The recent dismissal of Dr. Helyeh Doutaghi, a prominent Iranian scholar and deputy director of Yale Law School’s Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project, exposed the growing threats to academic and political freedom across the United States and other Western countries, according to a group of international scholars, lawyers, and activists.

Nearly 150 Iranian and international organizations and figures issued a joint statement saying Dr. Doutaghi’s termination resulted directly from her unwavering condemnation of the genocide in Gaza and her advocacy for Palestinian rights.

“We, the undersigned, condemn Yale University’s decision to terminate Dr. Helyeh Doutaghi as part of a coordinated effort to silence voices opposing genocide and US imperialist policies. We demand the immediate retraction of all unsubstantiated charges against Dr. Doutaghi in the United States and a formal apology from Yale University and compensation for damages inflicted on Dr. Doutaghi,” the statement read.

“Moreover, we call for an end to the intimidation of academics and activists in Western institutions across the US, Europe, and Canada.”

The statement further pointed out that the dismissal of an academic solely for expressing political views exposes the hypocrisy of Western claims to democracy, free speech, academic freedom, and the right to protest.

“Academic repression and the systemic erasure of dissenting voices are tools to entrench hegemonic narratives and uphold imperialist educational structures,” the statement noted.

“As Dr. Doutaghi has highlighted, we are witnessing a resurgence of Zionist-inflected McCarthyism in the US, aimed at stifling criticism of Israel. This new wave of ideological purges, career blacklisting, and performative condemnations mirrors the Cold War-era tactics of the 1950s, now repackaged under a 21st-century imperialist-Zionist agenda.” 

In this climate, resistance to the imperialist-Zionist suppression of free thought and dissent is not optional—it is a moral imperative for all justice-seeking people worldwide, the scholars emphasized. 

“As Iran’s Leader emphasized in his Eid al-Fitr address, the Zionist regime in West Asia acts as a colonial proxy for Western powers, sustaining their machinery of violence and oppression,” they noted. 

On March 28,  Doutaghi was dismissed from her position. Yale’s decision followed a smear campaign led by a Zionist-aligned media outlet, which utilized AI-generated fabrications and Yale’s employment of a pro-Israel legal advisor and military contractors.

She has already rejected the accusations, asserting that engaging with such processes will legitimize the Zionist child-killing forces and would undermine the principles of due process. 

Her Iranian identity has further compounded this repression, as the US and its allies escalate warmongering policies and economic sanctions against Iran while silencing dissent.

Doutaghi’s removal occurred amid an unprecedented US government crackdown targeting scholars, students, and activists who oppose genocide and advocate for peace, both on campuses and in public spaces.

These attacks aim to terrorize and silence the countless advocates who have courageously amplified Palestinian resistance and the call for freedom, the scholars said in their statement. 

“We urge academic, student, and political movements worldwide who stood firm against imperialist-Zionist coercion, to raise their voices about the genocide and defend the Palestinian right to resist.” 

The effectiveness of the Geneva Conventions has been “questioned” over the years in the context of Western military aggression and their colonial proxies, says a legal scholar.

In an interview with the Press TV website, Doutaghi said the effectiveness of international conventions has come under criticism, particularly by critical international lawyers, “in the context of Western military aggressions and their colonial proxies, such as the Zionist entity.”

“These critics highlight how international humanitarian law (IHL) can facilitate and legitimize conduct by providing exceptions and justifications for actions that might otherwise be prohibited,” she stressed.

“Notably, IHL has never led to the prosecution of any American war crimes, despite admissions by the US military of violations of the principle of distinction between civilians and combatants.”