Jewish Professor John Strauss from the University of Southern California was just banned from teaching on campus for the rest of the fall semester after some of his comments against the terrorist group Hamas went viral online.
The College Fix reports that Strauss is now only allowed to teach his two classes at the university via Zoom, and not in person.
As reports indicate, Strauss, a tenured professor, said “people are ignorant” as he walked by a group of students advocating for Palestine. According to an interview following the event, Strauss was on the way to teach one of his classes when he heard students shouting, “From the river to the sea” which Strauss correctly pointed out “is code for the destruction of Israel,” The College Fix explained.
During the initial incident, Strauss can be heard saying, “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are,” according to a now viral video that was shared on social media.
Multiple versions of the interaction have been edited and clipped, with one garnering over 2 million views and more than 19,000 retweets. The full video was posted to the USC Annenberg Media’s YouTube page.
The same group conducted an interview with Professor Strauss as the situation erupted. Here’s what The College Fix reported about that interview:
“Every one of them, of course, referred to Hamas,” Strauss told the outlet. “Then that later was changed to, in the video that was released publicly that was heavily doctored, to Palestinians should be murdered. And that’s not what I said at all.”
“The video that was put out there by the pro-Palestinian students was doctored and claimed I said things that I never meant,” Strauss said. “I’ve asked the administration and the provost’s office to make a statement to that effect.”
As The College Fix indicated, there are now two petitions out: one that supports Strauss and has more than 12,000signatures, and another calling for his termination with more than 7,000 signatures as of Monday.
According to Annenberg Media, the university put Strauss on administrative leave. But according to a statement from USC to The College Fix, Strauss “will be teaching his two classes remotely for the rest of the semester.” Additionally, according to the Daily Trojan, Strauss was not placed on “administrative leave.”
Nonetheless, Strauss’ fall semester is not going as planned. His free speech was breached by USC and frankly, he shouldn’t have ever been punished in the first place.
According to an email to The College Fix from USC chemistry professor Anna Krylov, “My opinion is that Prof. Strauss should be reinstated immediately and that apologies are due for the disruption, and emotional and reputational damage that this involuntary administrative leave has caused him.”
Facts.
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