Antisemitism At U.S. Colleges Watchdog Publishes List Of Anti-Israel Middle East Studies Professors

AMCHA, an organization trying to fight Antisemitism at college campuses has published a list of 218 professors identifying themselves as Middle East scholars who recently called for the academic boycott of Israel. AMCHA offered the list as a service to students who might want to avoid those biased professors.

"How can professors who are so biased against the Jewish state accurately or fairly teach students about Israel or the Arab-Israel conflict?” asked Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, AMCHA Initiative co-founder and faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “Students who wish to become better educated without subjecting themselves to anti-Israel bias, or possibly even antisemitic rhetoric, may want to check which faculty members from their university are signatories before registering."

The professors on the list signed a petition identifying themselves as "Middle East scholars" and calling on their colleagues in Middle East Studies "to boycott Israeli academic institutions," and pledging "not to collaborate on projects and events involving Israeli academic institutions, not to teach at or to attend conferences and other events at such institutions, and not to publish in academic journals based in Israel.”

"It's bad enough that these professors have revealed themselves to be wildly biased against one, and only one, Middle Eastern country. Even more troubling, however, is the fact that many of these patently biased boycotters of Israel are affiliated with government-designated, taxpayer-funded National Resource Centers (NRC) on their campuses,” stated Leila Beckwith, AMCHA Initiative cofounder and UCLA emeritus professor. “Clearly NRC-affiliated faculty who have publicly vilified Israel and committed themselves to refusing ‘to collaborate on projects and events involving Israeli institutions’ have violated both the letter and spirit of the federal law which funds their teaching and research.”

Sixteen of the twenty universities receiving federal funding to support Middle East Studies during the 2010 - 2014 NRC grant cycle employ faculty who have displayed their anti-Israel bias by signing the petition to boycott Israeli universities and scholars. These universities include Columbia University, Duke University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Harvard University, New York University, Princeton University, University of California Berkeley, University of California Los Angeles, University of Chicago, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas at Austin, University of Washington Seattle, and Yale University.

The full list of professors and their universities follows:

Note: Universities marked with an asterisk (*) receive federal funding to support programs in Middle East or Near East studies

Bard College
Dina A. Ramadan, Assistant Professor of Arabic

Boston University
Irene L. Gendzier, Professor Emeritus, Political Science

Brown University
Bashir Abu-Manneh, Visiting Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature
Ariella Azoulay, Professor, Comparative Literature
Beshara Doumani, Joukowsky Family Professor of Modern Middle East History

Bryn Mawr College
Peter Magee, Professor, Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology

California Institute of Integral Studies
Sahar Driver, Anthropology and Social Change

California State University Sacramento
Ayad Al-Qazzaz, Professor of Sociology

California State University San Bernadino
Jamal Nassar, Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Central Michigan University
John Robertson, Professor of History

Clark University
Anita Fabos, Associate Professor, Department of International Development, Community, and Environment

College of New Jersey
Miriam Lowi, Professor, Departmet of Political Science

* Columbia University
Nadia Abu El-Haj, Professor of Anthropology
Lila Abu-Lughod, Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science
Gil Andijar, Professor, Departments of Religion and Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS)
Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature
Wael B. Hallaq, Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities
Rhoda Kanaaneh, Adjunct Associate Professor, Middle East Institute
Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies and Professor of History
Mahmood Mamdani, Professor, Department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies
Brinkley Messick, Professor of Anthropology
Timothy Mitchell, Professor, Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies
George Saliba, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Science Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures

College of the Holy Cross
Sahar Bazzaz, Associate Professor, Department of History

College of William and Mary
Mumtaz Ahmad, Professor of Political Science, Distinguished Visiting Scholar
Stephen Sheehi, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Chair of Middle East Studies

Colorado School of Mines
Hussein Amery, Associate Professor, Division of Liberal Arts and Intl. Studies

CUNY Graduate Center
Anthony Alessandrini, Associate Professor
Talal Asad, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology
Marilyn Hacker, Professor
Samira Haj, Professor of History
Christa Salamandra, Associate Professor of Anthropology

