Despite the ongoing genocidal campaign unleashed by Israel on Gaza and now Lebanon, we continue to witness a major wave of universities-led censorship, tenure denial, and students’ disciplining related to 🇵🇸 across Western educational universities. In such a context, Middle East Critique is proud to present our third and most timely issue 33.3 of 2024:
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞
(guest editors @walqaisiya & @PeruginiNic)
The theme could not be more significant, and the list of contributions—combining research articles and essasy (almost all in Open Access (OA))—are so enlightening.
Check it out:
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ccri20/33/3
The issue starts with the Intro by @PeruginiNic and @walqaisiya that builds on the work of Edward Said, and shows how Palestine constitutes a unique question with special status in international academic spaces in the West, generating new forms of repression and resistance in the academic space.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 (Free Access)
►https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2384009
The first article (by Lara Deeb and Jessica Winegar) argues that there has been a continuous interrelationship between resistance and repression, always in relationship to events in the Middle East and the 🇺🇸. Drawing on their experience with academic @BDSmovement at @AmericanAnthro, they argue that understanding this history is necessary for building a more broad-based, international, and intersectional movement for liberation.
𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐚
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2375669
Drawing on his personal experiences of repression, a poignant essay by @somdeep_sen argues that the academic repression of Palestine solidarity follows the discursive legacies of the Global War on Terror that bifurcates the world into ‘good’ and ‘evil.’
‘𝐀𝐱𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥’ 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2370658
@nevegordon offers a theoretical reflection on the cultural and political work the IHRA definition of antisemitism carries out. The analysis reveals that the IHRA definition of antisemitism serves as a counterinsurgency tool aimed at shielding Israel from resistance to its oppressive form of racial governance and, following its recent war on Gaza, from accusations of genocidal violence.
𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐙𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐇𝐑𝐀 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (Open Access)
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2330821
Another essay, this time by @stevesalaita, explores how discourses around free speech are weaponized to exercise repression against those expressing pro-Palestine sentiment.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2342667
The research article by Author Collective scapa ﺷﺎھﺪ , analyzes the cancellation of a public lecture by 🇵🇸scholar, @walqaisiya, at the @AcademyVienna in May 2022 due to false accusations of antisemitism in the context of anti-🇵🇸 racism in 🇦🇹. As a collective of former participants, they trace the architecture of power that led to the cancellation and how the authors—as witness participants—responded, negotiating between reclaiming public visibility for queer Palestinian perspectives and collective acts of refusal and delinking.
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐚 (Open Access)
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2348942
In their research article, @ZombieParables and @hanna_altaher tackle the 🇩🇪 context. They delve into the most recent events at schools and universities since October 7, 2023, and examine how these educational sites have become fundamental avenues for reaffirming 🇩🇪’s ‘unconditional solidarity’ with the state of Israel (Staatsräson), as well as potential spaces for its contestation.
𝐄𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲’𝐬 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 (Open Access)
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2383444
Next, Lara Sheehi’s autoethnographic article unpacks a highly publicized, Zionist, and right-wing smear campaign in the 🇺🇸. It outlines the mechanics of what are referred to as “settler colonial outposts” that extend the sovereignty of the Israeli settler state.
𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐦: 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 (Open Access)
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2348373
With @NickRiemer1 and @jumanabayeh, we move to repression in 🇦🇺, where academic solidarity with 🇵🇸 is strongly influenced by multiple factors, in particular the strength of the powerful local Zionist lobby and growing public awareness of Israeli crimes.
𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐙𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 (Open Access)
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2334147
Drawing on the 🇨🇦 context, Brenna Bhandar reveals the racial limits of a settler-colonial liberal politics of acknowledgment and reconciliation, when it comes to 🇵🇸. Tracing the oppositional functions of the land acknowledgment, this article exposes the political limits of a liberal racial order, which is explicitly challenged by expressions of solidarity with the 🇵🇸 struggle for liberation.
𝐀 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐊𝐞𝐲: 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭
▻https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2376355
Back in the 🇺🇸, @De_Coloniality reflects on the experience of being suspended and reinstated. It highlights the university’s role in producing technologies of colonial violence used on 🇵🇸 bodies and the significance of the Gaza solidarity encampments. It also critiques the weaponization of antisemitism and the 🇵🇸 exception to academic freedom. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of speaking and writing truth to power during a genocide.
𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬’ 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲
