Simone Pinet
Overview
Simone Pinet has defended violent protesters and expressed support for disgraced anti-Israel Professor Steven Salaita.As of August 2020, Pinet was a professor of Spanish and Medieval Studies and the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Romance Studies at Cornell University (Cornell).
Supporting Violent Protesters
Pinet signed a letter to the editor, published on May 6, 2018 by the Cornell Daily Sun newspaper, whose purpose was to “call on Cornellians of conscience to denounce the Israeli military’s recent massacre of unarmed Palestinian protesters participating in the Great March of Return in the Gaza Strip.”In May 2018, terror organization Hamas instigated the “March of Return.” Thousands of violent rioters attempted numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence with Gaza, seeking to harm Jews across the border. Media reports confirmed [00:00:20] protesters’ breaches and attempted breaches of the fence, some by armed Palestinians. On May 15, 2018, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said the Gaza protests were only a pretext of “peaceful resistance.”
The letter, signed by Pinet, stated that Israel’s actions were “a massacre in violation of
international law and an outrage against basic principles of human rights, dignity and life. This massacre is the latest injustice in a 50-year occupation, and 70-year ethnic cleansing, endured by the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeligovernment.”
March participants sent scores of kites bearing explosive devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes. Participants also attempted to breach the border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire. Agitators also threw Molotov cocktails and firebombs, shot firearms and threw rocks.
The letter Pinet signed continued: “While many countries assault human rights on a daily basis, Israel is unique in its insistence that its actions — including those on the Gaza border in past weeks — are compatible with international law.”
The violent riots continued until the end of 2018, accompanied by military-style attacks carried out by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other terror organizations. The attacks included gunfire, armed rioters penetrating Israeli territory, throwing IEDs and hand grenades and launching incendiary kites into Israel.
The letter Pinet signed concluded: “...we salute those Palestinian demonstrators who are facing one of the world’s military giants armed only with their determination to be free.”
Defending Steven Salaita
Pinet signed a petition published on August 21, 2014, by the BDS movement titled:“A Call to People of Conscience Not to Speak at the University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Until Chancellor Wise Honor [sic.] the Contract to Hire Professor Steven Salaita.”In 2014, The University of Illinois withdrew an offer of employment to Salaita after becoming aware of his anti-Semitic tweets. One tweet, posted shortly after Hamas kidnapped three teenage Israeli high school students, read: "You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the f**king West Bank settlers would go missing.” In 2017, Salaita posted to Facebook: “People ask if I would go back in time and change anything. I would not…I will die unapologetic.” In February 2019, Salaita stated that he had become a school bus driver in the Washington, D.C., area.
Social Media and Weblinks
University Website:https://romancestudies.cornell.edu/simone-pinetSecond University Website:https://research.cornell.edu/researchers/simone-pinet
- Status:
- Professor
- University:
- Cornell
- Organizations:
- BDS
- Related Profiles:
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
Photos & Screenshots
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