Dartmouth College
Lara Harb, Assistant Professor
Christopher MacEvitt, Associate Professor of Religion

Denison College
Isis Nusair, Associate Professor of International Studies and Women’s Studies

* Duke University
Miriam Cooke, Braxton Craven Professor of Arab Cultures
Frances S. Hasso, Associate Professor in Women’s Studies and Sociology
Engseng Ho, Professor, Department of Anthropology
Abdeslam Maghraoui, Associate Professor of Practice, Political Science

Evergreen State College
Sarah Eltantawi, Assistant Professor

Farleigh Dickenson University
Riad Nasser, Professor

Florida International University
Cheryl Rubenberg, Retired Professor, Political Science

Fordham University
Aseel Sawalha, Associate Professor, Anthropology

Frostburg State University
Haiyun Ma, Assistant Professor, Department of History

George Mason University
Bassam Haddad, Associate Professor, Department of Public and International Affairs

* Georgetown University
Osama Abi-Mershed, Associate Professor, Department of History, Director, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
Fida Adely, Associate Professor, School of Foreign Service
Halim Barakat, Retired Professor
Jonathan Brown, Associate Professor, School of Foreign Service
Elliott Colla, Associate Professor, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Rochelle Davis, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Susan Douglass, Education Outreach Director, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
John L. Esposito, University Professor & Founding Director, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
Yvonne Haddad, Professor of History of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
Michael C. Hudson, Professor Emeritus, Walsh School of Foreign Service
Laurie King, Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Lama Abu Odeh, Law Professor
Judith E. Tucker, Professor of History

* George Washington University
Mona Atia, Associate Professor of Geography and International Affairs
Ilana Feldman, Associate Professor, Anthropology, History, and International Affairs
Dina Rizk Khoury, Professor of History
Shira Robinson, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern History

Georgia Tech
Laura Bier, Associate Professor of History

Gettysburg College
Karen Pinto, Assistant Professor
Janet M. Powers, Professor Emerita

Hampshire College
Omar Dahi, Associate Professor of Economics

* Harvard University
Ousmane Kane, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Religion and Society, Harvard Divinity School
Roger Owen, A.J. Meyer Emeritus Professor of Middle East History

Hunter College (CUNY)
Alexander Elinson, Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Department of Classical and Oriental Studies
Christopher Stone, Associate Professor

Illinois State University
Issam Nassar, Professor of Middle East History

Indiana State University
Glenn Perry, Professor Emeritus of Political Science

Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Christine Baker, Assistant Professor

James Madison University
Manal A. Jamal , Associate Professor of Political Science

John Hopkins University
Todd Shepard, Associate Professor, History

Long Island University
Harriet Malinowitz, Professor of English

Loyola Marymount University
Najwa al-Qattan, Associate Professor

Marquette University
Louise Cainkar, Associate Professor of Sociology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sharon C. Smith, Program Head, Agha Khan Documentation Center

Michigan State University
Salah Hassan, Associate Professor

Montana State University Bozeman
Joan Hoff, Research History Professor

Montclair State University
Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Professor and Director, Women and Gender Studies

Morgan State University
Mary Ann Fay, Associate Professor of History

New School for Social Research
Ann Laura Stoler, Willy Brandt Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Historical Studies

* New York University
Bassam Abed, Clinical Professor of Social Science, McGhee Division
Sinan Antoon, Associate Professor
Tamer El-Leithy, Assistant Professor of History, Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies
Finbarr Barry Flood, Professor of Art History
Michael Gilsenan, David B. Kriser Professor in the Humanities
Arang Keshavarzian, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
Josefina Saldaña, Professor, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis
Ella Shohat, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies; Professor, Art and Public Policy, Tisch School of the Arts
Helga Tawil-Souri, Associate Professor

North Carolina State University
Anne Clement, Assistant Professor of History & International Studies

