Kent State University released a statement that described comments made by a senior lecturer on the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel as “antisemitic.”
Nader Taha, a senior lecturer of mathematics, gave a sermon on Dec. 13, 2024, at the Islamic Society of Akron and Kent, where he is an imam. During the sermon, Taha called the Oct. 7 attacks a “miracle.”
In an email to The Kent Stater, Taha said some online outlets took his comments out of context. He added that he would make a public statement at a later date.
The university condemned the comments in a statement on Jan. 2 without directly referring to Taha.
“References to the October 2023 massacre are abhorrent and stand in stark contrast to our institutional commitment to peaceful dialogue, as well as our core values of kindness and respect,” the statement said. “The remarks were not made on a Kent State campus, nor as part of any official event or program.”
A video of the sermon, which was given in English and Arabic, shows Taha calling the Oct. 7 attacks a “miracle” and that Gaza had “planted the seed of freedom.”
In another comment, Taha said, “We have seen miracle after miracle,” referencing Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed.
In a separate sermon by Taha on Nov. 10, 2023, Taha said, “Before Oct. 7, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was insulted and disgraced, and it was calling for Muslims to liberate it and purify it from the filth it was in, a call that the brothers and sisters in Gaza answered … Allah had promised that the Children of Israel would be humiliated and defeated, and that is what happened on Oct. 7.”
Emily Vincent, the director of university media relations, said Taha is a senior lecturer at the Kent State Trumbull campus represented by the American Association of University Professors as a non-tenure track faculty member.
Taha remains with the Islamic Society of Akron and Kent and delivers weekly sermons.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect Nader Taha’s title.
Gage Wellman is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected] or @GageWellmanKSTV on X.
Barb Hipsman Springer • Jan 17, 2025 at 8:24 am
And yet … we could put his comments in even a clearer context by adding that Israeli forces have killed nearly 50,000 in direct retaliation attacks in Gaza. Could adding that fact also be considered anti-Semitic by KSU? I’m grateful for cease-fire negotiations on all sides. Stop the killing of innocents.
Susan Dlott • Jan 17, 2025 at 2:21 pm
Israel took incredible pains to keep non-combatant citizens out of harms way, more than any other country in history. But rather than protecting Gazans, Hamas embedded within them and purposefully offered them as sacrifices in order for Israel to take blame. Israel had EVERY right to defend against Hamas and its stated intention to
inflict even more of the worst barbarism against INNOCENT Israeli citizens. And all those who pine for the lost victims except for the Jewish ones are on the wrong side of decency and morality. I am sick of it!!
Barb Springer • Jan 18, 2025 at 1:00 pm
I mourn all the deaths on both sides of innocent citizens. To completely level hospitals, schools and thousands of homes? To what end on either side?