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Cornell professor apologizes for saying he was ‘exhilarated’ by Hamas attack, as campus Israel battles continue
(JTA) – A Cornell University professor has apologized after saying at a rally that he was “exhilarated” by Hamas’ terror attack on Israel, in the latest example of American university faculty caught up in heated rhetoric over Israel and Gaza on college campuses.
The apology by Russell Rickford, a history professor, was published the same day as another apology from a different university professor in Chicago over her own anti-Israel social media comments.
Both appear to have been prompted by condemnations from their respective university presidents, which came as donors have pulled support from other elite universities over their perceived failure to sufficiently or promptly condemn the attacks.
During the two weeks since the massacre, several other professors have made comments perceived as anti-Israel or pro-Hamas, and some have faced public pressure campaigns as a result. Students at Harvard, New York University and Columbia University who signed onto anti-Israel statements in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks have also had job offers rescinded and in some cases, seen their names spread as part of doxxing campaigns led by pro-Israel groups.
“I apologize for the horrible choice of words that I used in a portion of a speech that was intended to stress grassroots African American, Jewish and Palestinian traditions of resistance to oppression,” Rickford wrote in a statement published in the campus newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. “I recognize that some of the language I used was reprehensible and did not reflect my values.”
Rickford made his initial comments during an Oct. 15 pro-Palestinian rally on the Ithaca, New York, campus. Standing in front of banners arguing that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, he announced, “Hamas has challenged the monopoly of violence” and “shifted the balance of power,” in reference to the terror group’s Oct. 7 attacks that killed 1,400 Israelis, most of them civilians, wounded thousands and took some 200 hostages. “It was exhilarating. It was energizing.”
Claiming that even “Palestinians of conscience” were “able to breathe for the first time in years,” Rickford continued, “And if they weren’t exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence, by this shifting of the balance of power, then they would not be human. I was exhilarated.”
Initially Rickford had defended his remarks from Jewish and Israeli students’ criticism, saying he was referring to “those first few hours” when the Hamas militants first breached the Gaza barrier and before the full scope of their attacks on Israelis had become known.
“In that context, this act of defiance, of boring across the wall, was a significant symbol,” he told the Daily Sun. “It really signaled that the Palestinian will to resist had not been broken. In subsequent days, we learned of some of the horrifying realities.”
But opposition was also mounting at the highest levels of Cornell’s administration. The university’s president and board of trustees harshly condemned Rickford’s comments in a pair of statements.
“This is a reprehensible comment that demonstrates no regard whatsoever for humanity,” president Martha Pollack and board chair Kraig Kayser said in a statement Tuesday that named Rickford specifically and hinted that the administration might look into disciplining him. That followed an earlier statement from Pollack that did not name Rickford but stated, “I am sickened by statements glorifying the evilness of Hamas terrorism. Any members of our community who have made such statements do not speak for Cornell; in fact, they speak in direct opposition to all we stand for at Cornell.”
Rickford’s apology did not specify what part of his speech he was apologizing for. According to the Daily Sun, the professor has a history of pro-Palestinian activism, including at rallies protesting racism and other issues.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Claudia Tenney both said Friday that they believed Cornell should fire Rickford. “As a person of authority at an educational institution, to celebrate murder, rape and abducting children and slaughtering children, I think he should be fired,” Gillibrand told CNY Central. Tenney made the request in a letter to Pollack that she also released publicly.
On the same day that Rickford apologized, Mika Tosca, a climate scientist and professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, also apologized for an Instagram post that contained harsh anti-Israel sentiments.
“Israelis are pigs. Savages. Very very bad people. Irredeemable excrement,” Tosca had written Tuesday, nine days after the massacre and in the midst of Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza, according to a screenshot shared by the New York Post. “The propaganda has been downright evil. After the past week, if your eyes aren’t open to the crimes against humanity that Israel is committing and has committed for decades, and will continue to commit, then I suggest you open them.” She concluded, “May they all rot in hell.”
