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Anti-Israel Bias Reigns at Columbia University

(New York Daily News) Leila Beckwith and Tammi Rossman-Benjamin - When Columbia University's Center for Palestine Studies was established in 2010, Rashid Khalidi, its founding and current director - and a supporter of an academic boycott of Israel - stated that steering clear of political activism was an important goal of the center. However, the Center has become an academic epicenter for anti-Israel political activism, as well as the promotion of an academic boycott of Israel. In 2015 and 2016, of the 44 Israel-related events sponsored by the Center, 41 included anti-Israel, pro-BDS speakers. During the same period, Israel-related events sponsored by Columbia University's other two Middle East studies departments - the Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies department and the Middle East Institute - also overwhelmingly included anti-Israel, pro-BDS speakers. Columbia's three Middle East studies departments hosted 46 events with pro-BDS speakers in 2015 and 2016, more than double any other U.S. school. Beckwith is a professor emeritus at UCLA. Rossman-Benjamin is a former faculty member in Hebrew and Judaic studies at UC Santa Cruz. Both are founding members of the AMCHA Initiative, which combats anti-Semitism in higher education.
2018-01-05 00:00:00
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