An economics professor from the University of Southern California is required to teach via Zoom for the rest of the fall semester after a heated exchange with a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, prompting an academic freedom group to demand his full reinstatement.<\/p>\n
Tenured Professor John Strauss, who is Jewish, \u201cwill be teaching his two classes remotely for the rest of the semester,\u201d USC said in a statement to The College Fix.<\/em><\/p>\n At issue is an early November interaction the professor had with students engaged in a protest organized by USC Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation, USC Graduates for Palestine, and Trojans for Palestine.<\/p>\n In an original unedited video<\/a> of the exchange, Strauss can be heard saying \u201cpeople are ignorant\u201d as he walked by, adding \u201cHamas are murderers. That\u2019s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are.\u201d<\/p>\n Instagram accounts @uscgraduatesforpalestine and @uscscale posted a shorter edited video<\/a> to their accounts on Nov. 9 with student faces blurred. In the video, Strauss\u2019s comments about Hamas were edited out, leaving only his words, \u201cevery one should be killed, and I hope they all are.\u201d<\/p>\n The same edited video, which has now attracted over 2 million views on X, was posted<\/a> by activist Tara Alami, reported<\/a> Forward<\/em>. The edited version was also posted to larger accounts @cravingpalestine and @shaunking.<\/p>\n here is @USC<\/a> professor John Strauss saying \u201cevery one of them should be killed, and I hope they all are\u201d while passing by students who organised a memorial for 10,000+ Palestinian martyrs killed in the past month pic.twitter.com\/Iuox2laMKL<\/a><\/p>\n — tara (@taraxrh) November 10, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n