Her post, like Rickford’s, prompted a denunciation from her employer. “One member of our community expressed views on their personal social media account—views that are not reflective of the School or the values we as a community share—causing distress among those both within and beyond our campus,” SAIC president Elissa Tenny wrote in a statement Wednesday. “The School of the Art Institute of Chicago rejects such hateful views, and I want to clarify our values as an educational community.”
In a lengthy apology posted to Instagram that same day, Tosca said she was “deeply sorry for writing what I wrote.”
“I am especially sorry to Israeli people that I broadly placed at fault for the war,” she continued. “You did not — and do not — deserve that, and I was wrong to post what I posted; I know that my words perpetuated harmful stereotypes.”
Rickford and Tosca’s apologies come as university faculty around the country have posted inflammatory statements about Israel. Yale University American studies professor Zareen Grewal tweeted on the day of Hamas’ attacks that “Israel is a murderous, genocidal settler state and Palestinians have every right to resist through armed struggle, solidarity.” An online petition started by the family of a Jewish Yale student to pressure the university to remove her has racked up more than 53,000 signatures, but the university has not commented on her statements.
Another American studies professor, Jemma Decristo at the University of California, Davis, appeared to threaten “Zionist journalists” on social media. Decristo reportedly posted Oct. 10 on X, “one group of ppl we have easy access to in the US is all these zionist journalists who spread propaganda and misinformation,” adding, “they have houses, addresses, kids in school” and concluding with machete, ax and bloodrop emojis. “They can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more,” she wrote.
Decristo has made her social media accounts private since screenshots of the post began to spread on Thursday. UC Davis has yet to respond to the post, although Decristo’s staff page was no longer visible Thursday. The school’s president had posted a statement supporting “our Jewish and Muslim communities” on the same day as Decristo’s post.
And Columbia University is fiercely divided over how to respond to a tenured Middle East studies professor, Joseph Massad, who penned a piece for the anti-Zionist website Electronic Intifada the day after the Hamas attacks describing them as “innovative,” a “major achievement,” and a source of “jubilation and awe.” A student-led petition to remove Massad had reportedly amassed 47,000 signatures this week, although it was not visible as of Thursday; in response, several hundred students, faculty, alumni and “affiliates” of the university signed an open letter backing Massad’s “academic freedom.”
Columbia was also one of a handful of universities where student organizations signed letters blaming Israel for the Hamas attacks, and last week the university was the site of an assault on an Israeli student.
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Norway to Donate Proceeds From Israel Soccer Match to Doctors Without Borders in Gaza
Alexander Sørloth of Norway scores the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier football match between Israel and Norway on March 25, 2025, in Debrecen. Photo: Photo: VEGARD GRØTT/Bildbyran/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The governing body of soccer in Norway announced on Monday that profits from an upcoming Norway-Israel qualifying match for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will go to the international NGO Doctors Without Borders to support humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.
The Norwegian Football Federation, also known as the Norges Fotballforbund (NFF), made the announcement ahead of the sold-out game on Oct. 11 scheduled to take place in Oslo. Roughly 23,000 tickets were sold for the game at Ullevaal Stadium. The organization first announced in mid-August that it would donate profits from ticket sales for the match to a humanitarian cause that helps Palestinians in Gaza, but its selection of Doctors Without Borders was not publicized until Monday in a statement on NFF’s website.
“The money will be earmarked for the organization’s emergency relief work on the ground in Gaza and the surrounding areas affected by the war,” the NFF said. One of Norway’s largest investment companies had pledged to donate an additional 3 million Norwegian kroner – which is almost $307,000 – to Doctors Without Borders, according to the federation. The NFF did not disclose the name of the company but said both the NFF and Doctors Without Borders know the identity of the donor.
NFF President Lise Klaveness said that as a member of FIFA and the UEFA, the Norwegian governing body of soccer “has to deal with Israel participating in their competitions.”
