The University of Kentucky, a highly-ranked public school based in Lexington, put a law professor on leave on Friday for penning and circulating a petition that demands “that every country in the world make war on Israel immediately and until such time as Israel has submitted permanently and unconditionally to the government of Palestine everywhere from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.”
Ramsi Woodcock, a professor at the school’s J. David Rosenberg College of Law, signed the petition, which calls Israel “the last major Western colony remaining in Africa or the Middle East” and says that the Jewish state “has committed genocide, extermination and forced displacement against the native population of Palestine since her inception in 1948.”
Eli Capilouto, president of the university, stated that the public school had learned of “an online petition calling for the destruction of a people based on national origin” and that it “appears to be authored by a university employee, who is circulating it broadly online.”
“We condemn any call for violence, and the views expressed online certainly do not represent the institution’s views. They express hate,” stated Dr. Capilouto, who trained as a dentist. “The views expressed by this employee, if accurately attributed, are repugnant.”
The employee “has been removed, pending an investigation, from any teaching and classroom responsibilities,” the university president said. (JNS sought comment J. David Rosenberg, the law school’s namesake and a senior partner at the Cincinnati law firm Keating Muething and Klekamp.)
Woodcock, whose social media account links to the petition, told JNS that the university president’s “public mischaracterization” of his position “is defamatory and dangerous” and “an intolerable assault on academic freedom and free speech.”
The Kentucky Jewish Council, which is run by Shlomo Litvin, a Chabad rabbi, stated that it welcomes Woodcock’s suspension and supports “the ongoing investigation and disciplinary proceedings.”
