Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Society

Illinois Sanctioned By AAUP Over Termination of Professor For Anti-Israeli Views

dJZiSXft_400x400We previously wrote about the decision of the University of Illinois to withdraw the employment of Professor Steven Salaita due to his publication of anti-Israel views on Twitter. I raised concerns over the decision as punishing an academic for views expressed outside of the classroom. It appear that the American Association of University Professors has the same concerns. The AAUP has passed a censure of the University — a significant sanction for a university that has strived to be included among the top school.

Steven Salaita had already been offered a tenured position in the American Indian studies program on the Champaign-Urbana campus and was just waiting for approval by the university’s Board of Trustees, usually a perfunctory stage. However, Salaita posted strongly anti-Israeli sentiments after the start of the recent war in Gaza. After those postings, he was informed that the university was rescinding its offer due to opposition on the board.

Salaita is a former associate professor at Virginia Tech. He was offered the new job with an $85,000 salary last October to begin on January 2014. The University was enthusiastic about his joining the faculty. In a letter from Brian Ross, the interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, he was told “Please let me express my sincere enthusiasm about your joining us. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers a wonderfully supportive community, and it has always taken a high interest in its newcomers. I feel sure that your career can flourish here, and I hope earnestly that you will accept our invitation.” Salaita signed the offer letter and accepted the position.

The situation changed when Salaita turned to Twitter to express his views about the Israeli attacks in Gaza. For example, on June 20, after three Israelis were kidnapped and killed, Salaita wrote: “You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the (expletive) West Bank settlers would go missing.” Then, on July 22, he wrote: “#Israel kills civilians faster than the speed of 4G.”

He has also tweeted that “Zionists: transforming ‘anti-semitism’ from something horrible into something honorable since 1948.” In another tweet he suggested that journalist Jeffrey Goldberg ought to get “the pointy end of a shiv.”

UIUC_seal.svgJust a couple weeks after those tweets, on August 1st, U. of I. Chancellor Phyllis Wise informed Salaita in an email that the offer was being rescinded because his appointment was subject to approval by the university’s board of trustees, and the appointment would not be submitted to the board: “We believe that an affirmative Board vote approving your appointment is unlikely. We therefore will not be in a position to appoint you to the faculty … Thank you for your interest in and consideration of the University of Illinois.”

crnelsonHowever, U. of I. English professor Cary Nelson, former national president of the American Association of University Professors, supports the decision to rescind the offer. He notes that Salaita had not yet been formally hired and that his tweets showed that he was “not the right fit for the campus.” He views the tweets as anti-Semitic and can be viewed as linked to his work: “It is because the tweets are an extension of his publication, they are central to his work and many feel they cross the line into anti-Semitism. The anti-Semitism does (bother me) and what appears to be almost a solicitation of violence.” Nelson has been criticized on the Internet by advocacy groups for being part of an effort to block Salaita due to his views.

However, the connection to his work is precisely the point for many of his supporters who note that the university was already aware of his views since he is the author of a 2011 book, “Israel’s Dead Soul.” He has a long academic interest in colonialism and Palestine. This also includes his book, The Holy Land in Transit: Colonialism and the Quest for Canaan: Middle East Studies Beyond Dominant Paradigms (Syracuse University Press). He is also part of a large number of faculty members who have called for boycotting Israeli academic institutions.

The AAUP has denounced the University of Illinois for violating academic freedom. In an email sent to faculty on Saturday, University Chancellor Phyllis Wise said the decision was “disappointing, but not unexpected.”

There continues to be an uncertain line drawn as to what comments are deemed sufficient to terminate academics as shown recently by the controversy surrounding Saida Grundy at Boston University. For academics, uncertainty over what they can say is a direct threat to academic freedom. There seems no discernible line between comments attacking whites (Grundy) and comments attacking Israel. Indeed, Grundy’s comments referred to students and faculty on campus. We have discussed how people are increasingly being punished for statements on social media. This trend is far more worrisome when it is used to terminate academics for expressing unpopular views or theories. For that reason, as offensive as I found her comments, I viewed Grundy’s comments are protected and supported the decision not to termination her. I prefer a bright line rule than the fluid standard that emerges from these cases.

What do you think?

