Cooper Union, the university where a New York City professor was employed, sacked her for her anti-Israel tirades after she was seen on tape putting a machete to the neck of a New York Post writer. In an email to students, Shellyne Rodriguez, 47, claimed that Cooper Union fired her due to a social media post she had made about Zionists.
Later, the Cooper Union Students for Justice in Palestine posted her email on Instagram. This, she wrote, is fascism. “You guys are picking it up in real time.”
Rodriguez claimed she was let go for making “public remarks about ‘Zionists'” in an Instagram post. The account is now private for her. It’s unclear whether remarks or posts caused her to lose her job.
But during a panel discussion at CUNY for Palestine in January, Rodriguez was accused by others of making antisemitic slurs. Additionally, she altered a flier she uploaded on Instagram to make it appear as though it was covered in cockroaches and promoted an event in support of Israel.
Among the attendees was Rubén Díaz Jr., the former president of the Bronx Borough. Rodriguez captioned the photo, saying, “Look at this dirty f—ing roach, former Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr., a Zionist lapdog.”
The professor’s dismissal was denounced by the pro-Palestinian student organisation as “an intense escalation of repression” that “must be resisted.” In a letter to the administration, the group claimed that “the Cooper Union wrongfully terminated a valued educator who is indispensable to the community and the academic livelihood of students,” as reported by the New York Post.
Some people felt that terminating her was a necessary move. According to Jeffrey Lax, a law professor at CUNY and co-founder of Students and Faculty for Equality at CUNY, “Jewish students at Cooper Union are very relieved that they fired her.” Her remarks were abhorrent.
“Normally, I would say that the university deserves praise for acting against this professor, but in this particular instance, how can I say that?” The last thing she did before they hired her was much worse. She really put a knife to a reporter’s throat, Lax said. “They ought to feel ashamed of themselves; they are not worthy of praise.”
At Hunter College in CUNY in May 2023, Rodriguez cursed at a group of pro-life students who were passing out information about abortion. She was a teacher here at the time.
Later, the New York Post went to her Bronx flat to get a comment. Rodriguez, infuriated, put a machete to a reporter’s throat. She said, “Get the f–k away from my door or I’m going to chop you up with this machete!” Hunter sacked her that same day.
In relation to the machete incident, Rodriguez entered a guilty plea to harassing and menacing, according to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. She entered into a conditional plea deal requiring her to undergo a rehabilitation programme. If she is found guilty, the DA’s office stated that she will be subjected to a conditional discharge and may withdraw her misdemeanour plea.