Academics, lawyers and civil rights activists have expressed support for a law professor who says he was forced to resign. Columbia University for encouraging Palestinian students.
“As of today, I have entered into an agreement with Columbia University that removes my teaching or administrative involvement after 25 years on the Columbia Law Faculty,” said Katherine Franke, professor of law at the Ivy League university. United States, he said words Thursday.
“Although the university may refer to my transition as a 'retirement,' it should be understood as a plain-clothes dismissal.
“I have come to the conclusion that the administration of Columbia University has created such a dangerous and hostile atmosphere around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that I can no longer teach or conduct research,” Franke said.
Demonstrations against Israel's war on Gaza began on the Columbia campus in New York City last April and inspired similar camps at other institutions across the US and beyond. Students demanded that the university withdraw from Israel, which is accused of war crimes and genocide in Gaza. They have also called for a ceasefire to end the conflict that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and turned Gaza into a wasteland.
The prestigious Ivy League school, however, tried to push back on student protests – a breach that drew criticism from activists.
Some critics have said that the crackdown on students and Palestinian groups has allowed free speech on the college campus, while others have said that university administrators have allowed the chaos to flourish.
Commenting on Franke's resignation on Saturday, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, said Franke has become “another victim of pro-Israelism that is turning universities, and other areas of public life into places of ignorance, discrimination and oppression.” “.
On Sunday, Noura Erakat, a professor at Rutgers University and a human rights lawyer, called the university's abuse of Professor Franke “heinous”.
“He has resigned after 25 years of high education and dedication to his students because he decided there is nothing to return to – that's too bad,” wrote Erakat on the X social media site.
Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), described Columbia's actions as “truly shameful” and said on Saturday that the AAUP stands with “Professor Franke and against the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices”.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, a human rights organization, said on Thursday that Franke's resignation represented “a major attack on academic freedom and advocacy for Palestinian rights”.
Columbia 'aligns' with 'enemies' of its academic mission
According to the New York Times storyA spokeswoman for Columbia University, Samantha Slater, said that the complaint was filed (against Franke) “in protest of the discriminatory practices that violate our laws. An investigation was conducted, and the findings were presented.”
In his resignation letter, Mr. Franke noted how last February, two colleagues filed a complaint against him with the university's Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, arguing that one of his comments to the US Democracy Now! it turned out to be harassing Israeli members of Columbia in violation of university policy.
In January 2024 interviewFranke had talked about the relationship of the university's graduate program with countries including Israel and said: “It's something that many of us were worried about, because many of the Israeli students, who come to Columbia, are fresh out. their military. And he is known to harass Palestinians and other students at our school.
As the investigation of complaints related to this comment is progressing, Mr. Franke said that in April 2024 at a meeting of Congress in the US, Elise Stefanik asked the president of Columbia Minouche Shafik what kind of punishment was done to Franke, who had spoken about Israeli students at the school.
Stefanik mistakenly said that the statement “all Israeli students who were (Israeli army) are dangerous and should not be on campus” by Franke.
“President Shafik responded that 'I agree with you that these comments are unacceptable and racist.' “President Shafik knew at the time that the summary of Congresswoman Stefanik's comments was inaccurate and misleading, yet he made no effort to correct the Congresswoman's deliberate errors in my comments,” Franke said in a statement.
Professor Franke says he suffered harassment, including death threats, following the DRM hearing.
Shafik, who has come under fire for leading student protests, resigned as university president in August.
Meanwhile, an outside law firm was hired to investigate Franke's comments last November and determined that the comments violated the university's Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action policies. Franke said he has appealed.
“After thinking about it, it became clear to me that Columbia had become such a hostile environment, that I could no longer be an active faculty member,” Franke said in a statement.
“Instead of defending the university's role in democracy, encouraging critical debate, research, and learning on important issues of public concern…Columbia University's administration has shown a willingness to cooperate with the real enemies of our educational mission.”