Rashid Khalidi halts Columbia course, citing university’s ‘surrender’ to Trump administration

Palestinian-American historian Rashid Khalidi has announced he will not teach at Columbia University this fall due to an agreement the university made with the Donald Trump administration.

Sharing an open letter to the university’s acting provost, Claire Shipman, with The Guardian, Khalidi argued that as a result of new decisions made in close cooperation with the Trump administration, it has become “impossible” for him to continue teaching his modern Middle East history course at Columbia, where he has been for 23 years.

Khalidi said, “Although I am retired, I was scheduled to teach a comprehensive course on this subject as a ‘special lecturer’ in the fall, but I cannot do so under the conditions that Columbia University accepted in June by bowing to the Trump administration.”

The historian stated that it is “impossible” to teach this course and much more, specifically because Columbia adopted the definition of antisemitism accepted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). He expressed, “The IHRA definition deliberately, falsely, and disingenuously conflates Judaism with Israel, ensuring that any criticism of Israel or description of its policies becomes criticism of Jews.”

Khalidi continued:

“Under this definition of antisemitism, which absurdly conflates criticism of Israel as a nation-state and Zionism as a political ideology with the ancient evil of Jew-hatred, it is impossible to honestly teach subjects like the history of Israel’s establishment and the Nakba experienced by Palestinians, which culminated in the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza with the acquiescence and support of the US and much of Western Europe.”

The historian claimed, “The Armenian genocide, the nature of the absolute monarchies and military dictatorships that have ravaged much of the Arab world, the undemocratic theocracy in Iran, the emerging dictatorial regime in Turkey, Wahhabi fanaticism: all these are covered in detail in my courses and readings.” He argued that under the IHRA definition of antisemitism, it has become impossible to simply explain in a Middle East history course the “discriminatory nature” of Israel’s 2018 Nation-State Law or the “apartheid-like control” it exercises over millions of Palestinians who have lived under military occupation for 58 years.

Khalidi said that what was violated by “Columbia’s submission to Trump’s diktat” was not only “the academic freedom and freedom of expression of faculty members.” He stated that assistants would face severe restrictions when leading discussion sections, and students would face serious constraints in their questions and discussions for fear of being reported to the intimidating apparatus Columbia has established to punish speech critical of Israel and to “suppress so-called discrimination.” He added, “…at this historical moment, this almost always means opposing this genocide. Dozens of students and many faculty members have been subjected to these kangaroo courts, students like Mahmoud Khalil have been abducted from university dorms, and Columbia has now promised to make this repressive system even more ruthless and opaque.”

Khalidi recalled that the university appointed a vice provost initially tasked with overseeing Middle East studies and mandated that faculty and staff attend “trainings” on antisemitism from organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which “views almost any criticism of Zionism or Israel as antisemitic,” and Project Shema, which provides training that links antisemitism with many anti-Zionist critiques.

Khalidi continued:

“The idea that the teaching, curriculum, and scholarship of the most prominent academics in their fields should be scrutinized by such a vice provost, such ‘trainers,’ or the external auditors of such a company is repugnant. This is the very opposite of the academic freedom you disingenuously claim will not be violated by this shameful surrender to the anti-intellectual forces that animate the Trump administration.”

Khalidi stated that he was “deeply saddened” to have to deprive the nearly 300 students enrolled in the course of the opportunity to learn about modern Middle East history due to Columbia University’s decisions. He announced plans to organize a series of public lectures in New York focusing on parts of this course, which will be available for later viewing.

Khalidi emphasized that the proceeds from these lectures will be “donated to the universities in Gaza that Israel has destroyed with US munitions.”

Khalidi concluded his open letter:

“Columbia’s surrender has transformed a university that was once a center of free inquiry and learning into a shadow of its former self, an anti-university, a security zone with electronic entry controls, where fear and hatred prevail, and where faculty and students are dictated from above what they can teach and say, or else be punished with severe sanctions. Shamefully, all this is being done to cover up one of the greatest crimes of this century, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the Columbia administration is now fully complicit in this crime.”