stay protected and avoid potential personal risks." As for Ms Doutaghi's accusations that the report on her is false, the site is not backing down. 'She is not necessarily refuting claims of membership in Samidoun – she is merely rejecting the characterisation of herself as a terrorist,' a follow-up article read. 'Despite multiple opportunities to do so, Ms Doutaghi has yet to explicitly deny her membership in Samidoun.' In recent weeks, the use of AI by institutions and governments as a tool to target perceived enemies has come under increased scrutiny. A report in Axios suggested the US State Department could use AI potentially to revoke the visas of international students accused of supporting Hamas. The State Department told The National it 'is committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process'. Craig Smith, a partner at the Boston-based Lando and Anastasi law firm, said the State Department's potential use of AI was problematic. 'In addition to the free speech issues, the use of artificial intelligence tools without transparency is concerning. AI tools are only as good as the models they are based on and how they are trained,' he told The National, referring to the potential for bias. "AI tools are effective at summarising known information but interpreting the meaning of that information is more difficult." In an email to The National, Jewish Onliner defended its use of AI: "While AI plays a significant role in enhancing and accelerating our work and content, we want to emphasise that it's only a tool." The email added that content on the site is based on open-source data and articles are ultimately done by the site's human fact-checking team. "We understand the concern about AI bias and the potential for missing nuance, which is why we make sure our human team carefully oversees content before publication," the email read. "We believe the quality of our content speaks for itself and should assuage any concerns or criticism about the use of AI." Jewish Onliner also said it had "interesting plans" to expand the types of content on the site but did not elaborate. Other endeavours and similar sites using AI and techniques like data-scraping have come under criticism. Several weeks after the Israel-Gaza war began in 2023, the social networking platform LinkedIn sent a cease-and-desist letter to website accusing it of breaching the site's policies. The letter came amid criticism that unfairly highlighted various users who used hashtags such as #FreeGaza and #PrayForPalestine, and mentioned their place of employment. 'Using automated tools to scrape LinkedIn violates our terms of service,' a representative for the Microsoft-owned site told The National last year. 'And we work to notify sites when they do.' is no longer active. Meanwhile, Yale's suspension of Ms Doutaghi shows no sign of being overturned. 'In response to allegations about potential unlawful conduct, the appropriate process is to place an employee on a temporary administrative leave while a review is conducted to understand the facts of the matter. Such an action is never initiated based on a person's protected speech," said Alden Ferro, a representative of Yale Law School. "We take these allegations extremely seriously and immediately opened an investigation into the matter to ascertain the facts. Helyeh Doutaghi's short-term position as an associate research scholar with the LPE Project expires next month. Until then, she has been placed on an immediate administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation.'
Middle East Eye
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Yale scholar says she has been terminated over AI-powered accusation
A Muslim Iranian scholar at Yale said on Tuesday that she has been terminated by the institution after being barred from campus two weeks ago. The move was prompted by allegations on a lesser-known, largely AI-powered news site called Jewish Onliner, which said that Doutaghi had ties to the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, better known as Samidoun. The group was sanctioned in the US and declared a terrorist group in Canada in October 2024. Helyeh Doutaghi's lawyer told Middle East Eye at the time that Yale appeared to be retaliating because of Doutaghi's pro-Palestinian speech. On Tuesday, in a statement posted to X, Doutaghi said she "will not legitimise a process driven by Zionist actors", referring to the pro-Israeli lawyer the university hired to question her. Yale, she added, has not "presented a single shred of evidence demonstrating any unlawful connection or act on my part. I have been terminated based on unproven allegations". "The legal technologies developed to manage and punish Global South actors who challenge Western oppression and domination are increasingly being redeployed inward, turning their gaze onto scholars, activists, organizations, and movements that critique the US or Israeli regimes," Doutaghi wrote.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran-born Yale scholar fired over allegations of working with terrorist-tied 'sham charity'
A Yale University Law School associate research scholar was terminated after failing to disclose information about her alleged ties to Samidoun Network, a Canada-based group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. Iranian-born Helyeh Doutaghi was fired Friday, three weeks after being put on administrative leave after allegations were made that she was part of the Samidoun Network, classified as "a sham charity" by the federal government for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S-designated terrorist organization. "Over the last three weeks, Yale has repeatedly requested to meet with Ms. Doutaghi and her attorney to obtain clarifying information and resolve this matter," Yale spokesperson Alden Ferro said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Unfortunately, she has refused to meet to provide any responses to critical questions, including whether she has ever engaged in prohibited activity with organizations or individuals that were placed on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list ('SDN List')." Columbia University Yields To Trump Admin Demands Over Revoked $400M In Federal Funding As such, the university terminated Doutaghi, effective immediately, over her "refusal to cooperate" with their investigation. The university, which saw its fair share of anti-Israel protests last year and a large-scale graduation walkout, noted her short-term employment was already set to expire in April. Doutaghi was appointed deputy director of the Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project at the unversity in October 2023. According to her bio on the Palestine Center for Public Policy website, her "research explores the intersections of the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), encompassing Marxian and postcolonial critiques of law, sanctions, and international political economy." Read On The Fox News App She is also an incoming post-doctoral fellow at the University of Tehran, according to the website, where her focus will be "completing her manuscript on Iranian sanctions regime and