Dozens of faculty members at US institutions were rebuked for their actions after the 7 October Hamas attacks – some have now returned to work while others still face criminal charges
October 10, 2024
Fired. Or suspended until a limited employment contract expired. Delisted from the university’s website, with no public explanation. Facing criminal charges. Possible deportation. Or back at work, after seeing charges dropped and investigations ended.
These have been among the varied fates – so far – of multiple faculty and graduate student workers who’ve faced controversies since 7 October 2023, for their actual or alleged speech or protest participation regarding Israel and Palestine.
From social media posts to online articles, from teaching to rally speeches and physically trying to block police from reaching student demonstrators, dozens of scholars have become part of a national test of how accommodating the American tradition of academic freedom will be to those who take controversial stands about the widening Middle East conflagration.