Jemma Decristo is not alone. There are many like-minded anti-Israel hatemongers on campuses across the country, who have described their “exhilaration” and “joy” at news of the Hamas attack on October 7. And none of them have yet been condemned by their administrators; much less been let go for “hate speech” that encourages violence against Jews. “US Professor Remains on University Staff After Tweet Threatening Jewish Journalists, Their Children,” by Dion J. Pierre, Algemeiner, October 20, 2023:
Several college professors have denounced Israel, made antisemitic comments, and defended Hamas since the Palestinian terrorist group attacked the Jewish state.
Cornell University history professor Russell Rickford, for example, said that he was “exhilarated” by the violence in the Middle East — meaning the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 — and defended his comments by arguing “the fundamentalism of Hamas mirrors that of Israeli leadership.”
Does the fundamentalism of Hamas really mirror that of Israeli leadership? Do the Israelis want to wipe out the Palestinians “from the river to the sea,” as Hamas wishes to do to the Israelis? Do the Israelis deliberately murder civilians? Do they decapitate babies, burn children to death, kill parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents? Does the IDF behead its enemies, or engage in the mass rape, torture, mutilation, and murder, of Palestinian girls and women? Does the IDF kidnap or murder old ladies in wheelchairs? Does Israel make a sweep of Palestinian villages and kidnap more than 200 of their inhabitants? Rickford’s nauseating description of his feeling “exhilarated” when he heard the news of the Hamas rapes, tortures, and murders surely ought to be grounds for his dismissal from the faculty. Again, imagine what would have happened to him had Rickford described feeling “exhilarated” at news of the murder of homosexuals at the Pulse Night Club, or when he heard about the massacre of African-Americans at a church in Charleston by a homicidal racist, Dylann Roof. Yet when his “exhilaration” was prompted by the murder of Jews, nothing happens to him, no censure, no demotion, much less dismissal for a “hate crime.”
Rickford later apologized for his statements, insisting that he “intended to stress grassroots African American, Jewish, and Palestinian traditions of resistance to oppression.” He apologized to “my family, my students, my colleagues, and many others,” but not to the Jewish community or Israelis — who were the chief targets of Hamas’ terror onslaught.
There is an epidemic of these transparently phony “apologies” by those who think they may have gone a little too far, and might suffer some consequences, for letting their antisemitism be on display so brightly. So they take down their posts, or hide them from viewers, or they “apologize” for their remarks, but their “apology” is so obviously insincere. Rickford, for example, did not apologize either to Jews or to Israelis, news of whose deaths had so “exhilarated” him. He continued to prate about “resistance to oppression,” by which he meant Palestinian resistance to Israeli oppression.
Also this week, another professor, self-described “radically optimistic transsexual climate scientist” Mika Tosca of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, said on social media: “Israelis are pigs … may they all rot in hell.” Tosca apologized one day later, saying, “I wrote some things on my Instagram story that I unequivocally reject and do not stand behind.” She added: “To the many Israeli and Jewish people [whom] I hurt with my words: I am truly sorry.”
Do you think Mika Tosca could call all Israelis “pigs” and wish that “they all rot in hell” and then, just one day later, the scales having fallen from her eyes, she truly, sincerely, and “unequivocally rejects and does not stand behind” her nauseating remarks from the day before? No, she hasn’t changed her mind. But someone suggested her remarks might get her in trouble, and advised her to pretend to disown them. And that’s exactly what she did.
Earlier this month, Columbia University professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual history Joseph Massad said in an op-ed published in Electronic Intifada that Hamas’ invasion was “awesome.” He described the terrorists who para-glided into a music festival in Israel to murder and rape the young people there as “the air force of the Palestinian resistance.”
Massad also described the decapitation of Israeli babies, the burning to death of whole families, the gang rapes and murder of Israeli girls and women, the torture followed by beheading, followed by mutilation of IDF soldiers, as “remarkable,” “awesome,” “astounding,” filling him, Joseph Massad, with feelings of “jubilation” and “awe.” Manouche Shafik, the President of Columbia, refused to condemn Massad for his nauseating display of antisemitism, much less appoint a committee to look into whether his praise of mass murder, rape, and kidnapping, would be grounds for his dismissal. An Israeli professor at Columbia’s Business School called her a “coward” — he was too kind — and she has yet to utter a clear denunciation of Massad. Perhaps the sound of checkbooks being closed by deep-pocketed Columbia alumni, incensed at her silence, will eventually get her to make some half-hearted condemnation of Hamas, and even of Massad for his gloating, but it will be too little and too late. So everyone at Columbia will have to fasten their seat belts, and tighten their belts, as long as Minouche Shafik remains its quite unsatisfactory president.
Walter Sieruk says
Those malice-filled college professors, across the United States, who have expressed “exhilaration” and “joy” at the Hamas jihad attacks which have murdered terrible number of Jewish citizens of the State of Israel are really exposing their very own callous malicious anti- Jewish hate filled hearts.
Furthermore, they have also exposed that they are, in essence , very un-American.
As so well made clear by a speech given by a former US President, William Howard Taft, who in a speech had ,rightly and wisely, declared “Anti-Semitism is a noxious weed that should be cut out. It has no place in America.”
