US professor fired for anti-Israel comments days after attacking journalist

“This is fascism,” she wrote. “You’re all learning about it in real time.”

A New York City professor who was caught on camera holding a machete to a reporter’s neck has been fired for making anti-Israel remarks. Shellyne Rodriguez, 47, wrote in an email: “Cooper Union fired me because I posted an article about ‘Zionists’ on social media Post”.

The next day, Cooper Union Students for Justice in Palestine shared her Jan. 23 email on Instagram.

“This is fascism,” she wrote. “You’re all learning about it in real time.”

Rodriguez said in her Instagram post that she was fired for “public comments about ‘Zionists.'”

A spokesman for the college told new york post It does not comment on personnel matters, but Rodriguez is no longer listed as an adjunct on the Cooper Union faculty page.

However, it’s unclear which posts or comments led to her firing.

Notably, Rodriguez participated in a CUNY Palestine panel where critics claimed she made anti-Semitic remarks. She also posted a flyer on Instagram promoting a pro-Israel event that was edited to look like it was infested with cockroaches.

Former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. was one of the participants. “Look at this filthy cockroach, former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., a Zionist stooge,” Rodriguez wrote in the caption.

Pro-Palestinian student groups condemned the sacking of the professor as a “dramatic escalation of repression” that “must be resisted.” “Cooper Union has wrongfully terminated a valuable educator who was integral to the community and the academic lives of students,” the group wrote in a letter to the administration, according to the New York Post.

However, a section of people welcomed the news of her dismissal and said it was much needed.

“Jewish students at Cooper Union are very pleased that they fired her,” said Jeffrey Lacks, a CUNY law professor and co-founder of CUNY Student and Faculty Equality. “Her comments were despicable.”

“Normally, I would say I applaud the university for taking action against this professor, but in this case, how can I say that? She did much worse things before hiring her. I mean, She held a knife to the reporter’s neck,” Lacks said. “They should not be praised, they should be ashamed of themselves.”

Last May, Rodriguez, then an adjunct professor at Hunter College, was recorded using profanity while expressing displeasure with students organizing an anti-abortion table. He claimed their actions caused pain to others and said, “You’re not educating anything. This is propaganda. What’s next, anti-trans initiatives?” Students for Life USA shared a document of the incident online video.

When a New York Post reporter came to her apartment seeking comment, she was seen holding a razor blade to the reporter’s neck.

She pleaded guilty to harassment and threats related to the attack on the reporter, The Washington Post reported, citing the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.

Rodriguez was sentenced to 13 months of behavioral treatment in October for threatening behavior.