Sep 10, 2014 05:00 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Steven Salaita, the 38-year-old controversial professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is threatening that if he is not reinstated he will pursue legal action.

Salaita's job as a tenured professor in the American Indian studies program, was set to begin Aug. 16. However, the pro-Palestinian college professor lost his tenure position on Aug.1 after he posted anti-Israel tweets about the war in Gaza.

An excerpt of those posts with vulgar language:

"#Israel's message to #Obama and #Kerry: we'll kill as many Palestinians as we want, when we want. p.s.: f--- you, pay me. #Gaza"

Another post read, "Only #Israel can murder around 300 children in the span of a few weeks and insist that it is the victim. #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack."

Salaita said that the abrupt termination caused personal hardships to him and his family. In the first public address since the controversy, the professor said that the school's chancellor and board of trustees have stooped to a "perilous standard".

"I reiterate the demand that the University recognize the importance of respecting the faculty's hiring decision and reinstate me," Salaita said at a press conference Tuesday. "It is my sincere hope that I can -- as a member of this academic institution -- engage with the entire University community in a constructive conversation about the substance of my viewpoints on Palestinian human rights and about the values of academic freedom," Huffington Post reports.

The decision to block the appointment triggered numerous student protests. The faculty claimed that the University was censoring speech and hence, violating the principles of free speech and academic freedom intended to protect individuals with controversial views. The incident has also highlighted the role of employee's social media posts on their employment status.

Baher Azmy, the legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, described the dismissal as a violation of First Amendment rights.

"He resigned from a job that gave him tenure, the pinnacle of academic achievement, with the expectation that he would have tenure at the next university and it was taken away in an unlawfully retaliatory way for his political views," Azmy said, wptz reports.

Despite numerous pleas for his recall, Chancellor Phyllis Wise said that there is "no possibility" that Salaita will return to campus.

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