Danny Shaw

Danny Shaw, a professor, expressed support for terrorism, spread antisemitism, and promoted hatred of Israel during Israel’s war with Hamas in late 2023 and early 2024. He participated in the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia University in April 2024 and was fired from his university teaching position that same month. In February 2024, Shaw also published an anti-Israel book titled This Is Genocide!: Forty-eight Poems for Gaza.

Support for Terrorism
On November 22, 2023, weeks after Hamas terrorists carried out mass atrocities in Israel, Shaw posted on Instagram a photo of himself next to an image of terrorist Leila Khaled holding a rifle. He captioned it: “Resistance is justified / when the people are occupied / The world knows who the real terrorists are / Long live #palestine #gaza.” Khaled is known for hijacking airplanes as a senior figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Shaw’s reference to “resistance” echoed rhetoric that glorifies and justifies terrorism.

Antisemitism and Hatred of Israel
Shaw repeatedly posted antisemitic and anti-Israel messages online following October 7. On October 16, 2023, he reportedly tweeted and then deleted: “These Zi^nists are straight Babylon swine… Zionism is beyond a mental illness; it’s genocidal disease.” On October 29, 2023, he claimed CNN ignored Gaza’s supposed “holocaust,” directly comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. On December 14, 2023, he described Zionists as “the most insecure, blood-curdling colonizers on earth” and again accused Israel of carrying out a “holocaust.” On January 1, 2024, he tweeted an acrostic poem spelling out “Zionist” as “Traffickers of Tears and Blood” and “Tormented by his own twisted lies and genocide.”

Anti-Israel Book Publication
In February 2024, Shaw published This Is Genocide!: Forty-eight Poems for Gaza. The book framed Israel’s war as an “extermination campaign” and described anti-Israel activism as part of “anti-colonial resistance,” using inflammatory language to demonize Zionism.

Participation in the Columbia Encampment
On April 25, 2024, Shaw posted a video from Columbia’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” He praised the encampment, calling it “beautiful,” and urged alumni to sign petitions in support of the protesters. In the same video, he filmed pro-Israel counter-protesters and described them as “colonial narcissism.” The encampment, organized on April 17, 2024, became a focal point for antisemitic harassment, illegal protests, and violent incidents, including the takeover of Hamilton Hall where a university worker was held hostage.

Biographical Information
In April 2024, Shaw was fired from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), where he had been an adjunct lecturer. As of July 2024, he was listed as a board member of the Midwestern Marx Institute and described as its Director and professor of the International Affairs Department. Shaw received a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and had previously been a senior research fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington, D.C.