Northeastern University
Ilham Khuri-Makdisi, Associate Professor of History

Northern Arizona University
Yaseen Noorani, Associate Professor, School of Middle East and North African Studies
Scott Reese, Professor of History

Northern Illinois University
Tomis Kapitan, Professor (Emeritus), Philosophy Department

Northwestern University
Katherine Hoffman, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Uri Horesh, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Middle East and North African Studies
Jessica Winegar, Associate Professor, Anthropology

Ohio University
Louis-Georges Schwartz, Associate Professor

Pennsylvania State University – Altoona College
Beth Seymour, Instructor of Anthropology, Communications, History and Women’s Studies

* Princeton University
Richard Falk, Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus
Molly Greene, Professor
Max Weiss, Associate Professor of History and Near Eastern Studies

Queens College – CUNY
Ammiel Alcalay, Professor, Classical, Middle Eastern & Asian Languages & Cultures
Ron Hayduk, Professor, Political Science

Rutgers University – New Brunswick
Toby Jones, Associate Professor
Yasmine Khayyat, Assistant Professor, African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures
Elektra Kostopoulou, Lecturer
Jasbir Puar, Associate Professor
Samah Selim, Associate Professor, Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures

Sacramento City College
Riad Bahhur, Professor, Department of History

St. Lawrence University
John Collins, Professor of Global Studies

St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Betul Basaran, Associate Professor of Religious Studies

St. Olaf College
Linda Mokdad, Assistant Professor

San Francisco State University
Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies/Race and Resistance Studies
Dina Ibrahim, Associate Professor, Media and Communication

Scripps College
Lara Deeb, Professor of Anthropology

Simmons College
Elaine Hagopian, Professor Emerita of Sociology

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Steve Tamari, Associate Professor

Stanford University
Joel Beinin, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East History

SUNY-Plattsburgh
Simona Sharoni, Professor

Swarthmore College
Farha Ghannam, Associate Professor, Anthropology

Syracuse University
Carol Fadda-Conrey, Associate Professor, Syracuse University
Amy Kallander, Associate Professor of Middle East History

Texas State University
Elizabeth Bishop, Associate Professor

Trinity College
Zayde Antrim, Associate Professor of History and International Studies
Vijay Prashad, Professor of International Studies

Tufts University
Kamran Rastegar, German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literatures

University of Arizona
Linda T. Darling, Professor of History

* University of California, Berkeley
Hatem Bazian, Lecturer, Near Eastern Studies and Ethnic Studies
Samera Esmeir, Associate Professor, Department of Rhetoric
Gretchen Head, Visiting Assistant Professor
Charles Hirschkind, Associate Professor, Anthropology
Saba Mahmood, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
Laurence Michalak, Emeritus Vice Chair, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Smadar Lavie, Scholar in Residence, Beatrice Bain Research Group
Minoo Moallem, Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies
Stefania Pandolfo, Professor, Department of Anthropology

University of California, Davis
Omnia El Shakry, Associate Professor, Department of History
Sunaina Maira, Professor
Suad Joseph, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Women’s Studies
Noha Radwan, Associate Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature

University of California, Hastings College of the Law
George Bisharat, Professor

University of California, Irvine
Mark LeVine, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History

* University of California, Los Angeles
Khaled Abou El Fadl, Distinguished Professor of Islamic Law
Nouri Gana, Professor
Sondra Hale, Research Professor/Professor Emerita, Departments of Anthropology and Gender Studies
Gabriel Piterberg, Professor of Middle East History
Aamir Mufti, Associate Professor
Susan Slyomovics, Professor Anthropology

University of California, Riverside
Sherine Hafez, Associate Professor, Women’s Studies and Middle East & Islamic Studies
Jeffrey Sacks, Associate Professor

University of California, San Diego
Michael Provence, Associate Professor of History

University of California, San Francisco
Claudia Chaufan, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Sociology

University of California, Santa Barbara
Nancy Gallagher, Research Professor, Department of History
Adam Sabra, Professor of History and King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud Chair in Islamic Studies
Sherene Seikaly, Assistant Professor, History

