Rantz: Auburn HS ditched speaker it didn’t properly vet after accusations of antisemitism

Auburn High School scheduled a guest speaker to lead staff through lessons on culturally responsive learning. But then the administration Googled him.

Minneapolis-based Michael Abraham of Abraham Education was scheduled for an all-day staff presentation on Aug. 29 titled “Engaging Muslims Students: What all educators should know.”

According to Abraham’s course description, staff will “explore the intersections of race, identity, and religion as it pertains to personal identity of Muslim students,” “design a specific lesson or unit plan with the goal of practicing culturally relevant pedagogy with Muslim students” and “be prepared to undertake further study of Islam and Muslim cultural background.”

Soon after the training was announced, some staff researched Abraham and were shocked by some of his commentary. He accused Israel of faking terrorist attacks and spoke out against gender identity extremism.

“Clearly, we had not done enough vetting,” a district spokesperson told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. The presentation was canceled, but the principal wasn’t upfront with staff in an email obtained by “The Jason Rantz Show.”

More from Jason Rantz: Wing Luke Museum banned exhibit to appease antisemitic staff. Now, Jews fight back

Why did Auburn High School cancel on Michael Abraham?

Auburn High School has seen a “significant growth of students enrolling who are Muslim,” according to the spokesperson. Consequently, the school decided to host training to help staff better support their Muslim students.

“Some of our staff saw a presentation he (Michael Abraham) did at a different district on the topic of understanding and working with Muslim students,” the spokesperson explained.

She concluded: “We believe learning about other cultures is beneficial for our staff as we continue to support students from around the world.”

Abraham tells “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Principal Jeffry Gardner called him last week to say he was sorry, but would have to cancel the speaking engagement. Abraham said the reason he was given matched the statement the spokesperson provided me. He said he didn’t ask for specific reasons why they canceled.

“I could take some guesses, but I don’t know the particulars,” Abraham explained.

Gender extremism

When asked what he would guess was the reason for the cancellation, he pointed to a controversy in Montgomery, Maryland. Last year, the the school board ended a policy allowing parents to opt out of certain LGBT curriculum. The district even ended advance notice on specific storybooks that would be provided to students in class.

“Muslim families really led the charge in pushing back against some initiatives out there in Maryland,” Abraham noted.

Abraham said Muslim families reached out to him, concerned that their students would be subject to what he called “extreme gender ideology.” He called it “a loss for Muslim and other religious parents,” after a court rejected a preliminary injunction against the policy’s implementation.

Though he doesn’t bring this issue up in a staff presentation, he said if someone asked about the issue, he wouldn’t lie about where Muslim families come down on gender ideology. He noted, however, that he and the Muslim community are against bullying.

“We respect the rights of any students to have a safe place in school, of course,” Abraham said. “But Muslims have religious beliefs that affect what they want for their kids, that affects what classes that they may or may not want their kids in. And that’s just a reality. And the other reality is parents have a right to that.”

Whereas his position on gender ideology is widely shared by parents, regardless of ideology, he more recently posted commentary that was seen by some staff as antisemitic.

Jews fake terrorism?

In a nearly hourlong YouTube video posted in April, Abraham focused on his claim that Israel and the Western world fakes or even commits Muslim terrorist attacks. It’s titled, “When Israel FAKES Muslim Terrorism (A HISTORY).” The video was no longer available on YouTube, after his Sunday interview with “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

The video amplifies claims by controversial author and activist Naeim Giladi. He argues Jewish leaders provoked anti-Jewish violence, and in some cases even committed terrorism against Jews, to convince them to emigrate to Israel. His polarizing work has been favored by antisemites and is not considered representative of mainstream historical scholarship.

Later in the video, Abraham even claimed terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi wasn’t real, a conspiracy amongst some in the Muslim community.

Abraham spends considerable time analyzing video by al-Zarqawi in his YouTube commentary, arguing he was either a fake or a Western intelligence asset. Al-Zarqawi was a Jordanian militant who led Al-Qaeda in Iraq and was known for his extreme brutality, including orchestrating suicide bombings and beheadings, including one against American contractor Nicholas Berg. He was killed by a U.S. airstrike in 2006, but his tactics and ideology significantly influenced the rise of ISIS.

Also in the video is the conspiracy Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, duped President Ronald Reagan into bombing Libya in 1986.

Oct. 7 denialism?

At the end of the video, Abraham ties the discussion to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel by Hamas. He says after the attacks, “You can see really clearly the Zionist propaganda just going crazy.” On his X account, he appears to have expressed doubt that Oct. 7 occurred and has engaged with antisemitic personalities like Jake Shields.

Via his X account, Abraham rejected Israel as the indigenous homeland for Jews, questioned evidence showing a Hamas terrorist celebrating the murder of Jews, falsely claimed Israel bombed a Gazan hospital, and accused Israel of genocide.

Here are some of the deleted posts. After my story, he pulled his entire account. pic.twitter.com/WgqAzgf1wX

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) August 26, 2024

Abraham has since deleted many of the posts, but they have been memorialized via screenshots by “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. He explained to me he is not anti-Israel and does not support Hamas.

More from Jason Rantz: Seattle Police Department says vandalizing Holocaust center is no hate crime, Israel commits genocide

Angry staff at Auburn High School led to vetting

After the Auburn High School announcement for the training, some staff complained about his online conduct. Consequently, the school canceled its training session.

Abraham wouldn’t explain if he was offered any payment or reimbursement for fees associated with the since-canceled presentation. The district did not respond by publication time to clarify if Abraham was still paid.

But the spokesperson does admit he was not properly vetted. She did not explain why it appears the school did little to no vetting before hiring Abraham for the presentation.

In an email to staff, the principal did not acknowledge they canceled Abraham’s appearance. He didn’t even explain there was a controversy. Instead, he wrote that “Our original presenter will not be able to attend.”

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on X, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jasonrantz