A Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty member who last month went on an anti-Semitic tirade—in which he called House Education and the Workforce Committee chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.) a "treasonous Zionist tool" and referred to Israelis as "parasites"—is now urging his followers to shut down an Israeli company in Cambridge, saying, "No stoping [sic] until liberation."
Afif Aqrabawi, a postdoctoral associate working in MIT's Tonegawa neuroscience lab, encouraged his Twitter followers to shut down an Israeli company located in Cambridge, Mass. The MIT faculty member was responding to a Twitter follower's suggestion to shut down a Raytheon facility in Bedford, Mass., to which he responded, "Elbit in Cambridge as well. No stoping [sic] until liberation."
The call to action followed pictures Aqrabawi posted of a pro-Palestinian protest in Boston that blocked traffic Saturday evening.
Elbit Systems, an Israeli company that provides the Jewish state with counterterrorism equipment, has been singled out by anti-Israel activists. Since Hamas's terrorist assault on Israel, Elbit facilities have been targeted by vandals, while its employees have been harassed as part of a broader effort to popularize attacks against Jews.
It is unclear whether Aqrabawi participated in the illegal protest over the weekend, in which hundreds of protesters managed to shut down a Boston bridge for half an hour. According to NBC 10 Boston, which had a crew on scene, no one was arrested while the network's reporters were present. Neither MIT nor Aqrabawi responded to a request for comment.
Aqrabawi's call to action comes as MIT and a host of other schools stand accused of violating Title VI by permitting anti-Israel campus events that endanger students and have led to repeated instances of harassment on campus.
The MIT scientist came under fire last month for going on an anti-Semitic tirade after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce pressed MIT to provide internal documents about its response to the outbreak of anti-Semitism on campus. In his outburst, Aqrabawi derided Foxx as "a treasonous Zionist tool, a genocide enabler, and a disgusting shit stain of a human," and described other members of the House as "Israeli bootlickers."
He also referred to American politicians as "loyal prostitutes of [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu," lamented the influence of Jewish groups, and referred to Israelis as "parasites."
"I make it clear your representatives are eager cucks for defense contractors and AIPAC," he wrote. "My words are dangerous because they may alert a distracted American public to the parasites using their country as a host species."
Foxx recently told the Washington Free Beacon that Aqrabawi is proof "that there are very, very strong anti-Semitic feelings at MIT—and the university needs to do something about it." A committee source similarly told the Free Beacon that Aqrabawi's rhetoric proves that the committee's probe into MIT is both warranted and justified.
In the past Aqrabawi has referred to Israelis as mentally ill Nazis, language that he acknowledged is "hateful."
"Hail the man leading an industrial-scale slaughter of an occupied, defenseless people!" he wrote in response to an Oct. 25 address from Netanayhu. "Zionism is a mental illness."
"Dear ZioNazis of Israel, particularly those supporting this genocide, I hope you never find peace and comfort in life," he wrote in December. "I hope the ghosts of our 30,000 killed haunt you until you rot out of existence."
"Yes, this is hateful language," he continued. "Don't expect me to be full of love and professionalism as this holocaust continues to unfold against my deeply oppressed people."
Three days after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Aqrabawi compared Israel's retaliatory war against the terrorist group to "Nazism, disguised as Israeli self-defense." Last month, the MIT faculty member claimed Hamas members did not rape Israelis during the attack.
"Can you point to a single report/victim?" he wrote. "Not only can you not substantiate your perverted rape fantasies, you won't allow any third-party investigations of their allegations." Roughly one month later, a U.N. report confirmed evidence of Hamas terrorists raping Israeli victims.
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