US College Professor Arrested for Cyberstalking Colleague with Antisemitic Threats

A professor at Haverford College in Pennsylvania has been arrested in the United States, accused of cyberstalking a colleague. These messages were sent using at least four social media accounts on the X platform. The communications reportedly included insults, threats, and references to the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler, and Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. One message, according to the indictment, suggested that Jews should be given "special camps" and "special treatment." Other messages referred to Jews as "kike pigs" and stated that "goyim are taking back America."

The threats also mentioned security measures the family had taken, such as installing surveillance cameras. Mendelson's wife and three children were forced to leave their home twice temporarily. The family feared for their safety, with the children stopping playing in the yard and waiting for the school bus at home.

Following the FBI's identification of the suspect, Haverford College President Wendy Raymond stated she was deeply shocked by the incident and that persecution based on identity is incompatible with the institution's values. A bail hearing is scheduled for October 9.

in anthropology from Columbia University and authored "Fragile Transcendence: Sound and the Sacred in Chinese Sufism." His academic work has explored the slave trade and Islam in China, and he has been active in Chinese Muslim communities. In 2024, he joined "Faculty for Justice in Palestine," an American network of academics supporting the "liberation of Palestine," student anti-Israel activism, and the BDS movement. Barak Mendelson is a political science professor at the same college, specializing in Islamic terrorism, and has published several books on the topic.