Lisel Sipes says
When you celebrate the killing of children, you are NOT human. Get that thing OUT of MY country! Send it back to an Islamic country where it can celebrate murder and savagery with animals of it’s own species.
Walter Sieruk says
About those college professors who have feelings of “exhilaration” and “joy” about those murderous jihad attacks by the jihadists Hamas.
Their “exhilaration” and “joy” will, some day in the future, will have their vicious spirit come back down on them to their own harm and bitterness.
For as it’s been ,truly , said “What goes around comes around.”
Likewise, the Bible informs its reader “He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished…”
Proverbs 17:5. [N.K.J.V.]
Walter Sieruk says
About those college professors who have feelings of “exhilaration” and “joy” about those murderous jihad attacks by the jihadists Hamas.
Their “exhilaration” and “joy” will, some day in the future, will have their vicious spirit come back down on them to their own harm and bitterness.
For as it’s been ,truly , said “What goes around comes around.”
Likewise, the Bible informs its reader “He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished…”
Proverbs 17:5. [N.K.J.V.]
bagsgroove says
These stupid professors and others should read their history. The region where Israel is now was a Hebrew kingdom which was invaded by the Philistines a war like people from Southern Europe from the region of Greece or Crete. Nothing Arab about the Philistines. They did genetic testing of philistine skeletons for that information. So today’s Palestinians are just a bunch of old Greeks. And who are the occupiers in history now. The Jews just regained their original territory from the thieving Palestinians and Arabs. I you don’t believe it look up Philistines. The word Palestine was made up by the roman occupiers to shame the Jews.
brenrod says
“So today’s Palestinians are just a bunch of old Greeks.”
No, they are not descendants of the ancient Philistines, they have no genetic connection with that extinct peoples. They are Arabs who through their Taqiyya have hijacked the identity of the Philistines for propaganda purposes. Arabs from Arabia.
bagsgroove says
Mika Costa, transgender freak, should realize that as a transgender he would be killed by the Muslims, thrown off a high building. Be careful who you back, they may want to destroy you. What a smart professor !
John1 says
Manouche Shafik of Columbia University is a Muslim. That explains her silence. Silence is tacit approval.
Wellington says
Universities and colleges across America have become indoctrination centers. This rot began in the 1960s and has now reached “fruition.” And the more the classically elite the university, the worse it is.
America in many ways is being done in from within. The entire educational system from pre-school through graduate school is one such way. The MSM in America, which is now stupidly overwhelmingly Leftist, is another such way. Big Tech and Big Business form two other ways. Yet another is one of the two major political parties, the Democratic Party, welcoming true haters of Israel and America into its midst—the “Squad” stands as partial, but only partial, testimony to this. And then there is the dysfunctional Republican Party which, as Rome burns, continues to function as a circular firing squad.
America is dying. There is no longer any reason to pretend otherwise. One “feature” of this is that the current POTUS is a completely deficient and corrupt fool manipulated by haters of America who are in accord with destroying America (the chief culprit here remains Obama, still the single most destructive person in all of American history).
There is still time to revive America but time is running out. And I fear that the bad guys are in control and not the good guys. Indeed, were it the other way around, I would not have had to posit this post, now would I?
Alex says
Massacring innocents. Self centred ideology. One form of terrorism, is no different to another. Terrorists are usually fanatics, often haters of anyone different and do not build. They destruct and provide no stability. Equality and sustainability are non-existent. The butchering is often done for reasons of self entitlement, by people easily led and used as cannon fodder by terrorist supporting nations, leaders, wealthy citizens and fanatics. All of which hold distain for progress, equality and peace, as they will then lose the ability to spread disruption and fear to advance their perversions. Such professors and persons that speak out for a cause, without first acknowledging the inhuman nature of terrorist activities, such as on the 7th October against innocent people in Israel, must surely be treated with the highest caution in a civil society. Should one not be labelled a terrorist if one supports acts of terror or a regime supporting terror. If we do support Israel to protect it’s citizens from terror, we will surely be the next target.
Ian says
Apologies…the final sentence sent by Alex on Oct 23, 2023 at 8:20 pm should read If we do not support Israel to protect it’s citizens from terror, we will surely be the next target.
tgusa says
And yet these same stooges will call for Israel to prevent the killing of Gaza civilians. Too bad, these stooges have decided that killing civilians is OK and they are civilians themselves. These people are in college? Why?
J[m says
It seems as though the minority religions in many of the 50 plus muslim majority countries are more oppressed than the Muslims in Palestine. Should these oppressed minorities form resistance movements just like Hamas and others of their faith and commit the same atrocities. Would they be celebrated by professors and students and leftists generally, the way Hamas seems to be the popular flavor of the month? Would such inhumane atrocities also be idealized as resistance? Do thirty or fourty thousand work permits in Israel amount to a justifiable reason to murder children and whole families?
Isabella van der westhuizen says
The question I often ask is professors of what ? usually nothing even vaguely useful. Gender studies, media studies comparative sociology. All these pseudo disciplines that have taken root at our universities.
OLD GUY says
Add Islamic Studies and Islamic jihad fund raising.
The Istanbulian says
The only thing that is truly awesome about this is the Israeli response and crow everyone is eating after learning it was a PIJ rocket that hit the hospital