neoliberalism." Hawley Blasts 'Insane' Liberal Attorney During Senate Hearing On Campus Antisemitism The allegations about Doutaghi were first made by Jewish Onliner, a Substack "Empowered by A.I. capabilities," according to its X account. "Rather than defend me, the Yale Law School moved within less than 24 hours of learning about the report to place me on leave," Doutaghi wrote in a statement on X earlier this month. "I was given only a few hours' notice by the administration to attend an interrogation based on far-right AI-generated allegations against me, while enduring a flood of online harassment, death threats, and abuse by Zionist trolls, exacerbating ongoing unprecedented distress and complications both at work and at home." Doutaghi said she was "afforded no due process and no reasonable time to consult" with her attorney. Columbia University President Resigns After Months Of Mounting Pressure Over Anti-israel Protests The termination of Doutaghi comes as the Trump administration has been clamping down on allegations of antisemitism across Ivy League schools. Several students holding visas or green cards have since filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, alleging First Amendment violations. "Immediate action will be taken by the Department of Justice to protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities," a White House fact sheet on the executive order said. Trump also vowed to deport Hamas sympathizers and revoke student visas. Columbia University student and anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil was among the first students to face allegations from the Trump administration over his green card application, in which he was accused of omitting details about his employment history. The administration subsequently pulled $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University, citing its handling of anti-Israel protests on campus last year. The Ivy League school announced on Friday it would implement significant policy changes to comply with the administration's article source: Iran-born Yale scholar fired over allegations of working with terrorist-tied 'sham charity'
Boston Globe
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Harvard, Yale remove employees amid pressure from Trump administration
The Harvard Crimson, the university's student-run newspaper, Advertisement And on Friday, Yale fired associate research scholar Helyeh Doutaghi after a months-long investigation into her connections to an organization involved with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the US lists as a terrorist organization. These changes come The Harvard and Yale dismissals also come as Trump cracks down on pro-Palestinian protesters, seeking to revoke hundreds of student visas. This week, Harvard administrators plan to meet with the heads of centers in the coming weekend to 'ensure that diverse points of view are represented on campus as a necessary precondition for academic excellence,' according to a separate memo from earlier this week shared with the Globe. Neither Harvard nor its Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which houses the center, responded to a request for comment on Saturday. Advertisement Neither Kafadar, who's been on sabbatical this academic year, nor Bsheer immediately responded to requests for comment on Saturday. When asked for their reaction to the Center for Middle Eastern Studies news throughout Saturday afternoon, Harvard students almost unanimously declined to comment. They said they aren't informed on the situation — and they're worried that they would say the wrong thing. Yale Law said in a statement shared with the Globe that Doutaghi is listed as a member of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which the Biden administration last year declared a 'sham charity' that raises money for the PLFP. Yale said investigators tried to meet with Doutaghi and her attorney, but they refused. 'To be clear, Yale does not take administrative action based on press reports and such an action is never initiated based on a person's protected speech,' wrote Yale Law spokesperson Alden Ferro. 'As a result of her refusal to cooperate with this investigation, Ms. Doutaghi's employment with Yale — which was already set to expire this April — has been terminated effective immediately." Doutaghi could not immediately be reached for comment. Earlier this month, as she remained under investigation, the National Lawyers Guild posted on her behalf, including a statement from her that the US is 'entering an era of Zionist McCarthyism' where dissent is met with a crackdown. 'Just as McCarthyism sought to crush anti-imperialist resistance through fear and repression, this new iteration aims to silence, intimidate, and purge those who challenge Zionist settler-colonialism and U.S. imperialism,' Doutaghi said in the statement. Globe correspondent Talia Lissauer contributed to this report. Sean Cotter can be reached at
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Yale professor fired, ‘refusal to cooperate' cited amid allegations of connection to terrorist organization
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Three weeks after being put on administrative leave, Yale University Law School professor Helyeh Doutaghi was terminated on Friday, according to Yale University. Doutaghi was put on administrative leave on March 4, after allegations were made claiming she is a member of the Samidoun Network, a designated terrorist organization. DOE opens investigation into antisemitism on Yale's campus Samidoun is a 'Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is an international network of organizers and activists working to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom,' according to the organization's website. Multiple countries, including the United States, Canada and Israel have declared Samidoun as a terrorist organization. On March 2, Jewish Onliner posted an article that outlined Doutaghi's alleged relation to Samidoun. The New York Times reported that Jewish Onliner is at least partially powered by artificial intelligence on March 12. Doutaghi posted a statement on X on March 12 which claimed that she was the target of 'AI-fabricated claims.' 'I am being targeted for one reason alone: for speaking the truth about the genocide of the Palestinian people that Yale University is complicit in,' Doutaghi wrote. Yale Law School released the following statement when News 8 reached out: 'Over the last three weeks, Yale has repeatedly requested to meet with Ms. Doutaghi and her attorney to obtain clarifying information and resolve this matter. Unfortunately, she has refused to meet to provide any responses to critical questions, including whether she has ever engaged in prohibited activity with organizations or individuals that were placed on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list ('SDN List').' The full statement can be found below: Statement_3.28.25_FINAL_900f8aDownload Doutaghi's contract with Yale was set to expire in April, according to the statement. At this time no future updates have been shared. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
