Top American Law Firms Hiring Grads Who Blamed Israel for Hamas Attacks

Collin Anderson of the Washington Free Beacon reports a sad truth about students emerging from top American law schools.

One of America’s top law firms has hired an executive member of a Harvard Law student group that signed on to a statement blaming Hamas’s gruesome weekend terrorist attacks on Israel and its “apartheid regime.”

Saeed Ahmad, an executive board member of the Harvard Muslim Law Students Association, is an incoming corporate associate at Sidley Austin, according to his LinkedIn page and biography on the Pakistani news site the Nation.

The firm, home of the legendary Supreme Court litigator Carter G. Phillips, is perhaps best known for launching the legal careers of Barack and Michelle Obama—and their relationship—boasted a starting salary of $205,000 for first-year associates as of 2021, according to Above the Law. A spokesman for the firm, whose clients include the private equity giants KKR, The Carlyle Group, and Siris Capital, according to Bloomberg Law, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Muslim Law Students Association was one of more than 30 Harvard student groups that signed a statement on Saturday arguing that Israel is “entirely responsible” for the terror attacks that have killed more than 1,300 Israelis, including women, children, and babies. …

… Sidley Austin is not alone in offering a home to radical law students who have blamed Israel for its fate in the wake of the deadliest terrorist attack in its history.

Fellow Harvard Muslim Law Students Association member Ariq Hatibie worked as a summer associate at White and Case’s New York office, the firm confirmed. A White and Case spokesman said that the association “has issued a retraction of its signature” from the pro-Hamas statement. Hatibie, the spokesperson added, was not involved in the association’s decision to sign the statement and condemns “the horrific attack by Hamas on innocent Israeli citizens.”

University of Michigan’s Rachel Fishman, a third-year law student and member of the school’s Black Law Student Association, which signed on to a statement arguing that Hamas is “fighting for justice” and blamed the terrorist attacks on Israel’s “racist, colonial actions,” is set to join Winston and Strawn as an associate next year, according to her LinkedIn page.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this entry described students featured in the Washington Free Beacon article as “Hamas sympathizers.” Saeed Ahmad contacted the John Locke Foundation to dispute that label.