Jena Chanaa, left, of Springfield, in the white and black checkered scarf can be seen in the video below leading student protesters on the George Mason campus a year ago:
Protests on American college campuses concerning the Israel-Hamas war have resulted in serious backlash and consequences for some students. Clashes with law enforcement, criminal charges, loss of employment opportunities, campus events, speakers and graduation ceremonies cancelled and, in some instances, legal cases have resulted.
At George Mason University in Fairfax County, two Palestinian-American sisters who attended the university and led pro-Palestinian protests on campus were issued no trespassing orders by George Mason Police Chief Carl Rowan Jr., barring them from the campus for four years, rendering their college educations over.
Campus and Fairfax County Police are investigating whether the sisters, Jena and Noor Chanaa of Springfield, spearheaded campus-wide vandalism causing thousands of dollars in damage to the university. One was an undergraduate student and the co-president of Mason’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The other was in a master’s program at Mason and a former president of the school’s SJP chapter.
In September, the university police department distributed flyers offering a $2,000 reward for information about vandalism on Aug. 28 which occurred on Wilkens Plaza outside the Johnson Center and was caught on camera at 5:30 a.m.
It is a felony in Virginia to cover one’s face in an attempt to conceal identity except for medical or theatrical reasons [Virginia statute § 18.2-422].
The university suspended the SJP campus chapter.
When police arrived at the Chanaa family home on Nov. 7, they executed a search warrant and gathered the family in the living room while they searched the house. Some family members were eventually released to attend work, but the rest remained while police conducted a six-hour search, according to police reports.
Police seized electronics from the residence, including phones and laptops, but made no arrests. At one point, police found firearms, ammunition and a concealed carry permit registered to the family’s son, Mohammad Amer Chanaa, a George Mason alum and volunteer deputy chief firefighter with the Greater Springfield Volunteer Fire Department.
Police confiscated long guns. A day later, Mohammad Chanaa voluntarily relinquished his 9mm handgun and concealed carry permit. Virginia’s red flag law allows gun owners 14 days to petition the court system to return their firearms.
According to court documents, on Nov. 21 Judge Richard Gardiner ruled Chanaa was eligible to have his possessions released back to him after Chanaa stated the guns were part of a historical collection.
In addition to the four guns and ammunition, police made note of Hamas and Hezbollah flags, arm patches in Arabic which, when translated, read “Kill them where they stand,” and patches that call for “death to Jews and America” in the Chanaa residence. Police stated in their report that the Hamas and Hezbollah flags have been designated a threat to the American people by the U.S. State Department.
At graduation in 2023, several students got up and walked out of the ceremony when Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin got up to speak. George Mason’s Board of Visitors — the school’s governing body — includes two appointments by Youngkin who currently work at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. The Foundation called on the FBI to investigate school protests against the war on Gaza.
Additionally, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has advised colleges and universities across the state that the First Amendment right to free speech is not protected under the law when that speech incites violence, such as racial or ethnic slurs, or imminent lawless action, such as vandalism, trespassing and destruction of property on college campuses.
Further, George Mason University is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for a number of cases involving alleged racial harassment and national origin discrimination.
A year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the repercussions of students protesting has come full circle. It appears the Chanaa sisters were willing to leverage their college education in order to stand on a campus 3,000 miles away from their ancestral homeland and incite others to protest.
Audrey Carpenter is the Northern Virginia Bureau Chief for All Virginia News. She can be reached at: audreycarpenter@allvirginia.news
