A professor who said he was ‘with’ Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad days after the bloody October 7 invasion on Israel landed a role at the prestigious Columbia University just a few months later, raising serious concerns of antisemitism on campus.
Professor Mohamed Abdou was hired by the elite Columbia University as the Arcapita Visiting Professor in Modern Arab Studies, beginning his role on January 16.
The university’s Middle East Institute describes him as a ‘Muslim anarchist interdisciplinary activist-scholar of Indigenous, Black, critical race, and Islamic studies, as well as gender, sexuality, abolition, and decolonization with extensive fieldwork experience.’
But the university failed to disclose his support for terror groups Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, which he expressed at least twice in the three months between October 7 and his hiring.
On January 5, less than two weeks before he began working for Columbia, he again declared in an interview with Revolutionary Left Radio his support for Hamas and ‘the resistance’ against Israel and the West.
He added that a ‘dedicate few’ of Hamas, responsible for the deaths of around 1,200 Israelis on October 7, managed to defeat a ‘larger enemy’ in ‘stealth mode’ that day.
Shockingly, he even went as far as to say he supported other terror groups in the region just four days after October 7, and three months before joined the university.
In a public Facebook post on October 11, he wrote: ‘I’m with the muqawamah (the resistance) be it Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad but up to a point - given ultimate differences over our ethical political commitments; that’s the difference between a strategy and tactic too.’
Abdou has since been fired, Columbia’s president Minouche Shafik revealed last week, telling a congressional hearing that he would never be allowed to work at the university ever again.
Shafik, who has headed the 269-year-old university since July 2023, told Congress she shared Stefanik’s ‘repugnance’ over Abdou’s comments, adding that he had been terminated.
‘He is grading his students’ papers and will never teach at Columbia again,’ she said.
MailOnline has contacted Columbia University and Mohamed Abdou for comment.
Abdou isn’t the only Columbia professor to be accused of supporting Hamas. Shafik was also grilled over Columbia’s handling of Joseph Massad, a professor of modern Arab politics, accused of calling the Oct. 7 attacks ‘awesome,’ ‘astonishing,’ ‘astounding’ and ‘incredible.’
Shafik said Massad had been reprimanded and removed as chair of an academic review committee.
Massad is a tenured professor, which generally brings added protection against firing, including for expressing controversial opinions. When asked if Massad could lose his job, Shafik wouldn’t give a clear answer.
‘There are some very complex issues around tenure,’ she said.
In a comment to the Associated Press, Massad denied being reprimanded. He said members of Congress distorted his comments, and he disputed praising the killing of 1,200 Jews. Massad said he was not removed as chair of the academic review committee and that his term ends in the coming weeks.
Columbia professor Marcel Agüeros, a leader at the college’s chapter of the American Association of University presidents, expressed dismay at how much Shafik conceded to Republicans on faculty discipline.
‘The university has processes, and those processes are intended to protect academic freedom,’ he said. ‘Faculty whose speech is not necessarily what I would say myself, they have a right to that speech.’
Shafik said Massad had been reprimanded and removed as chair of an academic review committee.
Massad is a tenured professor, which generally brings added protection against firing, including for expressing controversial opinions. When asked if Massad could lose his job, Shafik wouldn’t give a clear answer.
‘There are some very complex issues around tenure,’ she said.
In a comment to the Associated Press, Massad denied being reprimanded. He said members of Congress distorted his comments, and he disputed praising the killing of 1,200 Jews. Massad said he was not removed as chair of the academic review committee and that his term ends in the coming weeks.
Columbia professor Marcel Agüeros, a leader at the college’s chapter of the American Association of University presidents, expressed dismay at how much Shafik conceded to Republicans on faculty discipline.
‘The university has processes, and those processes are intended to protect academic freedom,’ he said. ‘Faculty whose speech is not necessarily what I would say myself, they have a right to that speech.’
‘I promise you, from the messages I’m hearing from students, they are getting the message that violations will have consequences,’ she said.
Her vision clashes with one presented by Republicans in Congress and some Jewish students who say antisemitism goes unchecked at Columbia, citing a Jewish student who was beaten on campus while putting up posters of Israeli hostages, and protesters who chanted phrases that some consider a call for the genocide of Jews.
‘The problem is, action on campus doesn’t match your rhetoric today,’ said Rep. Aaron Bean, a Florida Republican. ‘Your students, their message is quite different. Their message is one of fear.’
Some Columbia students who support Palestinians were frustrated they were not allowed into the hearing.
‘This is not an honest conversation that we are having today in this committee,’ said Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota who is Muslim, after speaking with the students.
