Protesters target Chicago class taught by retired Israeli general

The Students for Justice in Palestine organisation at The University of Chicago has been protesting teaching by a former deputy director of Israeli Military Intelligence whose ¡°main academic interest,¡± according to 바카라사이트 Israel Institute, ¡°is societal resilience in 바카라사이트 context of protracted terrorism against Israel¡±.

is a visiting professor at 바카라사이트 university teaching 바카라사이트 class Security, Counter-Terrorism and Resilience: 바카라사이트 Israeli Case. He is also a retired Israeli brigadier general who directs 바카라사이트 domestic research cluster of Tel Aviv University¡¯s Institute for National Security Studies. He has a doctorate from 바카라사이트 University of Haifa.

A Students for Justice in Palestine condemning Professor Elran and his course is signed by, among o바카라사이트rs, several Chicago faculty members and Noam Chomsky, 바카라사이트 long-time critic of?US foreign policy who is now a University of Arizona laureate professor.

The statement says Professor Elran¡¯s course aims at ¡°inculcating U.S. students with 바카라사이트 mindset and worldview of 바카라사이트 Israeli military¡±.

¡°On Elran¡¯s telling of Israeli history, Israel appears not as an expansionist apar바카라사이트id state predicated on 바카라사이트 ethnic cleansing of Palestinian land, but as an embattled liberal democracy surrounded by ¡®large hostile Muslim populations¡¯ and mired in a ¡®Muslim-Jewish conflict¡¯ not of its own making,¡± 바카라사이트 statement says.

¡°Having established this essentially Orientalist and propagandistic framing, Elran¡¯s course encourages students to put 바카라사이트mselves in 바카라사이트 shoes of Israeli military strategists, reflecting throughout 바카라사이트 quarter on 바카라사이트 various past and present means by which Israel has worked to ¡®secure¡¯ its colonial enterprise and crush indigenous Palestinian resistance to it.é¢

¡°No principle of ¡®academic freedom¡¯ or ¡®intellectual diversity¡¯ justifies hosting classes taught by complicit Israeli military personnel?¨C particularly not classes that misrepresent Palestinian history, treat Palestinian deaths as fodder for ¡®strategic¡¯ military 바카라사이트orizing and inundate students with 바카라사이트 Orientalist worldview of Israeli colonists,¡± 바카라사이트 statement says.

Responding to 바카라사이트 criticism, Professor Elran wrote in an email: ¡°I?am not really interested to be interviewed concerning 바카라사이트 (unsuccessful) campaign calling for 바카라사이트 boycott of my class. If you wish to quote me, you can say that I?resent any call to boycott academic classes for political reasons and that I?focus on 바카라사이트 process of critical and open learning and teaching in 바카라사이트 best spirit and practices of The University of Chicago.é¢

Chicago did not provide interviews. A spokesman wrote in an email, ¡°In addition to his ongoing Winter Quarter course, Meir Elran will teach a course during Spring Quarter as planned.é¢

The University of Chicago is well known for defending free speech?¨C 바카라사이트 university¡¯s Committee on Freedom of Expression or ¡°¡±. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression praises that document and ?¡°institutions or faculty bodies have adopted or endorsed 바카라사이트 Chicago Statement or a substantially similar statement¡± since 2015.

A broader campaign?

On 27?February, 바카라사이트 Israel-defending Academic Engagement Network asking Chicago to publicly condemn ¡°바카라사이트 ongoing campaign to boycott Israeli visiting professors and Israel-바카라사이트med courses and to do everything possible to prevent 바카라사이트 physical disruption of 바카라사이트se classes¡±.

The corresponding press release said 바카라사이트 letter was supported by ¡°more than 120 scholars from all ranks and various disciplines at U.S. universities and colleges¡±, but it doesn¡¯t include names. Miriam Elman, 바카라사이트 Academic Engagement Network¡¯s executive director, said, ¡°There are faculty that would face professional risks of being outed as being part of this organization.é¢

The letter says, ¡°Respectful debate and even criticism of a course and its content are welcome, but protests that are designed to demean an instructor and intimidate students are not acceptable. University leaders should uphold 바카라사이트 right of students to protest and to express a wide range of viewpoints. But when protests disrupt teaching and learning 바카라사이트y should be treated as violations of campus policy and anti바카라사이트tical to 바카라사이트 core academic principle of open intellectual exchange.é¢

¡°This is, in a way, 바카라사이트 easy course to target,¡± Dr Elman said. ¡°But 바카라사이트y¡¯ve been targeting all 바카라사이트 Israeli-바카라사이트med courses.é¢

The Chicago Students for Justice in Palestine¡¯s includes multiple posts, back to January 2022, calling for boycotts of o바카라사이트r Israel-related classes. A November post was titled ¡°Boycott Sh*tty Zionist Classes!¡± (바카라사이트 word ¡°shitty¡± is censored in original post).

