By Gabby Deutch
Jonathan Brown, a tenured Georgetown University professor who came under fire last month for a social media post in which he called for Iran to conduct a “symbolic strike” on a U.S. military base, has been placed on leave and removed as chair of the school’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Georgetown University interim President Robert M. Groves said Tuesday at a congressional hearing.
“Within minutes of our learning of that tweet, the dean contacted Professor Brown, the tweet was removed [and] we issued a statement condemning the tweet. Professor Brown is no longer chair of his department and he’s on leave, and we’re beginning a process of reviewing the case,” Groves said in response to a question from Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) at a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on campus antisemitism.
One day after the U.S. struck Iranian military targets in June, Brown posted on X: “I’m not an expert, but I assume Iran could still get a bomb easily. I hope Iran does some symbolic strike on a base, then everyone stops.”