“At the same time, we cannot and will not be indifferent to the humanitarian suffering that is taking place in the region, especially the disproportionate attacks against civilians in Gaza,” she added. “We want to give the profits to an organization that saves lives in the Gaza Strip every day and that contributes with active emergency aid on the ground, and that is what Doctors Without Borders does.”
The NFF previously shared that extra security measures will be taken at the match on Oct. 11, including limited capacity, to ensure the safety of everyone in attendance.
Also on Monday, Gabriele Gravina, president of the Italian Football Federation, said in an interview with national public radio that his organization “will coordinate with UEFA to implement some humanitarian initiatives” surrounding Italy’s game against Israel on Oct. 14. The Italians will host Israel in Udine.
Klaveness and Gravina are both part of the UEFA’s 20-person executive committee, which also includes Israel Football Association President Moshe Zuares.
When the NFF announced last month that it will donate profits from the Norway-Israel match on Oct. 11 to a humanitarian cause, Zuares’s organization urged its Norwegian counterpart to “make sure the money is not transferred to terrorist organization.” The Israel Football Association also said it “would be nice” if the Norwegian Football Association condemned the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We do not usually advise associations regarding the use of match revenue, even if it is obtained thanks to a match against our proud national team, but we will deviate from our custom this time,” the Israeli Football Association said in a statement. “It would be nice if some of the amount were directed to try to finding a condemnation by the Norwegian FA of the Oct. 7 massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli citizens and children, or action in favor of the release of 50 hostages – and please, make sure that the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting.”
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In Show of Support, Belgian PM Attends Concert of Israeli Conductor Disinvited From Music Festival
Lahav Shani, future chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, stands on stage after receiving the Golden Medal of Honor from the City of Munich. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa via Reuters Connect
Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever attended a concert by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra over the weekend in a sign of solidarity after a Belgian music festival rescinded its invitation to the orchestra because its future chief conductor is from Israel.
Organizers of the Flanders Festival Ghent canceled a scheduled performance by the Munich Philharmonic set for later this week due to concerns regarding Tel Aviv-born conductor Lahav Shani, and his “attitude to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.” Shani is the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and will take over as chief conductor of the Munich orchestra for the 2026/27 season.
The cancellation of the concert sparked widespread criticism and accusations of discrimination and antisemitism. The move was condemned by senior German and Belgian politicians, including Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter and the prime minister of the Belgian region of Flanders. De Wever, who also previously criticized the decision, wrote in a post on X that he traveled to the German city of Essen on Saturday to attend a performance by Shani and the orchestra, and to “strongly condemn” the decision.
“Let me be very clear: there will never, ever be any room for racism and antisemitism in this country. That is where I draw the line,” the prime minister wrote in a post on X, which included a picture of him shaking Shani’s hand.”I therefore strongly condemn the recent cancellation of the Münchner Philharmoniker by the Flanders Festival Ghent, solely on the basis of the origin of conductor Lahav Shani. I insisted on conveying this message to him personally and expressing my appreciation for his contribution to the power of music.”
After being booted from the Flanders Festival Ghent last week, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra was invited to perform on Monday at the Konzerthaus Berlin as part of the Berlin Music Festival. The short-notice invitation and guest performance was organized as a joint effort by the Berlin Philharmonic (also known as the Berliner Philharmoniker), festival organizers, and in cooperation with the Konzerthaus Berlin. Shani conducted the orchestra in a performance of Beethoven’s violin concerto and extracts from Richard Wagner’s opera “Tristan and Isolde.”
In a released statement, the board of the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation expressed “full solidarity” with Shani, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, and violinist Lisa Batiashvili, who was scheduled to perform alongside them at the Flanders Festival.
“Lahav Shani has been closely associated with our orchestra since his debut in Sept. 2020,” the board said. “During this time, we have come to know him as a thoughtful artist and a person who – especially with regard to the Middle East conflict – has repeatedly spoken out in favor of peace, dialogue, and reconciliation. Excluding an artist from a festival because of his nationality is wrong and contradicts our understanding of music and culture. We are convinced that, especially in these times, music should build bridges rather than deepen divisions.”
