Columbia University Professor Katherine Franke left the institution after an investigation concluded that she had violated university policy in comments that were said to have amounted to harassment of Israeli Columbia members. Franke confirmed in a statement on Friday.
Describing leaving the university as “termination dressed up in more palatable terms,” Franke said an agreement had been reached but claimed the university had become a “toxic and hostile environment” when it came to issues relating to Israel and Gaza.
Investigations were launched into Franke after comments were made on the left-leaning media platform ‘Democracy Now!,’ according to the New York Times. Franke claimed she was concerned about Israeli students arriving at the university immediately after they completed military service – claiming they had been known to harass Palestinian students.
Franke’s comments were made after a student sprayed fart spray during a pro-Palestinian protest. The student involved was suspended and the university later paid out a settlement after the House’s Committee on Education and the Workforce found the university failed to correct the false claim that the student carried out a dangerous chemical attack.
“I condemned the spraying of pro-Palestinian protesters on our campus with a toxic chemical that caused such significant injuries that several students were hospitalized,” Franke claimed. “In those statements, I noted that the parties that sprayed our students with a chemical were Israeli students who were currently enrolled in Columbia’s joint degree program with Tel Aviv University, and who had recently performed military service in Israel. “
While Franke claimed the fart spray, known as ‘liquid ass,’ was a “toxic chemical” which hospitalized students, the Jerusalem Post’s Michael Starr reported liquid ass is a non-toxic gag spray purchasable from Amazon.
After hearing the comments, two Columbia faculty submitted complaints to the university. A law agency was subsequently hired to investigate.
The agency ruled that Franke had violated policy after she reposted a social media post disparaging one of the complainants who filed against her.
Franke claims she received threats
“I have been targeted for my support of pro-Palestinian protesters – by the president of Columbia University, by several colleagues, by university trustees, and by outside actors,” Franke alleged in her four page statement.
Franke added that as a result of all that had passed, she had received “several death threats” and “emails that express the hope that I am raped, murdered, and otherwise assaulted on account of my support of Palestinian rights.”
“I have had law school colleagues follow me from the subway to my office in the law school, yelling at me in front of students that I am a Hamas supporter and accusing me of supporting violence against Israeli women and children,” she claimed.
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