Cornell professor on leave after calling Hamas attack 'exhilarating' and 'energizing'

NEW DELHI: Cornell Professor

Russell Rickford

, who sparked controversy with his remarks regarding the

Hamas terror attack

on Israel, is now on a leave of absence until the end of the semester.
According to a report in the New York Post, Russell Rickford, an associate

professor

of history, faced widespread criticism after making statements during a pro-Palestinian protest following the October 7 surprise attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people, primarily civilians.

He described the attack as "exhilarating" and "energizing," leading to significant backlash, New York Post reported.
“It was exhilarating. It was exhilarating, it was energizing,” he was seen telling the crowd, claiming “you would not be human” not to feel the same.

Earlier, Rickford defended his statements but later issued an apology, acknowledging that his words were "reprehensible." Consequently, his students were informed that he would no longer be teaching for the remainder of the semester.
According to the New York Post, a petition calling for his termination on Change.org gained nearly 11,000 signatures, including support from notable figures such as US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and US Representative Claudia Tenney.

In response to the controversy, Cornell University confirmed that Professor Russell Rickford had requested and received approval for a leave of absence. The university also reassigned his course to Professor Tamika Nunley, who will assume teaching responsibilities for the post-Civil War African American history course.
Cornell's leadership, including President Martha Pollack and board of trustees chairman Kraig Kayser, denounced Rickford's remarks, describing them as "reprehensible" and confirming that the university is taking the incident seriously and reviewing it in accordance with its procedures, the New York Post reported.
In his recent apology, Rickford expressed his opposition to racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, militarism, fundamentalism, and all systems that dehumanize, divide, and oppress people. Initially, he had refused to retract his statements, explaining that he was referring to the initial hours of the attack when it appeared to symbolize resistance in the Palestinian struggle.
“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," he added.