Daily Stormer The Most Censored Publication in History
Katherine Franke
This didn’t used to be legal.
A tenured law professor at Columbia University who advocated for pro-Palestinian students on campus says she was in effect forced out of the university, citing a “toxic and hostile environment for legitimate debate around the war in Israel and Palestine”.
Katherine Franke announced on Friday that she had reached an agreement with Columbia University that relieved her of her “obligations to teach or participate in faculty governance” after serving on the Columbia law faculty for 25 years.
“While the university may call this change in my status ‘retirement’, it should be more accurately understood as a termination dressed up in more palatable terms,” she said.
A spokesperson for Columbia University said in a statement to the Guardian that Columbia was “committed to being a community that is welcoming to all and our policies prohibit discrimination and harassment”.
“As made public by parties in this matter, a complaint was filed alleging discriminatory harassment in violation of our policies. An investigation was conducted, and a finding was issued,” the spokesperson added. “As we have consistently stated, the University is committed to addressing all forms of discrimination consistent with our policies.”
Franke was investigated by Columbia University after complaints were made over comments she made on a Democracy Now! radio program in January 2024.
In the radio program, Franke discussed an incident that took place on campus that month, which involved reports of a foul-smelling substance being released on pro-Palestinian protesters during a rally on campus. It was reported at the time that several students were hospitalized.
See: Columbia: Jew Suspended for Spraying Stink Ooze on Anti-Israel Protesters Gets $395,000 Payout
A student who was identified as a former member of the Israel Defense Forces was suspended in connection with the incident. (The student later sued the university and has since reached a settlement.)
In the radio interview, Franke said that she and others were concerned about Israeli students coming to Columbia “right out of their military service” and that “they’ve been known to harass Palestinian and other students on our campus”.
“And it’s something the university has not taken seriously in the past,” she added.
Following her remarks, two colleagues at Columbia filed a complaint with the university’s office of equal employment and affirmative action, claiming her comments amounted to harassment of Israeli members of the Columbia community in violation of university policies.
…
Franke is one of number of professors around the country who continue to face disciplinary measures for their support of the pro-Palestinian protests that rocked US campuses last year.
At what point are the leftists going to realize that we all have a common enemy?
Angry about Katherine Franke’s “retirement”? Good, you should be. But if people are serious about stopping something like this from happening again, they need to get serious about the cause. Because the precedent was set loooong ago.
A big-ish 🧵 pic.twitter.com/erse9Fh4Gu
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
This prof worries about DEI being weaponized as a tool of repression. Buddy, that die was cast years ago. In fact, I’d wager that the use of DEI as a weapon is *less* effective now than it was five years ago. It’s just that the target has (partially) changed. 3/ pic.twitter.com/Mr3QSeqUDm
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
Or Matthew Garrett, a tenured history prof at Bakersfield College. In April 2023, he was fired for criticizing DEI initiatives, which apparently is not allowed. Thankfully, he sued and forced Bakersfield into a costly settlement. 5/https://t.co/oO6GjMrJ7j pic.twitter.com/pAOjpEfdGw
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
…and lost in federal court. But that’s only b/c the court applied the incorrect and highly alarming legal standard. Reges has appealed with supportive briefs from virtually every civil liberties and academic freedom group in the Rolodex. /7https://t.co/CBQiPDLXMT pic.twitter.com/SwfsAzBsuL
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
Lesson #1: The “weaponization” of DEI happened long ago and has claimed many, many professors long before it came for Katherine Franke. So it would be a huge mistake for academics today to diagnose the problem as “DEI” + “Anti-Zionist Activism” as opposed to DEI tout court. /9
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
Yes, it’s true that Zionist groups are abusing the Title VI process, something I have argued repeatedly and at great length. 11/https://t.co/WrgACT88HH pic.twitter.com/267LDlmVkc
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
I’ve run through this history before so I won’t replicate it here. But it’s worth saying explicitly that what made Columbia so vulnerable to pressure by Zionist orgs is a policy choice made by Obama, dropped by Trump in 2017, and restored by Biden. /13https://t.co/e4lWhUJNcd
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
Lesson #2: Yes, Zionist orgs are going to use Title VI to eviscerate pro-Palestine activism. But they didn’t create this weapon. They didn’t hone it to fine edge. That work was already done for them elsewhere, and so the work of neutralizing that weapon begins elsewhere too. 15/
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
Again, this weapon has been used against profs for years. Profs like Ohio Northern University law school’s Scott Gerber, who in 2023 got the whole Katherine Franke treatment: escorted out of class by armed security, marched to the dean, and ordered to resign or be fired. 17/
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
At its essence, Gerber’s case, like Franke’s, is about the right of faculty to forcefully criticize their own university’s internal policies. It’s a dimension of their service, and for that reason should be protected under the 1A and the principles of academic freedom. 19/
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
When his dean removed him from the PhD program, he sued on 1A grounds. But the 4th CA, in a 2-1 ruling, decided that the 1A only protects a public uni prof’s teaching and scholarship, NOT anything they say or do in the course of university service. 21/https://t.co/RMLNisaw3j pic.twitter.com/JjuaO1RP7R
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
Three hard lessons. One hard truth: The “Palestine Exception,” if there is one, is much less exceptional than some would like to believe. Don’t let that fact anger you so much that you reject it. It’s a *good* thing. This is how you diagnose the problem. It’s also how you… 23/
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
Meanwhile, to those right-wingers now crowing over just desserts and whatnot, you need to also understand that it was conservatives who dealt the most grievous blow to academic freedom way back in 2006 (the Garcetti decision)… 25/https://t.co/NFhPZDEuVB
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
Again, pro-Palestine activists should welcome these facts. Yes, it probably means eating some crow, owning the hypocrisy, and even (heaven forfend) apologizing to some colleagues. Nevertheless, it offers us all a roadmap toward getting back what we’ve lost.
That’s it. 27/27
— Jeffrey Sachs (@JeffreyASachs) January 13, 2025
