Jonathan Brown, a tenured Georgetown University professor who came under fire last month for a social media post in which he called for Iran to conduct a “symbolic strike” on a U.S. military base, has been placed on leave and removed as chair of the school’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Georgetown University interim President Robert M. Groves said Tuesday at a congressional hearing. 

“Within minutes of our learning of that tweet, the dean contacted Professor Brown, the tweet was removed [and] we issued a statement condemning the tweet. Professor Brown is no longer chair of his department and he’s on leave, and we’re beginning a process of reviewing the case,” Groves said in response to a question from Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) at a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on campus antisemitism. 

One day after the U.S. struck Iranian military targets in June, Brown posted on X: “I’m not an expert, but I assume Iran could still get a bomb easily. I hope Iran does some symbolic strike on a base, then everyone stops.” 

Last month, a university spokesperson said that Georgetown administrators were reviewing Brown’s conduct and that Georgetown was “appalled” by his comments. 

Brown, until recently the chair of the university’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Alwaleed bin Talal chair of Islamic civilization in the School of Foreign Service, has a lengthy history of anti-Israel commentary on social media. 

A profile listing Brown as chair of Islamic civilization was still active on Georgetown’s website during the hearing. 

Georgetown University administration said it was “appalled” after a prominent faculty member called for Iran to conduct a “symbolic strike” on a U.S. military base in a social media post on Sunday.  

“We are reviewing this matter to see if further action is warranted,” a spokesperson for the university told Jewish Insider on Monday, noting that the administration is “appalled” by the since-deleted tweet by Jonathan Brown, a tenured professor and chair of the university’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Alwaleed bin Talal chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service, who has a history of spreading anti-Israel vitriol.  

On Sunday, one day after the U.S. struck three Iranian nuclear facilities, Brown tweeted: “I’m not an expert, but I assume Iran could still get a bomb easily. I hope Iran does some symbolic strike on a base, then everyone stops.” 

Brown, who is the son-in-law of convicted terror supporter Sami Al-Arian and has gone on several X tirades since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks slamming Israel — including calling the country “insanely racist”  — deleted his tweet on Monday, claiming that it was misinterpreted. 

“I deleted my previous tweet because a lot of people were interpreting it as a call for violence,” Brown wrote. “That’s not what I intended. I have two immediate family members in the US military who’ve served abroad and wouldn’t want any harm to befall American soldiers… or anyone!” 

The condemnation of Brown’s post comes as the House Education and Workforce Committee has called on Georgetown’s interim president, Robert Groves, to testify on July 9 about its handling of campus antisemitism. The funding Georgetown has received from Qatar, in connection with its Qatar campus, has come under intense scrutiny in the wake of Oct. 7. 

At a time when some elite universities are acquiescing to the Trump administration’s demands to crack down on antisemitic activity on campus, Georgetown has pushed back. In March, for example, the administration issued statements supportive of Badar Khan Suri, a university professor and postdoctoral scholar who was detained by federal authorities.