UCSF professor sues over suspension following Gaza war comments
UCSF professor sues over suspension following Gaza war comments
A University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) professor has filed a lawsuit claiming the university violated her free speech rights after she was suspended for social media comments about Israel’s war in Gaza, The Guardian reported.
Dr. Rupa Marya, a professor of medicine and expert in decolonial theory, was placed on leave in September 2024 after posting on X that Zionism is “a supremacist, racist ideology.” She also questioned whether an Israeli medical student at UCSF had participated in the “genocide of Palestinians.”
UCSF later condemned such remarks, calling them a form of “racist conspiracy theory.” Marya alleges in court filings that her comments targeted state policy and ideology, not religious or ethnic groups. Her lawyer, Mark Kleiman, said she was fired without a proper hearing and that her posts did not interfere with her job performance. The lawsuit also states Marya received threats and harassment over her views.
The case comes amid national debate over academic freedom and rising scrutiny of campus speech on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The U.S. Department of Education recently warned Columbia University about alleged antisemitic incidents during protests, threatening its accreditation.
