Imani M. Cheers is an associate professor of digital storytelling at George Washington University and Director of Academic Adventures for Planet Forward. While her title suggests a focus on media and education, Cheers has built a career transforming journalism and film into tools for political activism. Her work routinely frames Israel as an apartheid state, erases the context of terrorism, and romanticizes anti-Israel movements under the banner of “liberation.” Through her courses, documentaries, and media appearances, Cheers uses her academic position to normalize extremist narratives within American higher education.
Record of Advocacy & Ideological Bias
Publications and Commentaries
Jun 2025: In a statement addressing George Washington University’s handling of campus antisemitism, Cheers trivialized Jewish safety concerns and defended student encampments, claiming “liberation movements start with the young.”
Apr 2025: Publicly criticized U.S. authorities for detaining foreign students supporting pro-Palestinian protests, framing them as victims “standing for children murdered in Gaza.”
May 2024: In a CNN interview, she justified campus protests and described them as “non-violent peaceful resistance,” ignoring their frequent antisemitic chants and acts of intimidation.
Feb 2024: On a CGTN News panel about the Israel–Hamas conflict, Cheers declared that “Palestinians have been erased, their humanity dissolved over the last 75+ years,” and referred to the war as “genocide.” The language mirrored Hamas propaganda and absolved the terror group of responsibility for civilian suffering.
Mar 2022: Participated in “Roots of Land Sovereignty: A Commemoration of Palestine’s Land Day,” a political event reframing the destruction of Israel as a form of “land justice.”
Nov 2021: Hosted a GWU discussion with Duke professor Rebecca Stein on the book Screen Shots: State Violence on Camera in Israel and Palestine, amplifying claims of systematic Israeli brutality.
Jun 2019: Published an article for AADHum connecting South African and Namibian apartheid to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, presenting Israel as part of a “global apartheid system.”
Books and Editorial Projects
Currently developing a documentary titled Agricultural Apartheid after filming in “Palestine, South Africa, and Namibia.” The project merges unrelated geopolitical conflicts into a single narrative portraying Israel as a colonial oppressor. Her framing relies on emotional manipulation rather than factual reporting — an attempt to launder political propaganda through documentary filmmaking.
Events and Academic Platforms
Cheers frequently appears at university events and global panels where she blurs the line between scholarship and agitation. Her rhetoric portrays anti-Israel activism as a moral imperative while casting criticism of such activism as censorship. She consistently defends pro-Palestinian faculty and student demonstrators but remains silent on their antisemitic harassment of Jewish peers.
Imani Cheers has built her brand on turning journalism and film into ideological warfare. Behind the façade of “storytelling” lies a campaign to delegitimize Israel, sanitize Hamas violence, and radicalize young audiences under the pretense of social justice. By equating Zionism with apartheid and valorizing campus agitators as freedom fighters, Cheers has weaponized her academic position to inject antisemitic rhetoric into classrooms, media spaces, and student movements — transforming education into indoctrination.
