Eve Tuck, a prominent scholar in the fields of critical race and indigenous studies, has leveraged her academic position at NYU to normalize pro-terror rhetoric, justify antisemitic violence, and embed anti-Israel ideologies into activist-academic discourse. Tuck’s legacy of radicalization is steeped in decolonial frameworks that have been repurposed to excuse the atrocities committed on October 7, 2023, and to legitimize the rhetoric of violent resistance.
Whitewashing Terrorism Under the Banner of “Resistance”
- On October 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists carried out a massacre of 1,200 Israelis—including mass rape, torture, and kidnapping—Eve Tuck posted on Bluesky:
“Unprovoked is a dishonest framing. A free Palestine is possible because of how Palestinians have worked to keep alive and remake other framings, other futures.”
This statement deflects blame from the perpetrators, and implies that the mass killing of civilians is part of a “remaking of futures.” It is an ideological justification of terror in the name of resistance.
- On October 11 and 13, Tuck posted further tweets in defense of Palestinian “resistance,” just days after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust—adopting the rhetorical framework used to justify Hamas violence.
Signed Multiple Letters Demonizing Israel and Excusing Violence
- Signed “Feminists for a Free Palestine” statement demanding an end to Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, calling the war a “genocide,” and refusing to acknowledge Israeli victims.
- Signed calls for boycott and sanctions against Israel after October 7, while ignoring or minimizing Hamas’s crimes—part of a pattern of erasing Jewish suffering while elevating violent “decolonization” narratives.
Her Work Fueled Post-October 7 Radical Slogans
Tuck is best known for co-authoring the 2012 paper “Decolonization is Not a Metaphor” with K. Wayne Yang, which became a central text in radical academic circles. The paper insists that decolonization must involve the literal return of land and rejection of metaphorical interpretations.
Following the October 7 Hamas attack, this phrase was adopted as a slogan by activists who celebrated the massacres—claiming they were enacting decolonization. Tuck’s work was not only referenced but weaponized to legitimize the violence.
Promoting a Framework That Excludes Jewish Identity
In Tuck’s worldview, Zionism and Jewish indigeneity are denied entirely. Her activism centers solely on Palestinian narratives, often framing Jews as settler-colonial aggressors, with no acknowledgment of Jewish historical or indigenous ties to the land of Israel.
By doing so, she propagates a one-sided view of decolonization that delegitimizes the Jewish right to self-determination—a clear violation of academic neutrality and inclusivity.
Appointed to Lead NYU’s New Indigenous Studies Program
In 2023, NYU appointed Tuck to head its new Indigenous Studies Center—despite her record of inflammatory rhetoric and endorsement of groups promoting radical, exclusionary ideologies. Her leadership risks turning the program into a platform for ideological extremism rather than scholarship.
Bottom Line:
Eve Tuck is not an impartial educator—she is a vocal ideological actor who uses the language of liberation and decolonization to justify antisemitic violence, promote radical anti-Israel activism, and silence competing narratives.
Her influence is academic, institutional, and rhetorical—and it is dangerous. NYU’s decision to elevate her to a leadership position sends a chilling message: that defending terror and spreading antisemitic frameworks is acceptable under the veil of scholarship.
