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UC Merced to Open Inquiry Over Professor's 'Repugnant' Tweets
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By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 4 years ago on
December 30, 2020

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The chancellor of UC Merced is calling for an inquiry into a professor who allegedly tweeted anti-Semitic messages.

“We must not let anti-Semitism or any form of bigotry or hate toward any group take root in the UC Merced community,” chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said in a message posted on the school’s website.

Last week, The Jewish News of Northern California reported on social media posts by engineering professor Abbas Ghassemi, featuring images the site identified as anti-Jewish and anti-Israel.

One image was a diagram labeled “The Zionist Brain” with areas such as “world Domination lobe,” “Holocaust Memory Centre,” and “Racism.”

A Zionist is a supporter of Israel as the Jewish state.

Another image on Ghassemi’s since deleted Twitter account showed blood flowing from the Star of David, the image on the Israeli flag.

Muñoz criticized the tweets as “abhorrent and repugnant” and said they would be addressed further by the university.

“We have called upon the dean and department chair to work with the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel to conduct an inquiry into potential violations of our standards, the UC Faculty Code of Conduct or other policies of the university, to determine what consequences are appropriate,” Muñoz said.

Jewish Groups Send School a Letter

StandWithUs, a Los Angeles based organization with a stated goal of combatting anti-Semitism, sent UC Merced a letter on Monday urging an investigation.

“The issue here is not whether Ghassemi has a constitutional right to make antisemitic comments, which of course he does,” the letter, authored by StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein and others said.

“The issue is that Ghassemi has been making these comments publicly on Twitter where he identifies himself as a UC Merced professor, and he is responsible for educating the very people he appears to loathe and about whom he attributes racist conspiracy theories. Ghassemi’s discriminatory statements are egregious for a professor presumably responsible for teaching and grading a protected minority on campus—Jewish and Israeli students,” the letter states.

Website Calls Out Ghassemi

This week, the website StopAntisemitism.org blasted Ghasemmi as “Antisemite of the Week’ in a Twitter post.

The post called for his removal from teaching.

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David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

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