The student newspaper at The Cornell Daily Sun at Cornell University published an opinion piece by faculty member Karim‑Aly Kassam accompanied by artwork that featured the Nazi “SS” lightning‑bolt symbol inside a blood‑stained Star of David, leading to immediate backlash as antisemitic imagery.
The piece, titled “Thousand & One Eyes for An Eye,” was published days after the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, October 7 2023 Hamas Attack on Israel and the war in Gaza. In it, Kassam argued that Israel and its allies portrayed Palestinians as “animals” and compared that portrayal to Nazi Germany’s dehumanization of Jews.
Criticism arrived swiftly. William A. Jacobson — a law professor affiliated with Cornell and founder of the conservative site Legal Insurrection — said the artwork “reflects the normalization of Holocaust inversion” on campus. He pointed specifically to the SS symbol inside a Jewish star and concluded the message equated Jews with Nazis.
In response to the backlash, the Cornell Daily Sun removed the image and republished the article without it. An editor stated the imagery “may plausibly cause visceral harm to some of our readers based on the historical context of the ‘SS’ symbol.”
Professor Kassam expressed regret for how the artwork was received, saying he was “deeply saddened” that some interpreted the piece as antisemitic. He insisted that was not his intention.
This episode raises concerns for campus culture, especially within higher education.
