US Professor Remains on University Staff After Tweet Threatening Jewish Journalists, Their Children

The University of California (UC) Davis has kept a professor on staff after she appeared to call for violence against Jewish journalists and their children following the Hamas terror group’s massacre of over 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians, earlier this month.

Jemma Decristo, an assistant professor in American studies at UC Davis, made the apparent threat on X/Twitter on Oct. 10, three days after Hamas invaded Israel.

“One group of ppl [sic] we have easy access to in the US is all these Zionist journalists who spread propaganda & misinformation,” Decristo wrote. “They have houses [with] addresses, kids in school. They can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more.” The message was followed by images of a knife, an axe, and three blood-drop emojis.

UC Davis Chancellor Gary May disavowed Decristo’s comments in a statement issued on Thursday.

“I absolutely condemn the posts attributed to a UC Davis faculty member that recently appeared on the social media platform X. I find the comments revolting in every way, and I disagree wholeheartedly with them,” May said. “UC Davis rejects all forms of violence and discrimination, as they are antithetical to the values of our university. We strive to foster a climate of equity and justice built on mutual understanding and respect for all members of the community.”

May noted, however, that the professor remains on staff as the university investigates the matter.

“We can confirm that the provost will refer this matter to the appropriate campus departments that investigate harassment, discrimination, and faculty conduct, in consultation with legal counsel regarding First Amendment rights,” he said. “Some have asked why this faculty member continues to be employed at UC Davis. The University of California system has specific procedures for the review of complaints of faculty misconduct consistent with university-wide policies and bylaws. The status of complaints lodged against faculty members are confidential personnel matters, so we are unable to publicly comment on the steps we are taking.”

Decristo, who describes herself as a “black anarchist” on X, has made her posts available only to “approved followers” following the backlash she received.

Several college professors have denounced Israel, made antisemitic comments, and defended Hamas since the Palestinian terrorist group attacked the Jewish state.

Cornell University history professor Russell Rickford, for example said earlier this week that he was “exhilarated” by the violence in the Middle East and defended his comments by arguing “the fundamentalism of Hamas mirrors that of Israeli leadership.”

Rickford later apologized for his statements, insisting that he “intended to stress grassroots African American, Jewish, and Palestinian traditions of resistance to oppression.” He apologized to “my family, my students, my colleagues, and many others,” but not to the Jewish community or Israelis — who were the chief targets of Hamas’ terror onslaught.

Also this week, another professor, self-described “radically optimistic transsexual climate scientist” Mika Tosca of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, said on social media: “Israelis are pigs … may they all rot in hell.” Tosca apologized one day later, saying, “I wrote some things on my Instagram story that I unequivocally reject and do not stand behind.” She added: “To the many Israeli and Jewish people [whom] I hurt with my words: I am truly sorry.”

Earlier this month, Columbia University professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual history Joseph Massad said in an op-ed published in Electronic Intifada that Hamas’ invasion was “awesome.” He described the terrorists who para-glided into a music festival in Israel to murder and rape the young people there as “the air force of the Palestinian resistance.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

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