A Colombia University professor has been forced to resign for backing pro-Palestinian activism at the seat of learning and protesting Israeli students’ injurious attacks against pro-Palestinian campaigners.
Katherine Franke stepped down from teaching at the facility and faces the threat of her action being defined as “retirement” by the university’s authorities, various American media outlets reported on Saturday.
She penned an extensive message, explaining her decision and the circumstances surrounding it.
“The university administrators have created such a toxic and hostile environment for legitimate debate around the [Israeli regime’s genocidal] war [against the Gaza Strip]…and Palestine that I can no longer teach or conduct research,” she wrote.
The former professor regretted that the October 2023-present brutal military assault had resulted in “horrendous devastation in Gaza,” besides claiming the lives of more than 46,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
She noted that the warfare had led to widespread protests across the world’s academic communities.
Amid the protests, “I have ardently defended students’ right to peaceful protest on our campus and across the country,” Franke underlined.
