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Anti-Zionist Yale Professor Who Legitimized Hamas Massacre Should Be Removed From Classroom, Nonprofit Says
Palestinian terrorists ride an Israeli military vehicle that was seized by gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot
A leading nonprofit that promotes education about Israel has implored Yale University President Peter Salovey to remove from the classroom and investigate a professor who praised Hamas’ atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
“We urge you to investigate this matter fully, remove Professor Grewal from the classroom pending the outcome of the investigation, and, if any violations of university values or policy are found, to impose immediate consequences,” StandWithUs said in a letter sent to Salovey on Tuesday, explaining that such a step would protect Jewish and Israeli students from academic bias.
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, Zareena Grewal — an associate professor of American Studies, Ethnicity, Race & Migration, and Religious Studies at Yale who describes herself as a “radical Muslim” — called Israel “murderous” and “genocidal” on the day of the Hamas massacre.
“Prayers for Palestinians. Israeli [sic] is a murderous, genocidal settler state and Palestinians have every right to resist through armed struggle, solidarity #FreePalestine,” Grewal tweeted on Oct. 7, when Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas murdered 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted 240 others to Gaza as hostages.
The professor seemed to justify the onslaught, arguing that “settlers are not civilians” and later posting, “No government on earth is as genocidal as this settler colonial state,” referring to Israel.
Grewal continued to defend and seemingly delight in Hamas’ violence, saying at one point: “It’s been such an extraordinary day!” In the ensuing days, she compared Israel’s military response to the Hamas atrocities to the Holocaust.
The disturbing tweets prompted over 55,000 people, including Yale affiliates, to sign a petition demanding that she be fired.
In Tuesday’s letter, StandWithUs (SWU) criticized Yale University’s response to Grewal’s tweets, which the school only commented on in a statement that affirmed its commitment to free speech and noted that Grewal had spoken for herself on her “personal” social media accounts.
“This entirely misses the point, and more importantly, attempts to abdicate Yale of responsibility,” the letter continued, arguing that declining to punish hateful rhetoric aimed at Jews while forcefully doing so when other minority groups are targeted constitutes a civil rights violation. “Instead of pretending that principles of free speech and academic freedom require it to shield Professor Grewal from accountability, Yale, as a private institution, can and should take action here to address the abhorrent and antisemitic rhetoric of this professor.”
The group also suggested that Grewal is benefiting from a left-wing bias, referencing how in 2018, Yale Law School professor Amy Chua was subjected to investigations and rumor-mongering after she expressed approval of then-US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanuagh in a Wall Street Journal column.
“Your administration’s failure to treat this matter with the appropriate level of seriousness unfortunately speaks volumes about Yale’s lack of concern for the Jewish and Israeli members of its campus community,” the letter concluded. “We urge you to send a clear message to your community that you protect your Jewish and Israeli students, that there is no place for discrimination or bigotry at Yale, and that all members of your community are valued and protected equally. The best way to start is through action and enforcement of your own policies and applicable legal provisions.”
SWU’s missive to Salovey comes amid a surge in antisemitism on college campuses across the West. Universities have been hubs of such antisemitism since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, with students and faculty both demonizing Israel and rationalizing the Palestinian terror group’s onslaught. Incidents of harassment and even violence against Jewish students have also increased. As a result, Jewish students have expressed feeling unsafe and unprotected on campuses.
Grewal is not the first faculty member employed by an elite American university to make public statements that have drawn accusations of antisemitism, and responses to such utterances have varied.
In October, Cornell University President Martha Pollack condemned history professor Russell Rickford for saying during a rally held on campus that Hamas’ violence on Oct. 7 “exhilarated” him, describing his remarks as “reprehensible” and “showing no regard whatsoever for humanity.” Rickford later requested and was granted a leave of absence.
Columbia University, however, issued no statement nor took any action after professor Joseph Massad, said in a column published in Electronic Intifada that Hamas’ invasion was “awesome” and that the terrorists who para-glided into a music festival in Israel to rape and murder the young people there were “the air force of the Palestinian resistance.” Neither did the University of California, Berkeley after Gender and Women Studies Department lecturer Brooke Lober falsely claimed during a city council meeting in Oakland, California that Israel fabricated accounts of Hamas’ atrocities and that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), not Hamas, murdered Israeli civilians.
