A Columbia University adjunct professor announced his resignation on Monday, citing the university’s decision to allow a longtime professor who described the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel as “astounding,” “awesome” and “incredible” to continue teaching a course on Zionism.

In his resignation letter, Lawrence “Muzzy” Rosenblatt, an adjunct professor of international and public affairs, wrote that having Joseph Massad, a professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual history, teach a course on Zionism was “akin to having a White nationalist teach about the US Civil Rights movement and the struggle for Black equality.” 

“Columbia has lost not only its moral compass, but its intellectual one,” Rosenblatt wrote.

As antisemitism roiled Columbia’s campus over the past 14 months, including the burning of Israeli flags and physical assaults of Jewish students, Rosenblatt said that he felt it was important to stay to teach. “I believe the Institution was not aligned with the hateful and destructive values of some who teach and study here, and that by staying I would not be ceding the Academy to those who spew evil, but instead be a model for thoughtful, responsible and professional learning,” he wrote. 

But that changed with the continuation of Massad’s class in light of his comments about Oct. 7, according to Rosenblatt. 

Massad is scheduled to teach the undergraduate course “History of the Jewish Enlightenment in 19th century Europe and the development of Zionism,” as he has done every spring since 2016. The class typically fills up, drawing between 30-60 students each semester. The class is limited to 60 students and is not a required course, but rather one of three courses Columbia students can elect to take next semester on the subject of Zionism and the history of Israel, two of which are offered through Columbia’s Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. 

One day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, Massad wrote, “Perhaps the major achievement of the resistance in the temporary takeover of these settler-colonies is the death blow to any confidence that Israeli colonists had in their military and its ability to protect them.” 

He went on: “The sight of the Palestinian resistance fighters storming Israeli checkpoints separating Gaza from Israel was astounding, not only to the Israelis but especially to the Palestinian and Arab peoples who came out across the region to march in support of the Palestinians in their battle against their cruel colonizers,” Massad wrote of the Oct. 7 massacre. “No less awesome were the scenes witnessed by millions of jubilant Arabs who spent the day watching the news, of Palestinian fighters from Gaza breaking through Israel’s prison fence or gliding over it by air.”

He went on to say that Oct. 7 has “both shaken Israeli society and struck Palestinians and Arabs as incredible.” 

Massad’s anti-Israel activism on Columbia’s campus dates as far back as 2004, during the Second Intifada, when an Israeli student who served in the IDF said that Massad demanded to know how many Palestinians he’d killed. He has promoted the boycott Israel movement on campus since 2016. 

During April’s congressional hearing about antisemitism at Columbia University, the university’s then-president_, Manouche Shafik, said Massad was “under investigation” after his outspoken support for the Oct. 7 attacks. Massad later claimed he was never reprimanded.

Neither Rosenblatt nor Massad responded to requests for comment from Jewish Insider. 

In a statement to JI, a Columbia spokesperson acknowledged that Massad’s statements following Oct. 7 “created pain for many in our community and contributed to the deep controversy on our campus.”

“We remain committed to principles of free expression and the open exchange of viewpoints and perspectives through opportunities for constructive dialogue and understanding throughout our campus community, and we seek to provide a learning environment and classrooms that promote intellectual inquiry and analytical thinking along with civility, tolerance and respect,” the spokesperson said. 

Clifford Stein, a professor of industrial engineering and computer science at Columbia, said he applauds Rosenblatt’s “courage.” 

“I fully support allowing a diverse set of viewpoints, but having Professor Mossad, who has called for the destruction of the state of Israel and who publicly celebrated the Oct. 7 attacks, teach the history of Zionism is insulting,” Stein told JI. “Professor Massad has a documented history of intimidating students with pro-Israel viewpoints. He does not support an objective evaluation of the material. Why have someone like that teach a course on the history of Zionism?” 

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote on X that allowing Massad to teach a course on Zionism “would be offensive at any time, but after his post-10/7 comments, it’s incomprehensible & indefensible.”  

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) also condemned Columbia’s decision to allow Massad to teach the course, writing on X, “why should U.S. taxpayers subsidize ideological indoctrination that glorifies the mass murder, maiming, mutilation, rape, and abduction of Jews and Israelis?” 

 “What’s next at Columbia? David Duke teaching a course on antiracism,” Torres wrote on X.