Jewish professor is booted from California campus after pro-Palestine students released EDITED video of him condemning Hamas as murderers and calling it hate speech

A University of Southern California economics professor has been banned from campus after protesters shared edited images condemning Hamas.

John Strauss, who is Jewish, will “teach his two classes remotely for the remainder of the semester,” USC told The College Fix after a video circulated of him talking to protesters at a pro-Palestinian march in November.

Longer film materialThe professor was heard saying: ‘People are ignorant… Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Everyone should be killed, and I hope they all do.”

But Instagram accounts claiming to represent USC students and graduates then shared a shorter version version with only the sentence: ‘Everyone should be killed, and I hope they all do’.

The line was shared on change.org petitioncalling for his “termination” and claiming his comments “are not only offensive, but also promote and incite violence.”

Strauss has since claimed that his comments were misrepresented. “Each one of them obviously referred to Hamas,” he told Annenberg Media, a USC-focused news outlet. ‘That was later changed to, in the publicly released video which was heavily manipulated, to mean Palestinians should be killed. And that’s not what I said at all.’

Annenberg Media reported that Strauss was later placed on administrative leave with full pay, allowing him to continue teaching his PhD and undergraduate classes only via Zoom. The report did not make it clear exactly what led to Strauss being placed on leave.

Professor John Strauss of USC was told after the incident that he could teach classes via Zoom

Strauss was seen in the video speaking to pro-Palestinian supporters at a march earlier this month.

Students had organized a temporary installation with the names of Palestinian civilians killed during Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which follows Hamas’ Oct. 7 raid on Israel that killed some 1,200 civilians.

Strauss said he was provoked by what he said were anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiments he heard while walking to class.

“I’m Jewish, I’m very pro-Israel,” he told USC Annenberg Media. “And so I shouted, ‘Israel forever.’ Hamas are murderers.’

A petition on change.org, set up by USC Trojans, denounced the speaker for “his racist, xenophobic behavior, including name-stepping during a memorial service at USC for more than 10,000 innocent civilians who lost their lives in Palestine.”

Strauss claims it was listed accidentally and that he was just trying to get closer to the protesters to talk to them.

In a now-edited post published on Instagram and dated November 11, @uscgraduatesforpalestine wrote: “Yesterday during the event, a USC professor from the Department of Economics came to the event to honor the more than 10,000 martyrs who have been murdered and in their name . ‘

The post claimed Strauss said, “People are ignorant, truly ignorant. *inaudible* Hamas are terrorists *invisible mumbling*’

A USC student responded, “It’s just to pay respects to those who were killed.”

To which Strauss said: ‘Hamas are murders, that’s all they are.’

One student again emphasized that the march was to show respect for civilians involved in the conflict, while Strauss continued: “Everyone should be killed, and I hope they all do.”

Shocked, students said they caught the interaction on camera as Strauss walked away.

USC Trojans said after the incident: ‘As members of the University of Southern California (USC) community, we are deeply disturbed and shocked by the actions and comments of the tenured professor of economics, who was also director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Economics . ..’

“We would be ashamed to associate with an esteemed educational institution like USC if USC leadership is unable to condemn and immediately terminate Professor John Strauss,” they continued.

The petition has collected 6,653 signatures at the time of writing.

Other accounts that referenced the university on Instagram shared messages calling on students to report the professor.

The demonstrators said the protest was to respect fallen civilians involved in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Strauss said he was provoked by anti-Semitic comments

In a post on November 11, Instagram account @uscscale wrote: ‘Y’all want to report this professor, the more complaints USC has in their database the more likely it is to be reviewed!

‘Report anonymously to protect your identity… I don’t know how effective this will be. But at least we have proof that it was sent to the university and they are aware of the violence happening on campus through their OWN institution.”

USC later issued a statement claiming they were “aware of a social media post that indicated a faculty member engaged in conversations with protesters on our campus (and) are investigating.”

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 14,000 Gazans have been killed, about 40 percent of them children, mainly in continued Israeli bombardments.

More than 1,200 Israelis have been killed, mainly during Hamas’s first attack on October 7, which took some 240 hostages back to Gaza.

DailyMail.com contacted the University of Southern California for comment.