“The notion that this was a massacre of Jews is a fabricated narrative,” Lober said. “Many of those killed on Oct. 7, including children, were killed by the IDF.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Anti-Zionist Yale Professor Who Legitimized Hamas Massacre Should Be Removed From Classroom, Nonprofit Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Vows to Press on with Offensive
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, August 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Israeli planes and tanks pounded the eastern and northern outskirts of Gaza City overnight Saturday to Sunday, destroying buildings and homes, residents said, as Israeli leaders vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Witnesses reported the sound of explosions non-stop overnight in the areas of Zeitoun and Shejaia, while tanks shelled houses and roads in the nearby Sabra neighborhood and several buildings were blown up in the northern town of Jabalia.
Fire lit the skies from the direction of the explosions, causing panic, prompting some families to stream out of the city. Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its forces have returned to combat in the Jabalia area in recent days, to dismantle militant tunnels and strengthen control of the area.
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
Israel approved a plan this month to seize control of Gaza City, describing it as the last bastion of Hamas. It is not expected to begin for a few weeks, leaving room for mediators Egypt and Qatar to try and resume ceasefire talks.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday vowed to press on with the offensive on the city where famine has been declared, which has raised alarm abroad and objections at home. Katz has said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas agrees to end the war on Israel’s terms and release all hostages.
Hamas said in a statement on Sunday that Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City showed it wasn’t serious about a ceasefire.
It said a ceasefire agreement was “the only way to return the hostages,” holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for their lives.
The proposal on the table calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages held in Gaza and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 long-serving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Once a temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining hostages.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said that Israel would immediately resume negotiations for the release of all 50 hostages – of whom Israel believes around 20 are still living – and an end to the nearly two-year-old war but on terms acceptable to Israel.
‘HUNGRY AND AFRAID’
Around half of the enclave’s two million people currently live in Gaza City. A few thousand have already left, carrying their belongings on vehicles and rickshaws.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40, via a chat app. “No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Others said they will not leave, no matter what.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation, even if they did try to leave. “We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money.”
A global hunger monitor said on Friday that Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread. Israel has rejected the assessment and says it ignores steps it has taken since late July to increase aid.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
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Iran Signals Willingness to Scale Back Uranium Enrichment to Ease Tensions
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iran may be prepared to significantly reduce its uranium enrichment levels in a bid to stave off renewed UN sanctions and limit the risk of further strikes by Israel and the United States, according to a report published Sunday in The Telegraph.
Citing Iranian sources, the paper said Tehran is considering lowering enrichment from 60% to 20%.
The move is reportedly being championed by Ali Larijani, the newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who is holding talks with regime leaders.
“Larijani is trying to convince the system to reduce the level of enrichment in order to avoid further war,” a senior Iranian official told the paper.
The proposal, however, faces stiff resistance from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has long opposed concessions on the nuclear program. Still, the report suggests Iran’s leadership may be open to greater flexibility, including the possibility of reviving engagement with Western powers.
Last month, i24NEWS reported exclusively that a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to travel to Iran. The team of technical experts would seek to resume monitoring of nuclear sites, inspections that have been heavily restricted in recent years.
The development comes amid mounting regional tensions and could represent a critical turning point in the long-running nuclear standoff.
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Major Brush Fire Erupts Near Jerusalem, Evacuations Underway
A view of the new Tel Aviv-Jerusalem fast train seen over the HaArazim Valley (“Valley of Cedars”) just outside of Jerusalem, Sept. 25, 2018. Photo: Yossi Zamir/Flash90.
i24 News – A large brush fire broke out Sunday in the Cedars Valley area, near Route 1 and the Motza interchange, prompting an emergency response from Jerusalem district fire services. Several water-bombing planes were dispatched, and authorities have declared a “fire emergency.”
As a precaution, residents of Mevaseret Zion are being evacuated. Access to the town from Route 1 has already been blocked, and officials are weighing a full closure of the major highway.
Fire crews from the Ha’uma station are on site working to contain the flames, while motorists in the area are urged to heed traffic updates and follow instructions from emergency services.
Eight firefighting aircraft are currently operating above the blaze in support of ground teams. The fire comes amid one of the hottest, driest summers on record, with conditions fueling a series of destructive wildfires across the country.
Officials warn the situation remains critical, as the blaze threatens a vital transportation corridor leading into Jerusalem.