113 thoughts on “Illinois Sanctioned By AAUP Over Termination of Professor For Anti-Israeli Views”

  6. @Patriot

    Mike Zullo??? Oh, ROTFLMAO!!! This Mike Zullo??? Is this idiot still pulling his scam???

    https://birtherthinktank.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/zullo-in-lederhosen-hotpants1.jpg

    This is just more of the same old song and dance. Yeah, we’re gonna talk to some VIPs, and ya know, try to git this stuff before a committee, and you know, maybe they’ll do something, because we sure can’t, but boy do we ever have some smoking hot suspicions, I mean evidence. Blah. Blah. Blah

    Somehow, I thought when you had a good criminal case, you were supposed to take it to a prosecutor, not to a congressman??? But what is our champion Zullo supposed to do when he has been prissing around for over a year on an investigation, and he doesn’t have any evidence??? Well, he could just come right out and admit there is nothing to the story, and go back home. But that means all the attention ends. Sooo, he tap dances and tries to pass the buck to some un-named VIPs. Then when nothing happens, it’s their fault, not his!

    We will see some more of it. Second verse, same as the first.

    https://birtherthinktank.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/zullo-does-the-same-old-song-and-dance/

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

  10. “As WND reported, Breitbart News originally found a brochure from two decades ago in which literary agency Acton & Dystel promoted Obama as the author of the never-produced “Journeys in Black and White” by declaring Obama was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.”Twelve years later, however, the Dystel of Acton & Dystel was busy promoting Obama’s new book, “Dreams from My Father,” and still touting the author as “born in Kenya.”

    Through the Internet archive Wayback Machine, WND found an August 2003 listing of Dystel & Goderich’s author bios, including the following: “Barack Obama was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He was born in Kenya to an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister, and was raised in Indonesia, Hawaii and Chicago. His first book is ‘Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.”
    http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/shocker-obama-was-still-kenyan-born-in-2003/

  11. @Bams

    I supported her (a lot) in 2008, and even worked in her campaign. But lately, she has pulled some stuff that is just “out there.” The email server, and the whole Foundation scam, and the way she is puppet-ed by her handlers. I am not yet ready to say that her time has come and gone, but I am darn near it. In my defense, I will say that I am 8 years older, now.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

    1. Squeeky and I. Annie

      Honestly, Squeeky, if even a fraction–just a small fraction–of the stuff that’s been attributed to Hillary is true and correct, I have a hard time understanding why she’s not sporting an orange jumpsuit, doing time somewhere and trying her best to make nice with her cellmate, Big Bertha. We’re not talking about small indiscretions on her part. Some of the alleged serious wrongdoings go back decades–decades! My favorite part is when she adopts some strange accent, which she suddenly uses when she addresses a particular crowd, hoping that it will resonate with them. Reminds me of when Madonna decided to speak with a British accent. It suddenly disappeared when her husband, of British background, said ciao to her.

  12. Obama’s Birth Certificate is a Forgery

    “What was presented to the American people is nothing”
    The Following is a Presentation on the Fraudulent Identity Documents of Barack Hussein Obama AKA Barry Soetoro
    Presented by: Mike Zullo, Lead Investigator of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Cold Case Posse
    https://youtu.be/PwDqXFCy0Bo

  13. Squeeky

    I’m astounded that you would ever consider voting for Hillary. She’s got more skeletons in her closet than most serial killers. Lol!

  15. On the topic of Obama being born in Hawaii. Yeah it is a state and it does have a lot of foreign looking folks living there. No one ever says that Obama is White or even half white. He was raised white. Or at least raised by a white mom in Hawaii. Dad was some African fellow. There has never been a shred of evidence that Obama was born over in Africa. The whole thing is a game to get us to dwell on the fact that his dad was not an American and hailed from Africa.

    So we are seven years into it and America has a half black President. Many out here in the hinterlands can not accept it. They say: whats next: a Jew boy? They do say these things. This dog is now hanging out in Florida with my half blind human and we sure hear stuff like that down here. Some of the loudest bigots are from New York City and they moved to Florida to avoid all the real estate taxes in NY and for the warm winters. These old Yorkies can beat a southern born bigot hands down.

  18. @Bams

    I watched Trump announce, and I am excited! I like him better than any other GOP candidate. Frankly, I am having a lot of problems supporting Hillary anymore because of all the crap she is pulling. If elected, Trump would probably go down in history as one of the greatest Presidents ever.

    IMHO.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

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