Israelis Fleeing Attack Were “Cowards,” According to Apparent UNC History Instructor
Via Twitter
Same instructor drew media attention two years ago over accusations of antisemitism
UNC’s website indicates she again taught a class last semester that covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
On Oct. 7, as Hamas’s terror attack was underway, UNC graduate student Kylie Broderick, who UNC’s website lists as a history instructor, called fleeing Israelis “cowards…who are now running when they find out the consequences of living on someone else’s land.”
Her tweet references a video of Israelis running frantically into an airport with rocket sirens sounding in the background.
Five days after the massacre, Broderick tweeted: “We make a stand now in support of justice and freedom in Palestine, for Palestinians. There is no second option. Hold your nerve. Take a deep breath. Let’s go.”
That same day, Oct. 12, Broderick published an op-ed describing Hamas’s civilian massacre this way: “On October 7, Hamas began an assault against the colonial power of Israel by launching an attack that captured dozens of illegal Israeli settlements and took down the occupation’s military outposts.”
She argued Hamas’s atrocities are protected under international law. They are “the messy reality of casting off one’s shackles,” she wrote, and Israelis are aggressors, not victims.
UNC’s Department of History lists Broderick as a current PhD candidate. Her Twitter bio also lists her as a current PhD candidate.
According to UNC’s website, Broderick was a Spring 2023 instructor for HIST 140: The World Since 1945. A syllabus for HIST 140 on UNC’s website indicates the course covers the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among other topics.
We are publishing this post because UNC’s website lists Broderick as an instructor who teaches students about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not because Broderick is a graduate student.
Readily available information suggests Broderick is still a graduate instructor in good standing. Aside from UNC’s website listing Broderick as an instructor, we could not otherwise confirm that Broderick taught the course. We have taken care to use verbiage throughout this post that leaves open the possibility that UNC’s website is incorrect.
All of this might be dismissed as one graduate student making controversial public statements that the larger University community probably doesn’t even know about, and that shouldn’t warrant much attention.
But Broderick is listed on UNC’s website as someone who teaches UNC students about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
What’s more, this isn’t the first time Broderick has made such statements.
In 2021, Broderick made headlines because of “accusations of antisemitism” when she was slated to teach a course titled, “The Conflict Over Israel and Palestine.”
Students found social media posts in which Broderick referred to “Zionist dirtbags” and called the U.S. “an imperialist death cult.”
One student told ABC 11 in 2021, “It feels very similar to how Jews have been talked about in the past, especially with violent antisemitism in the Holocaust. I think it's just a new mutation of what antisemitism is today."
The Jewish Federation of Greater Raleigh wrote a letter to Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz at the time that read, in part, “We have come to understand that Ms. Broderick holds extremely one-sided, antisemitic views that we fear will prevent her from ensuring an academically safe space for the students of the course.”
The University responded publicly to the controversy at the time, saying in part, “Especially with regard to courses covering content that could be considered controversial, the University provides extra structural support for instructors and for students.”
The only other indication of action the University took in 2021 is a tweet from Broderick herself last month. In that tweet, which referenced a message from Chancellor Guskiewicz on the Hamas attack, Broderick wrote: “So much for the so-called ‘objectivity’ this university demanded from me in 2021…What a joke @UNC is.”
It does not appear Broderick sees any separation between private activism and work in the classroom. Just a few days ago, she tweeted: “Academia isn’t worth anything if it doesn’t stand for the basic necessity of speaking the truth…Professors: Speak these truths or what good are you?”
