A political science professor at the College of San Mateo is being investigated for what some say were anti-Semitic remarks to a student newspaper in Los Altos.
In an interview with a student paper at Foothill College, where he also teaches, Leighton Armitage said of Israeli treatment of Palestinians, "And what they're doing with Palestinians every day? They're killing them. They're walling them in, they're essentially doing the same thing that was done to them ... It's exactly what Hitler did to the Jews."
Now school officials at Foothill College say they're looking into the matter and may even investigate the student paper that published the interview. Whether they will take disciplinary action is yet to be determined.
Armitage said he's already "taking too much heat" about his remarks and declined to comment.
Over at the College of San Mateo, however, school officials haven't even heard of the matter. Trustee Karen Schwarz said the first step would be an investigation into whether the remarks were anti-Semitic.
"We want to see both sides to every story," Schwarz said.
Recommended for you
Director of Human Resources Harry Joel said the district doesn't comment on personnel matters.
"I'm sure the president will take adequate action," said Scott Lipsig, editor emeritus of the Sentinel at Foothill College.
After the Sentinel printed the remarks Jan. 28, Lipsig said students began talking about it on campus. In particular, he said members of the Jewish Student Union and Republican Club were offended by the comments.
Lipsig said he wasn't thrilled with the comments either, but isn't sure if they were anti-Semitic. Although he doesn't think the comments were taken out of context, Lipsig said he said he thinks the paper should have prefaced the interview with a warning or explanation. Lipsig said the paper will be issuing an apology.
Whether professors at the College of San Mateo can continue to teach while under investigation depends on the severity of the situation, Schwarz said. In her three terms on the board, Schwarz said she can't remember an incident like this occurring the district.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.