A university professor who was previously fired for an armed confrontation with a reporter was also fired from his new teaching position in January, the New York Post reported.
Shereen Rodriguez, who previously allegedly threatened a reporter with a machete, was fired from her new position as an adjunct professor at New York's Cooper Union after making anti-Israel comments. according to To the outlet.
New York City professor Shereen Rodriguez, who held a machete to Post reporter's neck, fired from Cooper Union for anti-Israel abuse https://t.co/jUIfX1kce7
— Jeffrey Zimmerman (@Zimmlaw175) February 4, 2024
After being fired, Rodriguez sent an email to students on Jan. 23, which was shared on Instagram the next day by the Cooper Student Coalition for Justice in Palestine, the paper said. The ousted educator took to social media to blame his own firing on “public comments about 'Zionists,'” according to the report.
“The role of artists in society is to hold up a mirror and tell the truth,” Rodriguez wrote in an email. “This is fascism. You're all learning about it in real time.”
Rodriguez is not listed as an adjunct professor on Cooper Union's faculty page, the paper said. The specific comments that led to her firing were not disclosed.
Rodriguez is an outspoken anti-Israel activist who participated in the “CUNY for Palestine'' panel in January. She encouraged others to protest against landowners and business owners with ties to Israel. (Related article: 'You're full of shit!': Condemns protester Brian Mast who called UN 'stupid' for establishing UNRWA)
Critics said the former university professor frequently evoked anti-Semitic stereotypes, according to the paper. She posted a flyer for a pro-Israel event edited with a cockroach on top, according to screenshots obtained by the report. She also called former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, who attended the event, a “dirty fucking cockroach,” according to the paper.
Rodriguez was charged with intimidation and harassment after he allegedly held a machete to the neck of New York Post reporter Ruben Fenton in May 2023. Rodriguez was fired from Hunter College shortly after the video of the encounter went viral.
