By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – The propaganda war between supporters of Israel and supporters of Hamas has prompted the administration of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles to ban John Strauss, a Jewish professor of economics, from teaching on the campus, but he is permitted to conduct classes via Zoom.
At issue is what Strauss said when passing by a campus anti-Israel demonstration on Thursday, Nov. 9.
“I kept hearing ‘Down with Israel’ and things like ‘From the river to the sea’ which is a codeword for saying the destruction of Israel,” Strauss said in a videotaped interview with Annenberg Media, a student-led multimedia organization funded by USC.
“I yelled out ‘Israel forever! Hamas are murderers,” said Strauss.
He then continued walking to his class. When his class ended, and he was retracing his steps, “a woman, I don’t know who, yelled ‘Shame on you, Professor Strauss, shame on you!” to which he said he responded: ‘No shame on you! You were ignorant about Hamas. Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. They should die, every one of them.”
He told an Annenberg Media interviewer that when he said, “They should die, every one of them,” he was referring to Hamas.
However, a video made it appear that Strauss was talking about Palestinians generally, not just Hamas. Strauss said his preceding words about Hamas were deleted from the video.
On Friday, Nov. 10, Strauss said, “I started getting emails—very, very nasty emails” expressing such sentiments as “I hope you die, you fascist pig” and “I hope you’re fired.” That afternoon, he said, he was notified by USC Provost Andrew T. Guzman that he had been placed on administrative leave with full pay for the rest of the semester. Initially Guzman said Strauss would be allowed to teach his graduate class via Zoom, but not his undergraduate class, Strauss said. However, on Monday, Nov. 13, Strauss said that Guzman changed his mind and permitted him to teach both levels of students via Zoom.
Strauss told Annenberg Media that he has received support from many Jewish students and organizations on campus and that “has really helped me keep a good mental state.”
“Frankly,” he added, “I’d like the whole administrative leave thing to be canceled so I can come back on campus, but we’ll see.”
There followed dueling online petitions. A petition on Change.Org called for Strauss’s firing based on the representation that he had said all Palestinians should die. An organization calling itself Stand With Strauss sponsored a counter-petition backing Strauss and charging that the anti-Israel organizations on campus, including Trojans for Palestine, were lying about what had occurred.
A narrative accompanying the Stand With Strauss petition said “The university’s action raises concerns among Jewish students on and off campus, who are grappling with the apparent contradictions in the university’s policies concerning free speech and academic freedom. Anti-Zionist professors at USC have expressed venomous anti-Israel sentiments without facing any consequences. Students have marched through campus, shouting hate speech and calls for violence against Jews, and the university has allowed it in the name of free speech. With that backdrop, the forced administrative leave of Professor Strauss, based on a misinterpretation of his statements, contributes to a sense of insecurity.”
A college faculty group, Academic Freedom Alliance, commented that “the university’s actions represent an egregious violation of the principles of freedom of expression and due process which the University of Southern California has contractually committed itself.”
The Daily Trojan, the student newspaper at USC, quoted from a letter sent by the provost to Strauss that he was banned from campus “to minimize disruption to the educational environment and to ensure a safe environment for both you and students.”
Roz Rothstain, cofounder and CEO of StandWithUS, an education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism, commented on Monday, Nov. 27: “We understand this is an evolving situation that the administration is investigating. As tensions remain high on campuses across the country regarding the Israel-Hamas war, it is critical that administrations treat speakers equally when it comes to protecting the right to freedom of speech.”
“While investigations may be necessary in certain circumstances, administrators must not take action to silence or punish speech based on its viewpoint, and they must investigate all allegations of threatening language equally.”
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com