Jewish professor kicked off campus after deceptively edited video of him wishing death on Hamas goes viral

A California university banned a Jewish professor from campus a day after a misleadingly edited video of the professor’s comments calling for the death of Hamas terrorists circulated online, according to the Los Angeles Times.

University of Southern California (USC) economics professor John Strauss interacted with students protesting the Israel-Gaza war on November 9, prompting Strauss to call Hamas “murderers.” seconds in the Times. Online social media accounts edited the video and showed the teacher making it appear he wanted “everyone” in Gaza killed in the clips, according to the Times.

Strauss was placed on administrative leave by USC and kicked off campus a day after the incident.

“Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Everybody should be killed, and I hope they’re all killed,” Strauss shouted at pro-Palestinian protesters on the USC campus on Nov. 9, according to the Times.

A request on November 13, three days after another petition calling for his termination because of his comments, calls for Strauss’ reinstatement began. The request for him to be fired collected more than 7,000 signatures, and the petition for him to be reinstated got more than 11,000 signatures.

“The recent events surrounding his forced administrative leave, barring him from campus, have not only raised serious questions about the double standards in the application of free speech principles at USC, but exposed the disturbing pattern of misinformation and targeted harassment that continues to take place at USC. our campus,” says the petition calling for his reinstatement.

“Strauss’s comments – ‘they should all be killed, and I hope they all are’ – are not only offensive, but also promote and incite violence,” says the petition calling for the professor to be fired.

“We would be ashamed to be associated with an educational institution as esteemed as USC if USC’s leadership is not able to immediately condemn and terminate Professor John Strauss,” the petition continues.

Several elite schools in the United States experienced anti-Israel protests on campus following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel that dead more than 1,400 people. Over 30 student organizations at Harvard signed a letter blaming Israel for the terrorist attacks.

“What USC has done goes against the university’s obligation to encourage dialogue and debate,” Jonathan Friedman, director of free speech at PEN America, told the Times.

USC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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