Two professors who made antisemitic comments relating to the Israel-Hamas war apologized on Wednesday in an attempt to disassociate themselves from their previous statements.
Dr. Mika Tosca, a professor at the School of Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), published an apology on her personal Instagram account after X account Stop Antisemitism posted screenshots of her Instagram reels from Monday saying Israelites should “rot in hell,” and calling them “pigs” and “irredeemable excrement.” Professor Richard Rickford, who teaches history at Cornell University, also published an apology in the school newspaper just one day after doubling down on statements he made over the weekend at a pro-Palestinian rally when he called the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel “exhilarating” and “energizing.”
“Yesterday I wrote some things on my Instagram story that I unequivocally reject and do not stand behind,” Tosca wrote in her Instagram post. “I allowed my reaction to the violence in Israel and Palestine to take an inappropriate and offensive form.”
“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 to the newspaper. “I recognize that some of the language I used was reprehensible and did not reflect my values.”
Both Cornell and SAIC condemned the professors’ antisemitic statements and said that the schools do not support antisemitism or “anti-Muslim” sentiments. Cornell said that it intends to “review the incident” according to its “procedures,” but did not say whether it intended to place Rickford on leave.
“One member of our community expressed hateful views, which SAIC repudiates,” the institute told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “Those views are not reflective of the School or the values we as a community share.”
Universities and colleges across the nation have been inundated with pro-Hamas protests since the terrorist organization launched an Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Some organizations have begun to pull donations and funding from schools that initially declined to condemn the terrorist attacks, calling the universities and protests antisemitic.
SAIC declined to comment on how it intended to respond to Tosca’s statements, saying it does not “comment on personal matters.”
Cornell, Rickford and Tosca did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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