While the Columbia University campus has mostly emptied out for summer vacation, the school is charging forward with an investigation into a prominent law school professor over comments that were misconstrued by supporters of Israel.
The university recently deposed tenured law professor Katherine Franke as part of an investigation stemming from an interview she gave to “Democracy Now!” in January. During that interview, Franke was asked about allegations that two students who had previously served in the Israeli army had sprayed a chemical at their classmates at an on-campus rally for Gaza.
Franke, who has worked at the school for decades, responded by linking the incident to a documented pattern of on-campus harassment that Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students have alleged for years.
“Columbia has a program with older students from other countries, including Israel,” Franke said, referring to…