Zionists are students too: University professors should take heed

Muhlenberg College Professor Maura Finkelstein drew national attention when she claimed to have been fired from her tenured position for “pro-Palestinian speech.” 

Finkelstein has indeed been fired (pending one last-ditch appeal), and it is fair to ask whether the penalty is proportionate to her conduct. But it is seriously misleading to assert that she was dismissed for pro-Palestinian speech.  

Based on Finkelstein’s side of the story — the college has not responded publicly due to confidentiality concerns — she quickly drew support from the American Association of University Professors, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and prominent academic associations, arguing that her dismissal undermines the principles of free expression and academic freedom. 

Finkelstein’s words, however, as well as information recently released by the U.S. Department of Education, show that she actually engaged in professional misconduct involving profound disregard for the educational rights of many Muhlenberg students.  

According to Finkelstein, she was found to have committed “bias-related conduct” by posting a statement from a Palestinian-American poet on her Instagram account:  

“Do not cower to Zionists. . . . Shame them. Do not welcome them in your spaces. Do not make them feel comfortable. Why should those genocide-loving fascists be treated any different than any other flat-out racist. Don’t normalize Zionism. Don’t normalize Zionists taking up space,” the post reads. 

This is not simply pro-Palestinian speech. Coming from a professor of cultural anthropology, even as a repost, it urges the belittlement and exclusion of most of her Jewish students, a significant majority of whom would be described as Zionists according to recent surveys.  

In a sympathetic interview with The Intercept, which introduced her as “the first tenured professor to be fired for pro-Palestine speech,” Finkelstein maintained that “only one of her previous students had complained about her.” 

In fact, as documented by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, at least eight students made “shared ancestry” complaints against Finkelstein, based on “comments in class and on social media.” 

In addition, OCR noted that Finkelstein had “entered the Hillel space on campus, photographed a student fundraising display for ‘the various war efforts in Israel’ and posted denigrating comments on Instagram regarding the students.” 

Dismissal from a tenured appointment is a harsh consequence for a couple of Instagram posts. The Muhlenberg administration has intimated that there is more to the case. But if not, it does appear that Finkelstein may have been over-penalized.  

But even then, it is disingenuous for her to insist that she has been “fired for criticizing a foreign government.” 

In her interview with The Intercept, Finkelstein doubled down on approval for shaming and exclusion, explaining what she “meant by Zionist.” 

“Judaism is a religion,” she said, but “Zionism is a political ideology,” which is not a legally “protected class.”  

For many Jews, Zionism does have a religious dimension, which is not for Finkelstein to deny. No matter how many of Muhlenberg’s Jewish students identify closely with Israel — for religious, “shared ancestry” or other reasons — it is still Finkelstein’s job to make all of them welcome and allowed to take up “space” in her classroom.  

But put that aside.  

Political ideology discrimination may not violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, but it is nonetheless misconduct for a college professor. Although Finkelstein may declare that she is fair to everyone in her classes, she denounces what she derisively calls the “both sides” discourse. 

And, in any case, she has forfeited the trust of “Zionist” students, by any definition, who have ample reason to believe that she will shame and demean them. 

Under the American Association of University Professors widely followed Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, “a faculty member’s expression of opinion as a citizen cannot constitute grounds for dismissal unless it clearly demonstrates the faculty member’s unfitness for his or her position.” 

Is a professor fit to teach undergraduates, some of whom are “Zionists,” if she has inveighed against “normalizing” their presence in her space, which presumably would include her classroom? 

Muhlenberg students have reasonably “reported significant anxiety and fear” resulting from Finkelstein’s conduct, which is consistent with a 2024 national survey of Jewish college students finding that over one-third have felt the need to hide their Jewishness on campus.  

The American Association of University Professors has initiated an investigation of Finkelstein’s case, in which it also intends to address “whether expressions of opposition to Zionism or the government of Israel can be tantamount to antisemitism, discrimination and harassment of students.” 

Given the phrasing — “can be tantamount” — the affirmative answer should be obvious to anyone with the slightest knowledge of history. 

The American Association of University Professors, however, does not have an exemplary record on this issue. It has declared that antisemitism should not be covered as a “special form of discrimination” in civil rights legislation but addressed only “as religious or race discrimination.”

It remains to be seen whether the legitimate concerns of Jewish students and the unmistakable evidence of political discrimination will play any part in the American Association of University Professors investigators’ conclusions.  

Steven Lubet is the Williams Memorial Professor Emeritus at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.