A NYU Langone doctor was removed from his position after he praised Hamas’ slaughter of more than 1,400 Israelis as “liberation” and “revolution” on social media, the hospital said Wednesday.
Dr Zaki Masoud is now in the process of being fired from his resident position at NYU Langone Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, Long Island, as a consequence of his controversial Israel-related Instagram story last week, the medical center said.
“It’s time to be bold with you words. Don’t hesitate to openly state your support of Palestinian resistance. Be loud & proud you’re on the side of justice,” the primary care physician wrote in his post in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
“No more walking on eggshells, afraid of what people will think. Let them call it terrorism. Extremism. Barbarianism. We call it liberation. Decolonization. Resistance. Revolution,” Masoud added, alongside an image of Palestinians cheering.
The hospital made moves to sack Masoud, who attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, after being alerted to the physician’s post by the StopAntisemitism nonprofit group last Friday.
“Zaki Masoud is a physician at NYU Langone Winthrop Hospital. On October 7th, after Hamas terrorists murdered 1300+ people in Israel, raped young women, beheaded babies, and burned the elderly alive, Dr. Masoud took to Instagram and labeled this massacre a ‘liberation. Resistance. Revolution’,” the group wrote on X as they broadcast Masoud’s post.
“Jewish patients, specifically Israeli ones, must be kept away from this man @nyulangone.”
In a statement, NYU Health confirmed Masoud had been “removed from service” and that hospital officials were in the process of terminating him.
“We will not tolerate reprehensible statements condoning hatred or violence which have no place in our institution,” NYU Health said.
“All employees are held to this high standard.”
A man who identified himself as Masoud’s uncle told The Post Wednesday it would be unfair to terminate the physician over his social media posts.
“He’s pro-Palestian,” the uncle said, “not pro-Hamas.”
A Change.org petition has since started circulating online calling for Masoud to be reinstated, arguing his private post didn’t contain any hate speech or discriminatory language.
“The decision to terminate Dr Masoud appears to have been influenced by external pressure from social media without due consideration of the context and nature of Dr Masoud’s peaceful actions,” the petition says.
“There were no statements made by Dr Masoud that promoted hatred or violence. Dr Masoud was merely exercising his right to express solidarity with those who share his ethnic background in a private capacity on social media.”
The petition, which had garnered more than 31,000 signatures as of Wednesday, described the axed physician as an “asset to the medical community” who was “dedicated to caring for others.”
The Post couldn’t immediately reach Masoud on Wednesday.