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Under US Pressure, Syria and Israel Inch Toward Security Deal
Members of Israeli security forces stand at the ceasefire line between the Golan Heights and Syria, July 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Under US pressure, Syria is accelerating talks with Israel for a security pact that Damascus hopes will reverse Israel‘s recent seizures of its land but that would fall far short of a full peace treaty, sources briefed on the talks said.
Washington is pushing for enough progress to be made by the time world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly at the end of this month to allow President Donald Trump to announce a breakthrough, four of the sources told Reuters.
Even a modest agreement would be a feat, the sources said, pointing to Israel‘s tough stance during months of talks and Syria‘s weakened position after sectarian bloodshed in its south inflamed calls for partition.
Reuters spoke to nine sources familiar with the discussions and with Israel‘s operations in southern Syria, including Syrian military and political officials, two intelligence sources, and an Israeli official.
They said Syria‘s proposal aims to secure the withdrawal of Israeli troops from territory seized in recent months, to reinstate a demilitarized buffer zone agreed in a 1974 truce, and to halt Israeli air strikes and ground incursions into Syria.
The sources said talks had not addressed the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized in a 1967 war. A Syrian source familiar with Damascus’s position said it would be left “for the future.”
The two countries have technically been at war since the creation of Israel in 1948, despite periodic armistices. Syria does not recognize the state of Israel.
After months of encroaching into the demilitarized zone, Israel abandoned the 1974 truce on Dec. 8, the day a rebel offensive ousted Syria‘s then-president Bashar al-Assad. It struck Syrian military assets and sent troops to within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of Damascus.
Israel has shown reluctance during the closed-door talks to relinquish those gains, the sources said.
“The US is pressuring Syria to accelerate a security deal – this is personal for Trump,” said an Israeli security source, who said the US leader wanted to present himself as the architect of a major success in Middle Eastern diplomacy.
But, the source said, “Israel is not offering much.”
The offices of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who has been leading the negotiations, did not respond to Reuters questions.
A State Department official said Washington “continues to support any efforts that will bring lasting stability and peace between Israel, Syria, and its neighbors.” The official did not answer questions on whether the US wanted to announce a breakthrough during the General Assembly.
TRUST DEFICIT AT TALKS
Israel has voiced hostility to Syria‘s Islamist-led government, pointing to President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s former jihadist links, and has lobbied Washington to keep the country weak and decentralized.
But the US has encouraged talks – keen to expand the countries that signed peace deals with Israel under the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first administration.
Exploratory contacts began in Abu Dhabi following Sharaa’s April visit to the Emirates, which have ties with Israel. The two sides then met in the Azerbaijani capital Baku in July.
Days later, discussions were plunged into disarray when Syrian troops deployed to the southwestern Sweida region to quell sectarian violence between Bedouin and Druze militias. Israel said the deployment violated its enforcement of a “demilitarized zone” and bombed the defense ministry in Damascus. Sharaa accused it of seeking pretexts to interfere in Syria‘s south.
A US-brokered ceasefire ended the violence and, a month later, bilateral negotiations resumed in Paris – marking the first time Syria publicly acknowledged holding direct talks with its longtime foe.
However, the atmosphere in the room was tense, with a lack of trust between the two sides, according to two Syrian sources and a Western diplomat.
Negotiators are following a phased process modeled on deals Israel reached with Egypt that paved the way for a landmark normalization of relations in 1980. That involved the return to Egypt of the Sinai peninsula, seized by Israel in the 1967 war.
Six sources briefed on the talks said Israel would be unwilling even in the longterm to return the Golan, which Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli in his first term.
Instead, Israel floated a proposal to the US special envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, that it could withdraw from southern Syria in return for Sharaa relinquishing the Golan, the Israeli official said.
“Our feelers via the Americans suggest this is a non-starter,” the official said. Netanyahu’s office, Dermer’s office, and the US State Department did not respond to questions on the swap proposal.
