Israeli prof leaves Columbia over school appointing anti-Semitic prof to teach Zionism course
‘If a professor said the U.S. shouldn’t exist, would you let them teach American history?’ he wrote.
Joseph Massad, the instructor of the Zionism course, has previously praised the Oct. 7 massacre and made numerous other controversial remarks.
Avi Friedman, an Israeli-American professor at Columbia University in New York, resigned over the Ivy League school’s controversial decision to appoint a reportedly anti-Semitic professor to teach a course on Zionism.
Friedman cited as his reason the fact that Columbia appointed anti-Israel professor Joseph Massad to lead a course about Zionism, Ynet reported.
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“This wasn’t just Columbia reacting to events; this was an active decision to promote an anti-Zionist narrative,” Friedman said, adding: “If a professor said the U.S. shouldn’t exist, would you let them teach American history?” as Ynet reported.
Massad has caused repeated controversies for Columbia, most infamously by publishing an article the day after Oct. 7, praising Hamas’s massacre and seemingly rejoicing in the terror felt by Jewish civilians.
Friedman is not the first professor at the university to resign after Massad’s appointment to preside over the class. In December of 2024, Professor Lawrence Rosenblatt of Columbia’s School of Public and International Affairs resigned in protest.
Massad’s appointment to lead the course led to a petition from the students calling on Columbia to “immediately remove him.”
[RELATED: UC Berkeley hosted event denying Hamas terrorists’ sexual assault of Israeli women]
Columbia previously justified its decision to keep Massad, writing that his class “is not a required course” but condemning his comments following the Oct. 7 massacre.
Friedman’s resignation came shortly before President Donald Trump’s administration froze $400 million in federal funds to Columbia over what it claimed was the school’s failure to protect Jewish students against anti-Semitism.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
