He made the controversial comments during a pro-Palestine protest
A Cornell University professor was seen in a video telling students that Hamas' terror attack on Israel was ''exhilarating'' and ''energizing''. Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history at the top-tier Ithaca, New York school, made the controversial comments during a pro-Palestine protest, the New York Post reported.
A short video showing him addressing dozens of students and participants at a Sunday rally at the Ithaca Commons has gone viral on the internet. The professor said the attack ''shifted the balance of politics'' and ''punctured the illusion of invincibility of Israel.''
''It was exhilarating, it was energizing. And if it weren't exhilarating, this challenge to the monopoly of violence by this shifting of the balance of power, then they would not be human. I was exhilarated,'' he said in his speech.
Here's the video:
A full version of the speech was also shared wherein he is seen saying, ''What has Hamas done? Hamas has shifted the balance of power, Hamas has punctured the illusion of invincibility. That's what they've done. You don't have to be a Hamas supporter to recognize that. Hamas has changed the terms of debate, and Israeli officials are right - nothing will be the same again.''
He continued, ''Hamas has challenged the monopoly of violence. And in those few hours, even as horrific acts were being carried out, there were many Gazans of goodwill, many Palestinians of good conscience who abhor violence as do you, as do I, who abhor the targeting of civilians. As do you. As do I. Who was able to breathe. They were able to breathe for the first time in years.''
The crowd then chanted, ''From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.''
Many on social media criticised his statements, calling them ''abhorrent''. One user said, ''I watched the first clip and thought maybe something was taken out of context. Sad to see that it was not out of context. Abhorrent.''
Another commented, ''Jesus. It does not sound like he abhor violence all that much.'' A third, ''This is sickening, disgusting, disappointing.'' A fourth added, ''It's breathtaking how ideologists love principles and societal power mechanisms more than they love life and people. And, how they fail to understand even explicit motivations for terror that does not fit their own framework of power politics.''
After Hamas' weekend attack on Israel, Israel has bombarded and laid siege to the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, and plans a ground invasion. Amid the growing conflict, tensions between students on opposite sides of the issue have boiled over on some U.S. college campuses.
Statements by student groups supporting Palestinians have prompted outrage and fear among Jews and, in some cases, wider rebuke from public officials and corporations. There have been reports of harassment and assaults of both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students, deepening grief and putting students of all political stripes on high alert.
Recently, Idan Ofer, an Israeli shipping tycoon with a multi-billion-dollar fortune, and his wife Batia have stepped down from their roles as board members at Harvard's Kennedy School. Their resignation came in protest of what they perceive as the university's lukewarm response to a letter from student organizations. The letter placed full blame on the Israeli government for the recent attack by Hamas operatives, which killed over 1,000 people.