Joseph Massad, Columbia University website Photo: Columbia University
Columbia University professor Joseph Massad, who recently sparked outrage for his public support of Hamas attacks, will teach a course on Zionism. Massad, who has become famous for his controversial statements, will teach an undergraduate course that will cover “The History of the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah) in 19th-century Europe and the Development of Zionism.” The course also includes a “historical overview of the Zionist-Palestinian conflict”, The Jerusalem Post writed.
Massad received wide publicity after he published an article on the Electronic Intifada website in which he supported the temporary occupation of Israeli settlements by Palestinian forces, stating that it was “a fatal blow to any confidence that the Israeli colonists had in their military forces”. His comments were perceived as an apology for violence.
The reaction to the news was immediate. US Congressman Richie Torres wrote on his X/Twitter page: “What’s next in Colombia? Is David Duke going to teach a course on anti-risk?” He also asked the question: “Why should American taxpayers fund ideological indoctrination that glorifies the mass murder, mutilation, rape, and kidnapping of Jews and Israelis?”
Joseph Massad is known for his extreme views on Zionism. In his 2003 work, The Ends of Zionism, Racism and the Palestinian Struggle, he stated that Zionism is a “colonial movement shaped in ideology and practice by a religious and racial epistemology”. He also claimed that Zionism used “the persecution of Jews, including the Holocaust, to justify its crimes”.
