US campus life explodes with threats and resignations – and not just among students

Faculty members at Ivy League colleges Columbia and Cornell engage in war of words, police called in over threats.

An open letter signed by some 130 faculty members at Columbia University describing the deadly Hamas assault on Israeli civilians on October 7 as a “military action” sparked public uproar and accusations of complicity in Jew hatred.

The letter, initiated by Katherine Franke, a professor of law, expressed solidarity with students at the university who have been accused of antisemitism, arising from a student statement which was initiated by pro-Palestinian campus group.

The statement read: “The weight of responsibility for the war and casualties undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government and other Western governments, including the U.S. government, which fund and staunchly support Israeli aggression, apartheid and settler-colonization.”

In response, more than 220 faculty members from Columbia University have already signed an open letter lambasting their colleagues for appearing to condone Hamas’s bloody assault on innocent civilians.

“We are horrified that anyone would celebrate these monstrous attacks or, as some members of the Columbia faculty have done in a recent letter, try to ‘recontextualize’ them as a ‘salvo,’ as the ‘exercise of a right to resist’ occupation, or as ‘military action,’” the response letter said.

At another university in Philadelphia, an Israeli professor has taken unpaid leave of absence to avoid what she describes as the “hostile environment” on her campus since the October 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel.

Tali Reiner Brodetzki, an assistant professor in the biology department at LaSalle University, said she had little choice given the refusal of the administration to issue a public retraction after it accused both Israel and Hamas of “acts of terrorism” in an invitation to an interfaith prayer service sent out about two weeks ago to students and faculty.

The 42-year-old says she is also considering legal action.