Ex-Columbia Professor Chides Incoming DSA Congresswoman for Not Hating America Enough

An ex-Columbia University professor who once told students to “be proud” to hate America is challenging New York’s incoming congresswoman Darializa Avila Chevalier’s intifada bona fides after she called herself an “organizer” of the campus’s 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampment, saying the encampment’s true organizers were committed to America’s downfall.“They believed a liberated Palestine means the death of Amerikan empire not its rehabilitation,” The former political science professor, Mohamed Abdou wrote on X in response to a post by Ms. Avila Chevalier celebrating her entry into the halls of Congress.In the post, Ms. Avila Chevalier featured one image of her in a tent with a sign reading “CU Alumni 4 Palestine” and a second image of her draped in a keffiyeh rejoicing over her victory in last week’s midterm election.“From being a Columbia University encampment organizer to becoming the next Congresswoman for Columbia University’s district,” she captioned the images alongside a heart emoji.Ms. Avila Chevalier received her bachelor’s degree from Columbia in 2016. Since graduating, she has publicly criticized the university for suspending two pro-Palestine student groups and for closing its campus to the public following the 2024 protests. Starting in January, she will represent New York’s 13th Congressional District, which spans northern Manhattan, where Columbia’s main campus is located, and The Bronx.Ms. Avila Chevalier’s campaign did not respond to an inquiry from The New York Sun. Mr. Abdou, who proclaims himself a “Muslim anarchist and diasporic settler of color” on his website, was the first professor to hold a teach-in at the encampment erected on the campus in April 2024, according to The Columbia Spectator. “You weren’t an organizer[.] You just participated,” Mr. Abdou wrote in his response to Ms. Avila Chevalier. “I know because I was the fired professor there.”He later responded to other comments, saying, “Not interested in Congress & don’t agree with settler-electoral ballot box politics on stolen land be it in US or Israel. Her strategy is reform & “let’s save & continue to give life to Amerika” when settler-colonialism must be uprooted & can’t be voted out Mine: Death to Amerika.”Mr. Abdou was employed as a visiting assistant professor in the university’s Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Program in the spring of 2024 when pro-Palestine activists occupied the Manhattan campus’s South Lawn to protest Israel’s war with Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks. The two-week demonstration culminated in protesters occupying a university building on April 30 and declaring it “Hind’s Hall” in memory of a five-year-old girl killed in the conflict, Hind Rajab.“The main student organizers occupied inside Hind’s Hall, they were suspended, expelled,” he wrote.Mr. Abdou’s contract was not renewed after the 2024 spring semester. He is now conducting a speaking tour titled “Death to the Akademy.” Columbia University’s leadership was called to account for why he was hired in the first place during a congressional hearing on Columbia’s response to antisemitism while the encampment was in place.At the hearing, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik quoted a social media post Mr. Abdou authored just three days after the October 7 terror attacks that reads, “Yes, I’m with Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.” She asked then-university president Minouche Shafik whether Columbia had been aware of that post and others prior to hiring Mr. Abdou. “He will never work at Columbia again,” Ms. Shafik replied. Mr. Abdou’s social media accounts and his website reflect no teaching work since he left Columbia, though he continues to post essays on Substack. His last entry from August was a partial translation of a master’s thesis authored by the Al Qassam Brigades’ spokesman, Abu Obeida, who was killed by the Israeli military last year. Mr Abdou called him a “beloved masked orator.”At one of his talks hosted by a New York University student group this spring, Mr. Abdou told attendees to “be proud of your hate for America,” the New York Post reported. The next stop is scheduled for Saturday in Virginia with the title: “Beyond Liberal Mobilizing & Towards Militant Student Organizing: Lessons From Gaza’s Mujahideen.”

Ex-Columbia Professor Chides Incoming DSA Congresswoman for Not Hating America Enough

Ex-Columbia Professor Chides Incoming DSA Congresswoman for Not Hating America Enough

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