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Who is Russell Rickford? Cornell University professor labeled 'disgusting' for calling Hamas attack 'exhilarating and exciting'

In a pro-Palestine rally, Russell Rickford claimed that many Palestinians were able to 'breathe for the first time in years' during the Hamas attack

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ITHACA, NEW YORK: Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history at Cornell University, has been facing a furious backlash after he called the Hamas attacks on Israel "exhilarating" and "energizing" while addressing the crowd at a pro-Palestine protest.

The footage of his impassioned speech was posted online on Sunday, October 15, by a student who called it "shameful." However, it is yet unclear whether the rally happened on the New York campus.

According to Cornell University’s website, Rickford "specializes in African-American political culture after World War II, the Black Radical tradition, and transnational social movements."

The professor has written a book, 'We Are an African People: Independent Education, Black Power, and the Radical Imagination', which received the 2016 Hooks Institute National Book Award and the 2017 OAH Liberty Legacy Foundation award.

Rickford started as a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer and went on to work for a public relations firm in Philadelphia before making his way to Cornell University. 

What did Russell Rickford say about the Israel-Hamas war?

At the rally, Russell Rickford apparently spoke in support of Palestine in the wake of Hamas' attack that sparked an all-out war and is said to have killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.

The professor claimed that the coordinated October 7 attack, in which militants breached concrete walls and parachuted into Israel to indiscriminately kill civilians, has "shifted the balance of politics and punctured the illusion of invincibility" of Israel.

"That’s what they’ve done. You don’t have to be a Hamas supporter to recognize it," added Rickford, as per the New York Post.

He continued by asserting that many Palestinians raised in a violent and oppressive environment were "able to breathe for the first time in years" in the hours following the horrible attack.

"It was exhilarating, it was energizing. And if they weren’t exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence, the shifting of the violence of power, then they would not be human. I was exhilarated," said the professor to a smattering of approval from the crowd as seen in the video.

In response to Rickford, the attendees yelled, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," which is a common rallying statement among pro-Palestinian supporters. His fiery address came after Cornell University's director of diversity and inclusion faced backlash for referring to the Hamas attack as "resistance."

"F**k your fake outrage at Palestine when you’ve literally been silent about the violence perpetrated by Israel against Palestine every day," wrote Derron Borders of the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management on the day of the attack.

Internet reacts to Russell Rickford’s remark regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict 

The clip of Cornell University professor Russell Rickford addressing a crowd about the Israel-Hamas conflict garnered immense social media attention, with many users calling him "shameful" and "disgusting."

"So disgusting @Cornell what a disgrace," wrote one, as another added, "Outrageous and disgusting. Antisemitism out in the open."

"The funny thing is he think killing children, elderly people and civilians can challenge the monopoly of power? Cute," expressed a user. 

A person simply wrote, "Despicable. Pure Evil." 

"@Cornell you should reduce your tuition to 0 if these are the kind of arguments your professors are making. No fact checking, no history or context. Just inciting people using false accusations. Hear me out future students, your local community college will give you a much better education," stated another user.