*The following transcript has been edited from the original audio*
A USC professor was put on leave following comments he made at a peaceful demonstration mourning Palestinians killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
Here are his comments, from unedited video taken Thursday at Tommy Trojan and obtained by Annenberg Media.
Protestor 1: “Don’t interact with him.”
Professor John Strauss: “People are ignorant, really ignorant.
Protestor 2: “Professor Strauss, I believe?”
Professor Strauss: “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are.”
Protestor 2: “I caught that on video. Thank you!”
The professor spoke to Annenberg Media today to defend him comments -- which he said were in reference to Hamas, not all Palestinians.
Professor Strauss: Most of the people were seated down on a stone bench by Tommy Trojan. And one of them, a woman, I don’t know who yelled out, Shame on you, Professor Strauss. Shame on you. And I immediately yelled back, No, shame on you. You were ignorant about Hamas. Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. They should all die. Every one of them”
The economics professor expressed why he felt compelled to give his comment on the situation. Strauss explains the backlash he has faced following the public release of his statements.
Professor Strauss: “The Associate Dean of the college phoned me to tell me that the provost had put me on administrative leave with full pay for the rest of the semester. And that I would be allowed to teach on Zoom my Ph.D. class, but not my undergraduate class.”
One eyewitness, granted anonymity for fear of her personal safety, said she felt scared and threatened by Strauss’ comments.
Eyewitness: “To be a student isolated on this campus and not have a space to mourn and to grieve and to be with people who can support. I think it was important for us to provide that. An older man had walked through the crowd of people and he yelled Israel forever and proceeded to walk upon the names of the Palestinian students who were killed and then circled back and stopped in front of a bunch of Muslim women and yelled, ‘Israel forever Hamas gone.’ In response to that student speaking and saying, we’re here to pay respects. He then says everyone should be killed and I hope they all are. And so he had to intent was very clear to all of us there.”
Witnesses said that at the beginning of the event, Strauss stepped on the list of names on the ground of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli strikes. He denied doing so purposefully.
Strauss: “I apparently started to step on a few but not intentionally when a person yelled, ‘Shame on you, Professor Strauss.’ So when I moved towards that person and I must have stepped on a sign or two.”
USC on Friday offered a brief statement on the incident.
“We are aware of a social media post showing a faculty member engaging with demonstrators on our campus; we are looking into this,” the statement read. “We encourage everyone in the USC community to respect others’ views/act with civility towards each other.”
The campus climate has been tense for more than a month now and this incident has only deepened divisions.
Universities in recent weeks have been the forefront of heated discussions about the conflict in the Middle East--and USC is no exception.
From Annenberg Media, I’m Zifei Zhang.