Who are the Real Fear Mongers at USC: Pro-Hamas, Palestinian Activists or Jewish Econ Professor?

Pro-Hamas protestors claim to speak on behalf of beleaguered Palestinians but they are the ones usually doing the oppression. By such antics as hunting down Jewish students and teachers and repeatedly vandalizing public property.

And now, sure enough, when University of Southern California economics professor John Strauss stood up to some campus protesters their compatriots twisted his words to make him sound like a predator. Then, craven University administrators, caving to an online mob, quickly punished him for something he did not say. Strauss, who is Jewish, was placed on administrative leave and barred from campus.

Free speech groups have denounced the University for their treatment of Strauss but the University denies he is being punished for his speech, insisting they are only trying to keep the campus “safe.”

Safety is often used by authorities as a pretext for repression. And the implication of this is that Strauss’s words make him dangerous, which contradicts the University’s argument that he was not punished for his speech.

The fracas started on November 9 when student groups were holding a demonstration as part of the national “Shut it Down for Palestine day. They had walked out of class and chanted “From the River to the Sea,” an anti-Semitic battle cry for the eradication of Israel.

Strauss told the Los Angeles Times that he walked by “a big Palestinian demonstration” and heard people call to “Destroy Israel” and demand the United States stop funding Israel. “That is what I heard and I got angry,” he recalled. “I am Jewish and very pro-Israel so I shouted ‘Israel forever. Hamas are murderers.’”

He then went to teach a class. But when he returned he passed by the students again. They were claiming to memorialize Palestineans killed in Gaza but had no memorial for Israeli civilians slaughtered by Hamas.  They shouted “Professor Strauss shame on you.”

He replied. “No, shame on you.”

Then he called them a bunch of ignoramuses. “You people are ignorant, really ignorant.”

And then the zinger. As students, eager for a viral moment, started recording him, Strauss declared, “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Everyone should be killed and I hope they are all killed.”

But when woke and Palestinian activists circulated the video online they edited out the part about Hamas to make it sound like he was saying all Palestineans should be killed.  Two USC student Instagram accounts,   @uscgraduatesforpalestine and @uscscale, posted video showing him just saying “Everyone should  be killed and I hope they all are.”

The doctored videos omitted the professor’s reference to Hamas.

Palestinian activist Tara Alami tweeted the same misleading video as the USC student groups.

Next to join the lynch mob was the University of Southern California Muslim Student Union. They issued a statement saying Strauss was “repeatedly calling for the murder of the entirety of Palestine” and espousing “a desire for the death of those supporting Palestine.”

The next day Strauss was told by another professor that USC Provost Andrew Guzman was placing him on paid administrative leave.  He was informed by a dean that he could teach graduate students with Zoom but he was prohibited from teaching undergraduate students.

Students filed complaints against him with various civil rights and equity divisions of the University.

On November 13 Guzman sent Strauss a letter saying he would be banned from campus while the school investigated the complaints. But he could teach students remotely.

Strauss told the California Globe that he is not granting any new interviews. But he previously told the Los Angeles Times that the online videos were false.

“The allegation was that I said ‘Kill all Palestineans.’ I never said that and I would never say that. I said ‘Kill all Hamas.’ That’s quite different,” he explained.

Free speech groups have spoken out forcefully in defense of Strauss.

“Totally barring a professor from campus because of a passing comment like this is a shocking overreaction. Regardless of Professor Strauss’s intent, he is entitled to his views and the right to share them,” said Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education programs at PEN America.  “Censuring professors for their political views is highly inappropriate and runs the risk of chilling free expression in higher education, for all. What USC has done runs counter to the university’s obligation to foster dialogue and debate.”

In a letter to Provost Guzman, the Academic Freedom Alliance, which is composed of professors nationwide devoted to free inquiry, said, “the university’s actionsons represent an egregious violation of the principles of freedom of expression and due process to which the University of Southern California has contractually committed itself.”

Moreover, “Even if the words falsely attributed to Professor Strauss in the Trojans for Palestine video had in fact been articulated by him in the context of a public political rally, they are fully within the bounds of protected First Amendment speech and within the scope of protected speech under the university’s policies.“

But the University of Southern California is standing by its decision to banish Strauss even though they admit that his words were misrepresented. There are some crimes so serious innocence is no defense!

It is kind of ironic that the same people who charge anyone who criticizes Muslims as having an irrational, bigoted  fear of them–Islamophobia–are now saying Professor Strauss should be feared for something he did not say.

Who are the real fear mongers?

In a statement provided to the California Globe and other media outlets over the last week the University said,  “Online video clips of Professor Strauss – some of which appear to have been edited in misleading ways – have been widely shared on social media, generating millions of online global engagements and comments, many of them quite alarming.”

“After reviewing the overwhelming volume and types of comments, the university directed him to teach his two remaining classes online and to remain off campus as a precautionary measure until classes are finished this term. These measures were designed to minimize disruption in the classroom and to ensure a safe environment for both him and students,” USC claims.“He has in no way been disciplined or punished for engaging in protected speech.”

But another professor at USC told the California Globe that is exactly what the school is doing.

“It is the duty of the university to educate students about free speech. In cases like that the leadership should have issued a strong and clear statement that students’ demands to punish the professor for expressing viewpoints they do not like is contrary to USC free speech policies and also at odds with First amendment — something that these students will have to learn to respect, once they leave the campus,”  Chemistry Professor Anna Krylov said via email.

She also illuminated how grotesque double standards are at play here.

“This is an example of the double standard practiced by the universities. At USC, since October 7 we had several pro-Palestinian rallies at which the participants shouted genocidal slogans such as “The only solution – intifada revolution” and “From the river to the sea, “ Krylov wrote. “Pro-palestinian students have been tearing down posters of the hostages and posting anti-semitic messages on social media.  The participants of these rallies as well as students tearing down posters and posting antisemitic messages on social media faced no consequences, even though their actions are intimidating and hurtful to Jewish and Israeli students and faculty, and their views are at odds with the official position of the US government (e.g., President Biden called Hamas ‘pure evil’ and the house adopted a resolution supporting Israel against Hamas).  And this is how things should be  — because even hate speech is protected by the First Amendment and we should allow it on our campuses, even if it is morally reprehensible, insulting to many people, and is at odds with the official position of our government.”

“However, when Prof. Strauss voiced his opinion about Hamas, he was barred from campus. Prof. Strauss made his remarks not in the classroom, but at the rally, in response to pro-Hamas statements and exhibits. And yet the students complained and the university reacted not by educating the students about free speech (or disciplining them for making frivolous complaints and false accusations — they [falsified] the video), but by punishing the professor. This is unacceptable.”