A Jewish economics professor at the University of Southern California, John Strauss, has been kicked off campus for the rest of the semester and told he must teach his classes on Zoom after he was caught on video telling anti-Israel student demonstrators that members of Hamas are murderers who should be killed.

Thousands of people have signed dueling petitions calling for the tenured professor to be fired or reinstated, and a free speech group, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, has denounced Mr. Strauss’s banishment as a breach of university policy. 

A November 9 video shows Mr. Strauss, 72, being confronted by anti-Israel protesters as he walked slowly by their demonstration on USC’s Los Angeles campus. During the exchange, Mr. Strauss told the students, “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are,” as seen in an unedited video posted by the university’s student news outlet, Annenberg Media. 

The exchange took place as anti-Israel students partook in the worldwide “Shut it Down for Palestine” demonstrations. While walking past the protesters, the economist walked over printed lists of Palestinians killed in airstrikes, which had been left on the ground. He would later say his trodding on the names was unintentional. As he walked by, a demonstrator accosted Mr. Strauss, saying, “Shame on you, Professor Strauss. Shame on you.” That was when Mr. Strauss said that all Hamas murderers should be killed. 

Mr. Strauss’s comments set off fireworks after anti-Israel groups on campus doctored the video in such a way that the professor is only heard to say that “every one should be killed, and I hope they all are.” His detractors claimed he was referring to all Palestinians. 

The groups disseminating the doctored video, USC’s Graduates for Palestine and the Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation, first published the video in a joint Instagram post. It was later shared on X, formerly Twitter, by an anti-Israel activist, where it has attracted more than 2.1 million views. The manipulated video was also shared by anti-Israel activists, including the Black Lives Matter organizer, Shaun King, in a post that received more than three million views. Mr. King, who has been a harsh critic of Israel, was recently accused of fabricating his role in the release of hostages, the New York Post reported.  

Dueling petitions were created in the aftermath of Mr. Strauss’s comments, by anti-Israel and pro-Israel organizations demanding the professor be fired and that he be reinstated. A petition demanding Mr. Strauss’s termination for “racist and xenophobic behavior” has more than 6,200 signatures. A competing petition demanding his reinstatement has 8,100 signatures.

After his confrontation with the student protesters, Mr. Strauss was the subject of complaints filed by more than a dozen students and faculty. The economist, who has tenure and is therefore very difficult to fire, was placed on administrative leave and suspended from teaching his two classes. Shortly thereafter, he was permitted to teach his doctorate classes remotely, followed by his undergraduate classes on November 13. Yet, by November 14, the university had taken the professor off administrative leave, according to the student news outlet, but continued to banish him from campus. 

In a statement to the Sun, Mr. Strauss said that he is “not allowed on campus” but is “teaching remotely.”

In an interview with Annenberg Media, the economics professor defended his views and reiterated that his comments were referring exclusively to Hamas and not to Palestinains in general. “Every one of them, of course, referred to Hamas,” Mr. Strauss stated. “Then that later was changed to, in the video that was released publicly that was heavily doctored, to Palestinians should be murdered. And that’s not what I said at all.”

“The video that was put out there by the pro-Palestinian students was doctored and claimed I said things that I never meant,” Mr. Strauss said. “I’ve asked the administration and the provost’s office to make a statement to that effect.”

On Tuesday, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression released a statement condemning the university’s treatment of the professor as illegal. The foundation stated on X: “While some may find [Dr. Strauss’s] expression offensive, it is entirely protected by the university’s commitments. Since USC is legally and morally bound to uphold its promises to its faculty, USC may not investigate or punish the professor for his speech.”

The foundation pointed to USC’s handbook for professors that states that they “should be free from institutional censorship or discipline.”

In a statement to the Sun, a Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression spokesman, Alex Griswold, said that while regulations, including the California statute known as Leonard’s Law, extend “free speech protections to students at private, non-religious colleges and universities in the state … it does not apply to faculty of the same institutions.” That being said, Mr. Griswold added, “USC is legally and morally obligated to protect faculty speech based on its own express commitments to faculty free expression, which mirror the protections of the First Amendment.”

According to his faculty profile, “John Strauss is a recognized specialist in the fields of development economics and the economics of the household. Strauss is Editor in Chief of the scientific journal, Economic Development and Cultural Change and was co-editor of the Handbook of Development Economics.”