A professor allegedly was terminated from Washington University in St. Louis “for his comments on social media supporting Israel’s actions against Hamas.”
According to the New York Post, Seth Crosby, a geneticist with decades of service at the university’s school of medicine, posted that Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel were “a much needed cleansing, yes, but not an ethnic one,” adding “Israel is not targeting humans.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Missouri characterized Crosby’s remarks as advocating for “ethnic cleansing,” despite the remarks themselves clearly asserting the opposite. “It is unconscionable that a professor at a Missouri institution of higher education would allegedly call for the ethnic cleansing of any population and would seek to dehumanize the target of that crime against humanity,” said Yasir Ali, CAIR-Missouri Board Chair.
Crosby later clarified that his comments were aimed at Hamas, not at Palestinians in general, and expressed regret for his “clumsy words.”
He announced on Saturday that he had been fired by the university, only to delete his social media account shortly thereafter.
Washington University has not confirmed Crosby’s termination. A spokesperson stated that “The opinions he has expressed as an individual do not represent the university’s position,” adding that the university was “following up as appropriate, according to our policies and processes.”
It is not clear whether he is merely being investigated, or has already been fired.
Meanwhile, nothing has happened to a Cornell University professor who praised the Hamas terror attack as “exhilarating” and “exciting.”
“A Cornell University professor was caught on camera telling students Hamas’ terror attack on Israel — which has left more than 1,400 dead — was ‘exhilarating’ and ‘energizing,’” reported the New York Post.
A diversity and inclusion director at Cornell University supported the Hamas terror attack, writing that Hamas was “fighting for life, dignity, and freedom…against settler colonization, imperialism, capitalism, white supremacy, which the United States is the model.”
At Stanford, an instructor told Jewish students to stand in a corner and lectured them that “Israel is a colonizer” after the Hamas terror attacks. He is under investigation.
A Jewish student was “beaten with a stick outside the Columbia library after he confronted a woman tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis.” He suffered a broken ring finger.
Universities that routinely speak out against microaggressions, Supreme Court decisions, Republican legislation, and things like students wearing sombreros to Halloween parties could not bring themselves to condemn either the Hamas terror attacks that killed at least 1400 people, or campus protests that explicitly praised the terror attacks. One university claimed it must remain neutral about “geopolitical issues and news events.” Such universities have often taken sides on political issues, such as climate change policy, and spoken out about news events, such as the death of George Floyd.
Northwestern University, which publicly criticized the Supreme Court for ruling against race-based college admissions, refused to “make an institutional statement” about the terror attacks by Hamas that killed relatives of some of its students.
Hamas kidnapped many civilians, including small children, seizing them as hostages. This hostage-taking came after the Biden administration agreed to pay a $6 billion ransom to Iran in exchange for the release of five American hostages. Hamas admits Iran gave it weapons it used in its attack on Israel. The Biden administration released millions of dollars to the Hamas-controlled government of the Gaza strip.
