The University of Southern California (USC) has barred an economics professor from campus after he spoke out against Hamas at a pro-Palestinian rally.
Professor John Strauss, who is Jewish and a supporter of Israel, was filmed walking by a pro-Palestinian protest earlier this month and calling Hamas members “murderers” who “should be killed.” Clips of the interaction were later posted online by accounts calling for Strauss’s ouster and mischaracterizing his remarks, claiming he directed them toward all Palestinians, according to The College Fix.
“His racist, xenophobic behavior, including stepping on names during a memorial service at USC for over 10k innocent civilians that lost their lives in Palestine, is unacceptable. His remarks – ‘everyone should be killed, and I hope they all are’ – are not only offensive but also promote and incite violence,” a petition for his ouster from the university said.
here is @USC professor John Strauss saying “every one of them should be killed, and I hope they all are” while passing by students who organised a memorial for 10,000+ Palestinian martyrs killed in the past month pic.twitter.com/Iuox2laMKL
— tara (@taraxrh) November 10, 2023
A 20-second video of the interaction shows that Strauss spoke about Hamas.
“People are ignorant. Really ignorant,” Strauss can be heard saying as he walks upon the demonstration. “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are.”
Amid calls for his ouster, Strauss later defended his comments to the Daily Trojan, a USC student newspaper.
“I don’t mind if they want to memorialize people who were killed. That’s fine, just as Jewish students are memorializing Israelis who were killed,” Strauss said. “But this started as a result of Hamas terrorist attacks,” referring to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel declared war on the terror group Hamas as a result of a surprise terror attack on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of roughly 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, with hundreds more Israeli civilians taken hostage in Gaza.
The USC administration barred Strauss from campus after the backlash over his comments. In a letter to the professor obtained by the Daily Trojan, the university told Strauss that he would teach and interact with students strictly online for the rest of the semester “to minimize disruption to the educational environment and to ensure a safe environment for both you and students.” The university said the action taken was not disciplinary.
The restrictions placed on Strauss have sparked a counter-backlash. The Orange County Register editorial board published an editorial this week calling for USC to reverse its decision forcing the professor remote.
“America’s campuses have become places where it’s somehow actually harder than elsewhere in the marketplace of ideas for a person to express an opinion some students don’t like,” the editorial board wrote. “Such is the higher-education reality that caught up with USC economics professor John Strauss this week when he found himself booted off his own campus, forced to teach his courses both at the doctoral and undergraduate level online from home, for the supposed sin of speaking out forcefully against the murderous terrorist group Hamas.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP
“This is an outrage,” the editorial said of Strauss’s comments being taken out of context. “And to have the university support it is even worse — adults should know better.”