If you haven’t heard of Kaukab Siddique, an associate professor of English at Lincoln University, the historically black public university outside of Philadelphia, here is some news you may have missed.
A revealing Daily Beast article from last month renewed interest in Siddique for a number of his inflammatory comments on recent events. After activist Pamela Geller staged an event in Texas that showcased cartoons of the prophet Muhammed, Siddique called her a “dirty Jewish Zionist thug” and told fellow Muslims to prepare to protect themselves if “Zionists” like Geller get their way.
Commenting on the Bill Cosby rape scandal, Siddique questioned why it took years for the comedian’s victims to come forward. A list of possible explanations Siddique posted on Facebook included “Many women are sluts” and “American women are slaves of rich men.”
And regarding the rise of the Islamic State over the past year, Siddique questioned whether the radical Islamist terrorist group actually does some of the horrible things it purports to do, such as rape women and murder Yazidis.
In light of the Daily Beast article, the Anti-Defamation League “strongly condemned” Siddique’s comments, including those not directed at Jews.
Siddique had raised flags in the Jewish community before. In 2010, at a pro-Palestinian rally in Washington, D.C., he called Zionism a “hydra-headed monster” and called on Muslims to “defeat, to destroy, to dismantle Israel.” When his university distanced itself from his comments, Siddique cited his right to academic freedom.
This week, Siddique, who has often complained on his Facebook page that the media distorts his beliefs, spoke to the press again to set the record straight. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer published on Monday, he confirmed that he has doubts about aspects of the Holocaust and said that he would certainly use the phrase “dirty Jewish Zionist thug” to describe Geller again. So much for silencing the critics.
“I have read things from both sides, and therefore I think that for any study of the Holocaust, we need to know what the critics say,” Siddique said.”
“Were there ovens?” he wondered aloud. “If you study the pictures of Auschwitz, there are no ovens there.”
His comments on Geller, whose organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, is labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were no less charged.
“She did the worst, other than killing us,” Siddique said. “We can talk about her, that she is Jewish and she is white and she’s a supremacist and she is doing this to us.”
He also took time to point out that slavery lasted longer than the Holocaust.
“Every day in our lives we have this racism emanating from slavery,” he said. “We have our own problems. We can’t just be talking about ‘Schindler’s List’ and stuff like that.”
