'Fascistic governance’ being normalized at top US universities: Fired Yale Iranian scholar

An Iranian scholar at Yale Law School, who was fired for her outspoken criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip, has condemned the move as a normalization of "fascistic governance" at top universities in the United States.

Helyeh Doutaghi, who served as the Deputy Director of the Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project at Yale, made the remarks in a post on X on Tuesday, saying she was "terminated based on unproven allegations, absent any due process or substantiated claim.”

“What is taking place in the US at institutions like Yale, Cornell, Columbia, and Harvard is the normalization of fascistic governance,” she said, adding that her dismissal for her criticism of Israel is part of a broader, violent nationwide crackdown on dissident.

Doutaghi further noted, “Neither YLS nor any Zionist report (or both!) has presented a single shred of evidence demonstrating any unlawful connection or act on my part,” stressing that her termination could set “a chilling precedent.”

"What we are witnessing unfold is not the failure of democracy – this is Western liberal democracy itself," she said, accusing US universities of enforcing “institutional gag orders” and becoming “active collaborators in silencing dissent and criminalizing resistance.”

“Functioning as effective sites of surveillance and oppression, these institutions—in collaboration with the repressive state apparatus—are setting new and dangerous precedents for rules of engagement across the country,” she argued.

Doutaghi was fired on Friday, three weeks after being put on administrative leave following allegations of having “terrorist connections” by AI-powered right-wing Zionist platform, "Jewish Onliner."

The Iranian-born scholar, who has been vocal about the implications of US military operations, imperialism and the US-Zionist genocide and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine, reported that the accusations from the article have led to online harassment and even death threats against her.

She criticized the administration for conducting an interrogation based on AI-generated allegations without due process or providing her with sufficient time to attend an interrogation.

Doutaghi’s removal from her post comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump is investigating scores of universities for what it claims to be anti-Semitic acts following months-long academic demonstrations in support of Palestinians enduring Israel’s brutal aggression on Gaza.

Yale suspends Iranian scholar after AI site said she supports a pro-Palestine group

Yale Law School has suspended an Iranian scholar following accusations stemming from an Israeli AI-powered website article on her advocacy for Palestine and Iran.

Back in March, the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) said it was investigating 60 universities for anti-Semitism, and that they were receiving warnings due to allegedly not protecting Jewish students during mass anti-Israel rallies in American universities and colleges.

The investigations came days after the US federal government cut off $400 million in funding to Columbia University over alleged inaction in handling anti-Semitism complaints, with OCR announcing prioritization in addressing the backlog of anti-Semitism allegations at schools with its office. 

The case of Columbia University represented the federal government’s first round of university grant cancellations pursuant to Trump’s Executive Order on Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism.

Trump signed an executive order in January to combat what was claimed to be anti-Semitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests that have been ongoing for months amid Israel’s barbaric aggression on Gaza, where Israeli attacks since October 2023 have killed more than 50,000 Palestinians.

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