A Syrian official told Reuters that Sharaa understood that “any compromise on the Golan would mean the end of his rule” and had told Barrack the security pact must be anchored in the 1974 lines.
While Sharaa is willing to accelerate talks with Israel to please Washington, he remains wary, according to a Western intelligence officer, the Israeli official, and Syrian source.
He has told Barrack that conditions are not yet ripe for a broad peace agreement. “The basic elements of trust are simply not there,” said the Syrian official.
A senior US administration official told Reuters that Trump was clear when he met Sharaa in May in Riyadh that “he expected Syria to work towards peace and normalization with Israel and its neighbors.”
“The administration has actively supported this position since then,” the official said. “The president wants peace throughout the Middle East.”
NARROW PATH FOR SHARAA
Realities on the ground have limited the Syrian leader’s options.
On the one hand, Israel‘s incursions and support for the Druze have hardened Syrian public opinion against any deal, a factor weighing on Sharaa, officials say.
On the other, Israel‘s land grabs in Syria pose a threat to Damascus, making a de-escalatory pact all the more important for Sharaa.
A Syrian military officer based near the border with Israel, who asked not to be identified, said Syrian army patrols in the south avoid confronting Israeli troops, who regularly raid villages and go door-to-door collecting household data and searching for arms.
In response to Reuters questions, the Israeli military said its operations had discovered “numerous weapons,” thwarted smuggling attempts, and apprehended “dozens of suspects involved in advancing terrorist activity.”
The Israeli military was operating in southern Syria to protect Israel and its citizens, the statement said. Israel has threatened air strikes on any significant Syrian military or intelligence presence near the border without its consent.
Israel uses its new post at Mount Hermon, which it seized after Assad’s fall, to surveil the region. Defense Minister Israel Katz said last month Israel would not cede the location.
Israel‘s military has imposed buffer zones in some neighboring countries following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, in which some 1,200 people were killed.
“As in northern Gaza and southern Lebanon, Israel is now enforcing a wider demilitarized zone in southern Syria,” Syrian security analyst Wael Alwan said.
DRUZE DEVELOPMENTS BOLSTERED ISRAEL
Israel‘s position has been strengthened by developments in Sweida, where Syrian forces stand accused of execution-style killings of Druze civilians. Druze leaders are calling for independence and a humanitarian corridor from Golan to Sweida – a challenge to Sharaa’s vow to centralize control of Syrian territory.
Two senior Druze figures, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said that since the Sweida fighting, Israel was helping unify splintered Druze factions and had delivered military supplies including guns and ammunition to them.
The two Druze commanders and a Western intelligence source said that Israel was also paying salaries for many of the roughly 3,000 Druze militia fighters.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm the munitions supplies nor the payments. The offices of Netanyahu and Dermer did not respond to Reuters questions on support for the Druze militia.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani dismissed the possibility of a humanitarian corridor at the Paris talks, saying it would infringe on Syria‘s sovereignty, according to a Syrian official familiar with the discussions.
Both sides agreed that stability in Syria‘s south was key to preventing a resurgence of covert agents linked to Iran, Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, or Palestinian terrorist groups – common enemies of Israel and Syria‘s new leaders. Israel agreed to allow interior ministry forces to deploy checkpoints in Sweida.
“Both parties are probing areas of common ground,” said the Syrian official.
Sharaa is keen not to provoke his southern neighbor, aware of how much damage its military can inflict, one close aide said on condition of anonymity: “Avoiding confrontation is central to his plan to rebuild and govern.”
Erdem Ozan, a former Turkish diplomat and expert on Syria, said Sharaa could accelerate talks to secure economic aid and reconstruction support from investors, Gulf benefactors, and Washington.
“Sharaa’s focus on economic delivery could push him toward pragmatic concessions, but he’ll need to balance this with maintaining legitimacy among his supporters,” Ozan said.
Concessions could include handing greater autonomy to regional groups, including the Kurds and Druze, Ozan said, as well as demilitarization near Syria‘s borders with Israel and Jordan.