Columbia University refuses to discipline professor who praised Hamas attack as 'awesome'

Following Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel, which included several bombings and an indiscriminate killing of civilians, a Columbia University professor described the terrorist group's actions as “awesome.” Despite efforts by students and donors, the university refuses to discipline him.

Joseph Massad is a professor of history and politics at the university located in New York. In an article published in The Electronic Intifada, he called the attack on Israeli soil a “stunning victory.”

It didn't take long for his students to express outrage at the situation and call for the professor's dismissal. The petition began with Maya Plate. Through Change.org, the 23-year-old student obtained more than 45,000 signatures.

“Regardless of one’s stance on the conflict, supporting and praising one of the worst acts of terrorism in history is never aceptable. We call on Columbia University to hold Massad responsible for his comments and immediately remove him from the Columbia faculty," the petition reads.

However, other students decided to respond with a similar action, issuing a letter in solidarity with Massad. In addition to condemning the petition against him, they asked Nemat Shafik, president of Columbia University, to “unequivocally guarantee his physical safety and his academic freedom.” As reported by The New York Post, this latest initiative had the support of fewer than 600 people.

Some outlets, such as The Washington Post, tried unsuccessfully to obtain comment from Columbia on the matter. Those who did express themselves were some of the professor's colleagues. On condition of anonymity, one assured that “I haven’t spoke to him. I have seen the petitions — but I have not signed either one. And there has been no word from the university.”

Massad arrived at the university in 1999 and had already been investigated for making anti-Israel comments in class.

A student, Daniel Di Martino, spoke about the case on social media and targeted his alma mater. “This is the same university that considers misgendering someone worthy of disciplinary action. But supporting the killing of Jews and terrorism is fine for them. The world upside down,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.