American Prof. Under Fire for Alleged Support of Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza
Professor Seth Crosby, who works in the Department of Genetics, later said he was sorry for his post and claimed he was only referring to Hamas, not the Palestinian people.
Crosby's post was a reply to another post on “X,” a social media platform that replaced Twitter, that said, “Israel is engaged in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
Crosby wrote, “It is a much needed cleansing, yes, but not an ethnic one. Israel is not targeting humans.”
Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip since last Saturday has claimed lives of at least 2,750 Palestinians, mostly women and children while leaving some 10,000 wounded.
The Israeli raids came after Palestine’s Hamas resistance movement launched a surprise offensive against the occupying force on October 7, killing more than 1,000 Israeli soldiers and settlers. The attacks, according to Hamas, was a response to months-long desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque by extremist settlers as well as increased violence against Palestinians.
'Unconscionable'
The Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Missouri) issued a press release on Saturday, calling Crosby's post anti-Palestinian, “unconscionable” and demanding the university to take action.
“We urge Washington University to investigate this troubling incident and to take appropriate action,” CAIR-Missouri Board Chair Yasir Ali said. “It is unconscionable that a professor at a Missouri institution of higher education would allegedly call for the ethnic cleansing of any population and would seek to dehumanize the target of that crime against humanity.”
Washington University Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications Julie Flory told First Alert 4 on Sunday that Crosby is still employed and the university will follow up according to its policies and processes.
“Seth Crosby is currently employed by Washington University,” Flory said. “The opinions he has expressed as an individual do not represent the university’s position. We are following up as appropriate, according to our policies and processes.”
Crosby's account was no longer visible on the social media site as of Sunday.
Source: Agencies
