Jemma Decristo is an assistant professor at UC Davis, who has called for violence against “Zionist” journalists and their children — it appears she means not just Israeli citizens, but Jews everywhere who support Israel as well. More on her grotesque threats can be found here: “US Professor Remains on University Staff After Tweet Threatening Jewish Journalists, Their Children,” by Dion J. Pierre, Algemeiner, October 20, 2023:
The University of California (UC) Davis has kept a professor on staff after she appeared to call for violence against Jewish journalists and their children following the Hamas terror group’s massacre of over 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians, earlier this month.
Jemma Decristo, an assistant professor in American studies at UC Davis, made the apparent threat on X/Twitter on Oct. 10, three days after Hamas invaded Israel.
One group of ppl [sic] we have easy access to in the US is all these Zionist journalists who spread propaganda & misinformation,” Decristo wrote. “They have houses [with] addresses, kids in school. They can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more.” The message was followed by images of a knife, an axe, and three blood-drop emojis.
Her threat is unmistakable and unnerving. It is this: “We who support the Palestinians know where the Zionist journalists live, we know where their kids go to school. They can’t hide from us, and should be very very worried.” And then her message of violence ends with images of a knife, an axe, and drops of blood.
UC Davis Chancellor Gary May disavowed Decristo’s comments in a statement issued on Thursday.
“I absolutely condemn the posts attributed to a UC Davis faculty member that recently appeared on the social media platform X. I find the comments revolting in every way, and I disagree wholeheartedly with them,” May said. “UC Davis rejects all forms of violence and discrimination, as they are antithetical to the values of our university. We strive to foster a climate of equity and justice built on mutual understanding and respect for all members of the community.”
May noted, however, that the professor remains on staff as the university investigates the matter.
“We can confirm that the provost will refer this matter to the appropriate campus departments that investigate harassment, discrimination, and faculty conduct, in consultation with legal counsel regarding First Amendment rights,” he said. “Some have asked why this faculty member continues to be employed at UC Davis. The University of California system has specific procedures for the review of complaints of faculty misconduct consistent with university-wide policies and bylaws. The status of complaints lodged against faculty members are confidential personnel matters, so we are unable to publicly comment on the steps we are taking.”
Decristo does not have tenure. She could be terminated for cause without much ado. What cause? Making antisemitic death threats in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in Israel should be more than enough to qualify as “faculty misconduct.” After all, if Decristo had made death threats, instead, to “black journalists” or to “Muslim journalists” or “LGBTQ journalists,” does anyone think she would still be on campus, and still have her job? But when it is “Zionist journalists” who are being threatened, the UC Davis administrators think that she should remain in her job, not even be placed on administrative leave, until — now comes the bureaucratese — there can be a “review of complaints of faculty misconduct consistent with university-wide policies and bylaws.” How long will that take, while Assistant Professor Decristo continues to teach, continues to receive a salary provided by the taxpayers of California, continues to poison the minds of her students in American history with offhand remarks about the “colonial-settler apartheid state of Israel” and the power of Jews in the media?
Decristo, who describes herself as a “black anarchist” on X, has made her posts available only to “approved followers” following the backlash she received.
Still, Decristo hasn’t been fired, hasn’t been reprimanded, hasn’t been put on unpaid or even paid leave. And there is a strong possibility that the administrators at UC Davis, after conducting their own investigation, will pusillanimously decide that she was merely expressing an opinion and should not lose her job. They will claim, in other words, that the voicing of death threats by Decristo, and her unsubtle encouragement of others to carry out such threats, against “Jewish journalists,” do not constitute a “hate crime.” But perhaps UC Davis will do the right thing, and fire Decristo. Her continued presence on the campus creates an atmosphere of fear for Jewish students. Besides, she can always find a teaching job at Birzeit or Al-Quds universities.