University of California, Santa Cruz
Jennifer Derr, Assistant Professor, Department of History
Camilo Gomez-Rivas, Assistant Professor

* University of Chicago
Fred M. Donner, Professor of Near Eastern History, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
Lisa Wedeen, Mary R. Morton Professor of Political Science and the College

University of Colorado, Boulder
John Willis, Associate Professor

University of Connecticut
James C. Faris, Professor Emeritus, Anthropology; Director Emeritus, Program in Middle East Languages and Area Studies

University of Dayton
Ellen Fleischmann, Professor, Department of History

University of Delaware
Muqtedar Khan, Associate Professor

University of Hartford
Robert Lang, Professor of Cinema

University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Ibrahim Aoude, Professor
Farideh Farhi, Lecturer and Affiliate Graduate Faculty of Political Science

University of Illinois at Chicago
Nadine Naber, Associate Professor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne
Asef Bayat, Catherine and Bruce Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies and Professor of Sociology and Middle Eastern Studies
Wail S. Hassan, Professor of Comparative Literature and English
Linda Herrera, Associate Professor
Susan Koshy, Associate Professor
Faranak Miraftab, Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning

University of Iowa
Yasmine Ramadan, Assistant Professor of Arabic

University of Louisville
Julie Peteet, Professor of Anthropology

University of Maryland
Charles Butterworth, Emeritus Professor

University of Mary Washington
Farhang Rouhani, Associate Professor
Ranjit Singh, Associate Professor

University of Massachusetts – Amherst
Laura Doyle, Professor of English

University of Massachusetts – Boston
Leila Farsakh, Associate Professor of Political Science

University of Miami
Christina Civantos, Associate Professor

* University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Evelyn Alsultany, Associate Professor, American Culture
Kathryn Babayan, Associate Professor of History, Director of the Center of Armenian Studies
Rima Hassouneh, Lecturer II, Near Eastern Studies
Khaled Mattawa, Associate Professor, Department of English
Anton Shammas, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Comparative Literature
Ronald Grigor Suny, Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History

* University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Cemil Aydin, Associate Professor of History
Juliane Hammer, Associate Professor, Religious Studies Department
Sarah Shields, Professor
Nadia Yaqub, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Asian Studies

University of North Texas
Nada Shabout, Professor of Art History

* University of Pennsylvania
Anne Norton, Professor of Political Science

University of Pittsburgh
Mohammed Bamyeh, Professor of Sociology

University of Richmond
Sheila Carapico, Professor of Political Science and International Studies

University of Southern California
Sarah Gualtieri, Associate Professor of History and American Studies

* University of Texas at Austin
Kamran Asdar Ali, Associate Professor, Anthropology
Barbara Harlow, Louann and Larry Temple Centennial Professor of English Literature

Univesity of the Pacific
Ahmed Kanna, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, School of International Studies

University of Wasington-Bothell
Karam Dana, Assistant Professor

* University of Washington – Seattle
Arzoo Osanloo, Associate Professor, Law, Societies, and Justice
Chandan Reddy, Associate Professor

University of Wisconsin – Madison
Samer Alatout, Associate Professor, Department of Community & Environmental Sociology

Virginia Commonwealth University
Faedah Totah, Associate Professor, Political Science Department

Wake Forest University
Michaelle Browers, Associate Professor of Politics and International Affairs
Charles Wilkins, Associate Professor, History Department

Wayne State University
Barbara Aswad, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, and Past President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America
May Seikaly, Associate Professor of Modern Middle East History

Wellesley College
Lamia Balafrej, Assistant Professor, Art Department
Lidwien Kapteijns, Professor of History
Sima Shakhsari, Assistant Professor

West Chester University
Lawrence Davidson, Professor of History, Department of History

Whitman College
Elyse Semerdjian, Associate Professor of History

* Yale University
Zareena Grewal, Assistant Professor of American Studies and Religious Studies, Faculty at Council on Middle East Studies
Dimitri Gutas, Professor of Arabic