A professor of Jewish Studies said his liberal arts college threw him under the bus after a student said Israel supporters have a 'free guaranteed spot in hell'.
Stephen Berk, 83, is a professor of Holocaust and Jewish Studies at Union College - a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York.
Berk was confronted by a junior in his class after the student, Ayah Osman, wrote in an Instagram post that everyone who attended a bingo night to raise money for Israeli victims of terror is getting a 'free guaranteed spot in hell'.
The professor asked Osman if she stood by her hateful statement and she responded 'I do'.
Union College President David Harris later released a statement to address the heated discourse, which Berk felt threw him under the bus.
A professor of Jewish Studies said his liberal arts college threw him under the bus after a student said Israel supporters have a 'free guaranteed spot in hell'
Osman's initial post - which referenced a poster for a bingo fundraiser for Israeli victims of terror - said: 'They forgot to mention this on the poster but don't worry if you don't win anything because everybody who attends this event is getting a free guaranteed spot in hell'
Stephen Berk, 83, is a professor of Holocaust and Jewish Studies at Uni on College - a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York
The statement said: 'We do not condone the student's words. We also do not condone the manner in which this student was confronted in a public setting, nor how she has been portrayed in social or traditional media.'
Berk told Fox News that 'there's a lot of hate out on campus' - but said that what really surprised him was the reaction of the administration.
The Vice President of academic affairs was in the audience of the lecture hall where the fierce discourse took place: 'She heard it, she didn't do anything,' Berk said.
He said: 'They actually conflated me with a student. They said they didn't condone what the student said, and they didn't condone what I had said in rebuking that and really rebuking the student. It was absolutely amazing.'
Despite saying that Union College is 'one of the best liberal arts colleges in the United States,' Berk said 'there's something wrong here' and that the administrators 'took their eye off the ball' which has allowed a lot of anti-Israeli sentiment at the school.
The professor said he did not confront the student, and video footage of the 'confrontation' shows Osman getting up and addressing Berk.
The video of the back-and-forth between Berk and Osman was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. Osman began: 'Professor, you called me a disgrace, but I think it's very important to note how irresponsible it was of you and this group of people, many of whom don't have access to what I said, to completely misrepresent what I said.
'I never said that all Jewish people should go to hell. And I would never, ever say that.'
Berk responded: 'I said that what you said is that people who attended that rally should burn in hell. Do you stand by that?'
'I do,' Osman quickly responded.
Osman re-posted the poster for a pro-Israeli bingo fundraiser on her story and said attendees had a 'spot in hell'
Union College President David Harris later released a statement to address the heated discourse, which Berk felt threw him under the bus. The statement said: 'We do not condone the student's words. We also do not condone the manner in which this student was confronted in a public setting, nor how she has been portrayed in social or traditional media'
Berk told Fox host Brian Kilmeade: 'I will stand up for what I think is right. Israel is in the right here'
Osman's initial post - which referenced a poster for a bingo fundraiser for Israeli victims of terror - said: 'They forgot to mention this on the poster but don't worry if you don't win anything because everybody who attends this event is getting a free guaranteed spot in hell.'
She accompanied her hate speech with a party face emoji.
The Union College junior has since come under fierce backlash - including a petition that called for her expulsion from the university for 'antisemitic behavior' which gained 5,354 supporters before being closed.
Berk told Fox host Brian Kilmeade: 'I will stand up for what I think is right. Israel is in the right here.
'Israel was attacked. Women and children were burned alive. Women were raped. Children were killed. People were burned alive. Israel is in the right here.'
'Don't be frightened of bigotry, don't be afraid . This is the United States of America and you have to stand up.'
'When you say burn in hell - do you know what that means to people who are Jewish and people who are sensitive here? We burned in hell.'
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