Summary
A Palestinian-American anthropologist at Barnard College whose book critiquing Israel’s use of archaeology to justify governmental policies came under fire from Israel advocates, and who was attacked during her tenure process in 2007 by Barnard alumnae supported by Israel advocacy organisations, after approval by three of four academic committees, in The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in the US (PDF p.33).
Details
- An alumna living on an Israeli settlement started a petition adopting a line of critique later shown to be misleading and inaccurate; several Israel advocacy organisations posted reviews intended to attack her scholarship, and a history faculty member disparaged her research in the school newspaper and at lectures organised by the campus Israel advocacy group LionPAC (PDF p.33).
- Prominent professors spoke out against the attacks and the administration’s failure to defend academic freedom; Barnard eventually granted her tenure after a lengthy, contentious process (PDF p.33).
- Abu El-Haj removed her office contact information from the school directory out of concern for her own safety and shares her personal phone number only with close friends (PDF p.33).
Related pages
The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in the US, Academic freedom, Joseph Massad