Pennsylvania college professor says she was fired after series of anti-Israel comments, attempting to justify terrorism

A professor at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania recently lost her job following a series of anti-Israel comments, including an article justifying radical Islamic terrorism. 

Maura Finkelstein said she was fired in May for sharing a statement calling supporters of Israel “genocide loving fascists,” according to an article from The Intercept. 

Finkelstein shared the statement on her Instagram in January. The post quoted an anti-Israeli activist, Remi Kanazi, who urged followers to “[s]hame [Zionists]. Do not welcome them in your spaces. Do not make them feel comfortable. Why should those genocide loving fascists be treated any different than any other flat out racist. Don’t normalize Zionism. Don’t normalize Zionists taking up space.” 

Finkelstein was also mentioned by name in a Department of Education Title VI complaint against Muhlenberg. There are more than 100 such investigations open against colleges over anti-Semitism. The Intercept notes that Campus Reform’s Editor-in-Chief Zachary Marschall started more than 10 percent of those complaints with the Department of Education. 

In December, Finkelstein wrote an article titled “Reframing Hamas” in which she claimed that Israel only designates Hamas as a terrorist organization so that “Hamas and its members can easily be written off as monstrous savages, intent only on destroying Israel, all Jews, and everyone caught in their wake.” She asserted that “framing” Hamas as a terrorist group is motivated by “deep racist Islamophobia.”

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The 1988 Hamas Covenant calls for the destruction of Israel, stating: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” Article Six of the covenant states: “[Hamas] is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.”

Finkelstein contended that Israel itself is a “terrorist organization,” and claimed that “Israel’s indiscriminate attacks were likely responsible for a majority of [the] casualties” on Oct. 7. 

She concluded that “it’s unclear how much of the violence on October 7th and in its aftermath was actually carried out by Hamas.”

An online petition with more than 8,000 signers was started on Oct. 29, calling for Finkelstein’s removal. The petition blamed Finkelstein for “Glorifying Hamas, the Terrorists, and Vilifying Israel,” “Classroom Bias, Hate Speech, and Targeted Aggression to Jewish Students,” and “Cyberbullying students with her partner.”

The petition shared several social media posts that appear to have been made by the former Muhlenberg professor, including one in which she wrote: “ISRAEL DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITS OCCUPATION” shortly after Oct. 7, and another in which she condemned students supporting Israel financially as “raising money for genocide.” 

In a post sharing The Intercept article about her firing, Finkelstein wrote: “As Israel & the US continue genocide in Palestine/escalate ethnic cleansing in Lebanon, we must continue to fearlessly fight for liberation & unapologetically condemn & work to dismantle Zionism & all forms of fascism.”

1/ As Israel & the US continue genocide in Palestine/escalate ethnic cleansing in Lebanon, we must continue to fearlessly fight for liberation & unapologetically condemn & work to dismantle Zionism & all forms of fascismhttps://t.co/3UlVkEXcAL

— Maura Finkelstein (@Dr_mauraf) September 26, 2024

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“A reminder: Israel has been carrying out genocide w/US backing- against Palestinians in Gaza & the West Bank for a year now. It’s conservative to say 300,000 Palestinians have been murdered (the #s may be much higher) 90% of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced,” she continued.

In a statement to Inside Higher Ed, Finkelstein asserted that she had been fired for “criticizing a foreign government” and “calling attention to a genocide.”

“This isn’t about student safety, this is about silencing dissent. We are witnessing a new McCarthyism and we should all be terrified of its implications,” she alleged. 

Finkelstein has appealed Muhlenberg’s decision to terminate her. In the meantime, she will continue to get paid by the school and receive benefits, despite not working. 

Campus Reform has contacted Muhlenberg College and Maura Finkelstein for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.