Prof. Russell Rickford, a history lecturer at New York's Cornell University was back to teaching after he was placed on leave following his praise for the Hamas massacre on October 7.
His remarks calling the atrocities committed by Hamas, "exhilarating," were during an anti-Israel rally just weeks after the murderous attack that killed over 1,500 people including babies, entire families and music festival-goers. Cornell imposed no disciplinary steps before reinstating him to his teaching post.
"What has Hamas done, Hamas has shifted the balance of power. Hamas has punctured the illusion of invincibility, that's what they have done. You don't have to be a Hamas supporter to recognize that," Rickford said at the rally. "Hamas has changed the term of debate. The Israeli officials are right, nothing will be the same again. Hamas has challenged the monopoly of violence," he said.
"In those first few hours, even as horrific acts were being carried out, many of which we would not learn about until later. There are many Gazans of goodwill, many Palestinian conscience, who abhor violence, as do you, as do I, who abhor the targeting of civilians, as do you, as do I, who were able to breathe. They were able to breathe for the first time in years. It was exhilarating! It was energizing!"
He then went on to say: "If they weren't exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence, by the shifting of the balance of power, they would not be human. I was exhilarated!"
His speech was shared on social media and led to public outrage and demonstrations by students and Jewish organizations, who demanded his immediate dismissal. He later apologized for his words and announced his voluntary leave until the end of the school year. But now, he was back to Cornell for his regularly scheduled classes.
Representatives from the Jewish community, including Mark Treyger, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), said it was impossible for someone who praised one of the most murderous attacks on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, to continue teaching students on campus. He said that Rickford has no place in the classroom, period.
Cornell University pushed back on the criticism and maintained that the lecturer's words do not justify disciplinary measures and that they were an expression of free speech.