An instructor at British Columbia’s Langara College who called Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel an “amazing, brilliant offensive” says she’s been reinstated after having previously been suspended for her reprehensible comments.
As reported by the Langara Voice, Natalie Knight, an English instructor and Indigenous curriculum consultant at the college, announced that the college reinstated her while speaking at a protest this week.
“I’ve been reinstated as an instructor with no disciplinary actions, which means we won,” claimed Knight. “It means I did nothing wrong. It means none of you are doing anything wrong.”
Knight also told the Langara Voice she would be returning to the college this semester. “I’m going to be back at work very soon,” she said.
The progressive professor came under fire for celebrating Hamas’ massacre of Israelis at a protest in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery last October.
“This was a feat of determination and ingenuity only eclipsed by the amazing, brilliant offensive waged on Oct. 7,” Knight said at the time.
“United in Struggle upholds the unqualified right to resist and fight back against imperialist aggression, colonialism and genocidal campaigns of the Israeli state.”
Knight was subsequently placed on leave and denounced by Langara, which said her “views do not represent those of the college.”
However, that leave now appears to be over – and news of the instructor’s return to campus is causing ire among other college faculty.
In a statement to True North, Langara economics professor and B.C. Conservative candidate candidate Bryan Breguet said that while he favours free speech, he finds Knight’s actions troubling.
“This news is bringing very mixed feelings to me,” he said. “On one hand, as someone who has regularly advocated against cancel culture and the woke mob on university campuses, I’m happy to see that my own College isn’t like that. On the other hand, what Nathalie Knight said is beyond despicable.”
“The fact she is now celebrating and interpreting her reinstatement as ‘I did nothing wrong’ is troubling to me.”
“The college definitely set a precedent here and it’s hard to imagine what it’d take for someone to face consequences if celebrating the death of over 1,000 Jews isn’t enough,” added Breguet.
Langara College did not provide True North confirmation of Knight’s return or further comment on the matter in time for publication.
