US academic’s tirade calling Jewish professor ‘colonizer’ found to be antisemitic harassment |
An expletive-laden outburst last year by a City College of San Francisco (CCSF) staff member that included calling a Jewish professor a “colonizer” constitutes unlawful harassment and discrimination based on her Jewish identity, an independent investigation has found.
The finding sets a precedent that attacking Jews as “colonizers” may be regarded as illegal harassment, according to a statement Tuesday by StandWithUs and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights, which represented the targeted academic, Computer Networking and Information Technology Professor Abigail Bornstein.
During a public CCSF Board of Trustees meeting on May 29, 2025, after Bornstein opposed a proposed budget item, the local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) president, Maria Salazar-Colon, aggressively chastised her, speaking by video link.
“I really wish that that colonizer, Abigail Dumb-stein, would shut her damn mouth and not speak on SEIU items,” she charged, adding that Bornstein was “dumber than a bag of rocks” and should “shut the fuck up.” She added: “I’m sick of her shit. Shut the fuck up,” before abruptly ending her 90-second rant.
During that meeting, Salazar-Colon sent Bornstein an email that, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, read, in all-caps: “YOU LACK THE POWER TO STOP OR CONTROL SEIU, AND YOU NEVER WILL! ACCEPT THAT, COLONIZER!”
“As a result of these incidents, Professor Bornstein feared for her safety, reported the conduct to campus authorities and the........