In a shocking violation of free speech, a USC professor has been suspended and banned from campus after he spoke against Hamas.
According to the Los Angeles Times, John Strauss, a Jewish man and professor, was walking by a pro-Hamas protest on November 9th. He quipped to the crowd that "Hamas are murderers" and expressed his desire for the designated terrorist group to be eliminated. Protesters captured the exchange on camera.
That changed Nov. 9, when Strauss stopped before students staging a walkout and protest calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and holding a memorial to thousands of Palestinian civilians killed in the Israel-Hamas war.
The economics professor’s interactions with students that day ended with the 72-year-old Strauss, who is Jewish, declaring: “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are killed.”
Students captured those remarks on their cellphones, almost instantly seeming to recognize a viral moment. “Can you say that for the camera?” one pressed.
As the videos of the incident went viral, many social media posts provided false captions of his words or outright edited them to change the meaning of what he said. Pretty soon, a petition garnered 9,000 signatures accusing Strauss of "racist, xenophobic behavior." They also accused him of trying to incite violence.
Within the week, a petition demanding that USC fire Strauss for his “racist, xenophobic behavior” and comments that “promote and incite violence” had collected more than 6,500 signatures.
Meanwhile, more than 9,000 signed a counter-petition decrying USC’s treatment of Strauss as “unjust,” saying he was the victim of online misinformation, and demanding that the university reinstate him.
Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles, called for USC to launch an investigation into Strauss and to take actions to protect “Muslim, Palestinian and Arab students as well as any others who are targeted by hate and bigotry.”
All of this happened because Strauss spoke badly of a terrorist group. It's almost too incredible to believe. A man said that Hamas, a literal terrorist group, should be killed, and Islamic activists and students interpreted that as racism. The school's "Muslim Student Union" released a statement accusing the professor of wanting to kill the "entirety of Palestine."
Within hours of Strauss’ recorded comments, USC’s Muslim Student Union issued a statement saying that Strauss was “repeatedly calling for the murder of the entirety of Palestine” and expressing “a desire for the death of those supporting Palestine.”
“Such remarks are not only beyond the boundaries of academic discourse, but also dangerously incite violence and contribute to a hostile campus atmosphere,” the Muslim Student Union declared in its statement, which called for USC administrators to “ensure a safe space for students to express themselves.” It listed the email addresses of USC’s president, provost and other officials.
Of note is that Palestine does not exist. Of further note is that it seems like a pretty big admission by these Muslim activists if they think Hamas is all of the Palestinian population. Hey, I didn't say it. They did.
Expectedly, given how liberal America's universities are, USC responded by giving the pro-terror lunatics exactly what they wanted. After an "investigation" commenced, they suspended Strauss and banned him from campus.
Strauss learned about 24 hours later, on Nov. 10, that USC’s provost was placing him on paid administrative leave. He said he was told by a university dean that he could continue to teach graduate students via Zoom, but he would not teach undergraduates for the rest of the semester.
The provost told Strauss four days later that he was the subject of multiple complaints to USC’s equity, diversity and Title IX office and that he would continue to be barred from campus while complaints were investigated, according to a letter from the provost obtained by The Times.
Again, all of this is a result of Strauss speaking against a terrorist group. It's not any more complicated than that. Understand where we are. We are at a place where literal pro-terrorist activists can get a professor banned from campus for doing nothing more than saying Hamas are murderers.
Where do we go from here as a nation? Is there any saving the university system? I hope Strauss sues these groups and USC in the end. Someone needs to pay a real price for this kind of garbage. Perhaps then, there will be some deterrent to acting this way and treating people this way simply for expressing their free speech rights.