Columbia University terminates employment of professor for discriminating against Israeli students

Columbia University recently terminated the employment of Katherine Franke, a leading law professor and director of the academic institution's Center for Gender and Sexuality, because she discriminated against Israeli students.

She is a fervent anti-Israel activist who supports the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, who describes herself as an "activist scholar" and bases her work on issues related to queer theory, gender justice, racial justice and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, noted The Times of Israel.

According to an investigation by an independent law firm, Franke, who worked 25 years at Columbia, violated the institution's policy on discrimination and harassment.

Franke's controversial statements

The controversy arose after a television interview for the New York news portal Democracy Now, during which the professor expressed concern about Columbia's graduate program for students from Israel.

"So many of those Israeli students, who then come to the Columbia campus, are coming right out of their military service," she argued. She added: "They’ve been known to harass Palestinian and other students on our campus," not to mention that Jewish and Israeli students have been targeted by pro-Hamas protesters on campus.

She later clarified that she is concerned about the transition from soldier to student mentality and that the university should better protect the entire community.

The comments followed an episode during the massive, and in many cases violent, pro-Hamas protests at the university in 2024, when some protesters claimed that three Israeli students had carried out a "chemical attack" on them by spraying them with "skunk water," a foul-smelling liquid used by the Israel Police to disperse violent demonstrations.

"The students were able to identify three of these exchange students, basically, from Israel, who had just come out of military service, who were spraying the pro-Palestinian students with this skunk water," Franke told Democracy Now.

However, the allegations invoked by Franke were false, as it was a non-toxic smelly product that had been purchased from the well-known digital retailer Amazon. In fact, Columbia had to compensate a Jewish student with $395,000 after unfairly suspending him for the incident.

These controversial statements by Franke generated complaints from university staff members, as they pointed out that the professor made offensive and discriminatory generalizations against Israeli students.

In addition, according to the investigation, Franke revealed the name of a complainant and shared posts on social media in which he was labeled a "genocide."

Franke defends herself

Franke, for her part, said it was "institutional persecution" for her support of the Palestinians. She also described Columbia's decision to terminate her employment as "unfounded and politicized."

The anti-Israel professor also accused Columbia of creating a "toxic and hostile" environment that made it impossible for her to continue working there. She added that she will now focus on fighting for the "rights and dignity" of Palestinians.

"Completely unacceptable and discriminatory" comments

Franke also came under congressional scrutiny in April 2024, when Minouche Shafik, then president of the university, appeared before the Congressional Education and the Workforce Committee, where she was asked by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik about Franke's comments.

In this regard, Shafik argued that Franke's expressions were "completely unacceptable and discriminatory." She also added that both she and Joseph Massad, another professor at the institution, were under investigation.