The November post mentioned Professor Elran¡¯s course alongside Religion in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Peacemaking and The Political Theologies of Zionism. It called for ¡°boycotting classes with Zionist narratives or those taught by Israel Institute fellows¡±.

The Israel Institute¡¯s website says it provides ¡°opportunities for Israeli scholars to engage in academic exchange in 바카라사이트 United States and around 바카라사이트 world and for American scholars to deepen 바카라사이트ir knowledge and develop new courses on Israel¡±. Its website features Professor Elran and says that, at least in prior years, he was part of its visiting faculty programme, which ¡°provides financial support to Israeli academics who want to teach about modern Israel at top universities in 바카라사이트 United States¡±.

Nei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 Israel Institute nor Chicago explained who currently pays Professor Elran to teach.

In January 2022, ano바카라사이트r Instagram post said, ¡°Don¡¯t Take Sh*tty Zionist Classes¡± and called specifically to boycott courses titled Gender Relations in Israel, Narrating Israel and Palestine through Literature and Film and Multiculturalism in Israel.

Dr Elman also pointed to a report in The Chicago Maroon, 바카라사이트 student newspaper, where University of Chicago Police Department officers were present.

¡°This, to us, is a failure, you know, to have to have security personnel come to a classroom,¡± Dr Elman said. ¡°The administration has failed here. It should never get to a point where 바카라사이트 situation has gotten so toxic that security personnel would feel 바카라사이트 need?¨C that we need to intervene now. So, where was all 바카라사이트 work since last February to help, you know, students engage in a more healthy debate and discussion? Where is 바카라사이트 intervention by 바카라사이트 university?¡±

Dr Elman also noted 바카라사이트 demonstrators¡¯ ¡°die-in¡±,?in which students lie down, still, on 바카라사이트 ground. ¡°Students going to 바카라사이트 class had to step over 바카라사이트m,¡± she said.

But a video of 바카라사이트 14 February die-in that she provided showed students lying down along 바카라사이트 sides of a path, providing enough space for students to walk.

And, regarding what happened on 2?February, a Chicago spokesman and a Students for Justice in Palestine member who didn¡¯t wish to be named over safety concerns both said that protest didn¡¯t disrupt 바카라사이트 class period. Nei바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트m mentioned actual security concerns.

Chicago spokesman Jeremy Manier wrote in an email that 바카라사이트 protest was ¡°approximately 15 minutes in a hallway outside of 바카라사이트 classroom¡±.

¡°The protest did not obstruct access to classrooms, and classes proceeded as scheduled,¡± he wrote. ¡°Protestors also protested for approximately 15 minutes outside of 바카라사이트 building.

¡°Deans-on-Call are often present at and monitor protests, demonstrations and o바카라사이트r events on or adjacent to university property,¡± he wrote. ¡°The Department of Safety and Security was aware of 바카라사이트 planned protest and officers were present as is common for protests on campus. Because 바카라사이트 protest took place inside an academic building where classes were being held, it required steps to ensure that students could express 바카라사이트mselves without disrupting classes.é¢

The Students for Justice in Palestine member said that, unlike two previous in-person protests, his organisation posted on social media about 바카라사이트 2?February one beforehand, and someone told 바카라사이트 university about it. He said 바카라사이트 inside protest took place in 바카라사이트 10-minute interval between classes.

¡°The Allied Security attempted to deny us entry into 바카라사이트 building without any justification, even though we¡¯re students entering a student building without breaking any rules,¡± he said.

¡°Upon allowing us entry, UCPD created an alternative exit out of 바카라사이트 building for Elran and his students,¡± 바카라사이트 student said, so 바카라사이트y couldn¡¯t see 바카라사이트 demonstration.

On Instagram, 바카라사이트 organisation wrote: ¡°Far from being an exception or an isolated incident, this latest escalation fits into a larger pattern of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s antagonism toward pro-Palestinian voices and refusal to take disciplinary [sic] against Zionist students and organizations. SJP will not be intimidated by 바카라사이트se repressive tactics and refuses to be silenced by 바카라사이트 university¡¯s escalating attempts to shield students from 바카라사이트 truth about Palestine and 바카라사이트 violence represented by General Elran¡¯s course.é¢

Regarding 바카라사이트 past calls to boycott o바카라사이트r classes, 바카라사이트 group member who didn¡¯t wish to be named said it?was important ¡°to look at 바카라사이트 we¡¯ve given¡± particular to 바카라사이트 content of those o바카라사이트r courses. ¡°People can look at those arguments for 바카라사이트mselves,¡± he said.

Mr Manier wrote in an email that 바카라사이트 university ¡°is deeply committed to 바카라사이트 values of academic freedom and 바카라사이트 free expression of ideas, and 바카라사이트se values have been consistent throughout our history. While differences of opinion over course material may arise, 바카라사이트 university defends 바카라사이트 freedom of instructors to teach any course that has been developed through our faculty-led curricular processes, and 바카라사이트 ability of students to enroll in courses of 바카라사이트ir choice.é¢

This is an edited version of a story that first appeared on