We, the CUPE 1281 Executive wish to express our unwavering solidarity with our member, Dr. Helyeh Doutaghi, an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights who, on March 28, 2025, was unjustly and discriminatorily fired by Yale Law School.

Dr. Helyeh Doutaghi, who is an expert in Third World Approaches to International Law, has worked as the Deputy Director of the Law and Political Economy Project at Yale Law School since 2023. Dr. Doutaghi is a long-time supporter of Palestinian liberation, as well as a critic of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza and the West Bank. (any other details about her support for Palestine, activism, advocacy, academia)

On March 3, a right-wing Zionist AI bot called ‘Jewish Online’ published an article baselessly accusing her of being a “terrorist.” Accordingly, she was subjected to death threats, harassment, and vitriol by online trolls. The University, instead of supporting Dr. Doutaghi or engaging in due process, responded with suspension and a ban from campus. They have since terminated her, falsely claiming she was not cooperative in their clearly biased and presumptive investigative process.

In reality, it is the University that prevented Dr. Doutaghi from partaking in the investigation by: employing a lawyer and firm with ties to Israel, military defense companies, and the US State Department; demanding she meet their lawyer within only a few hours of suspension; refusing her request for more time to prepare even when expressed as a religious accommodation (as it was the month of Ramadan); and declining her request to see their questions in advance.

Proponents of Zionism have long pursued the tactic of labelling its critics as “terrorists.” Such claims are disproportionately used against Muslim activists like Dr. Doutaghi to silence their advocacy and deter others from speaking out. Ironically, the work that Dr. Doutaghi was hired to do at Yale focuses on a critique of laws and sanctions. To terminate her employment when that critique is directed at Israel speaks to the university’s bias, commitment to the Zionist project and its complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

As CUPE 1281 Executive, are horrified by the suppression of Dr. Doutaghi, as well as hundreds of other activists like Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, who have lost their employment, education, citizenship status and freedom as a direct result of their commitment to the Palestinian cause. We condemn the actions of Yale Law School, Columbia University, and all other universities and colleges that have chosen the preservation of a violent supremacist ethnostate over their student and staff’s fundamental rights to freedom of speech and association.

We call on all members, the labour movement, and progressive organizations to support Dr. Helyeh Doutaghi. See the call to action here: End the Repression of Academic Freedom: Reinstate Dr. Doutaghi Now!