“These disciplinary cases are designed to distract us from what the real issue is which is a genocide, and a growing form of authoritarianism in Washington.”
- Katherine Franke, Former Columbia Law Professor
Columbia University is once again at the center of debate on free speech related to Israel and Palestine.
On Friday, Trump pulled a massive $400 million of federal funding from Columbia University, citing the university’s alleged harassment of Jewish students. This comes despite the university’s repeated crackdown on pro-Palestine speech, including the violent suppression of student protesters, and most recently, the pushing out of their very own professors.
In an exclusive Zeteo Town Hall, Ex-Columbia Law Professor Katherine Franke joined Zeteo Political Correspondent Prem Thakker to discuss how she was pushed out by the university after standing up for pro-Palestine students and how free speech continues to be suppressed on campus.
“What happened to me is not about me,” Franke tells Prem. “What happened to me is a system. It's a systematic way in which universities have been deployed as a test case to see how we are going to punish and terrify people who speak out on particular issues.”
Last year, Professor Franke raised concerns on “Democracy Now!” about some Israeli students coming to Columbia “right out of their military service,” after a few Israeli students – who had recently served in the Israeli military – allegedly sprayed student protesters with a smelly substance.
“I mentioned on the show that there had been a pattern of this problem of students who were pro-Palestinian experiencing serious harassment from students who were pro-Israeli, and that the university basically hadn't done anything about it,” Franke tells Prem.
After her comments, two of Professor Franke’s colleagues filed a complaint against her at the university, accusing her of being anti-Israeli.
“I had colleagues screaming things at me about how I've supported Hamas, that I didn't care that there were anti-Semitic attacks against these colleagues, children, or their families – which of course isn’t true,” Franke tells Prem. “…I just thought, ‘I don't know how I can be part of this community anymore.’ ”
If you are a paid subscriber, watch the full interview above to hear the rest of Professor Franke’s story on how she was pushed into an early retirement with no benefits. Franke also discusses how Columbia’s approach to free speech has transformed since she was a student, the double standards when it comes to how pro-Israel speech is treated, and Trump’s attempts to crackdown on protests at universities.
Free subscribers can watch the first 9 minutes of the interview. If you’d like to watch the full video, consider upgrading to a paid subscription.
NOTE: This timely discussion was recorded on Friday, before the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil. You can read more about that story below:
