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(JTA) — A Columbia University professor wrote on Facebook that the only difference between Israel and the Islamic State is that Zionist columnists defend the Jewish state’s “terrorist cause.”

Hamid Dabashi, a professor in the university’s Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, wrote this last week, triggering an outcry by pro-Israel students.

The “murderous thugs” of the jihadist group “conquered parts of Syria and declared a ‘caliphate,’” Dabashi wrote. “Their ISRAELI counterparts meanwhile conquered parts of Syria and declared it part of their Zionist settler colony.”

He added: “The only difference: ISIS does not have a platoon of clean shaven and well coiffured [sic] columnists at the New York Times propagating the cause of the terrorist outfit as the Zionists columnists do on a regular basis.”

The university chapter of Students Supporting Israel wrote in a statement Thursday: “This kind of utterly despicable and repugnant statement is not to be expected from a tenured faculty holder in an Ivy League institution.” Fox News and other media reported that the university did not immediately reply to queries on Dabashi.