So many wonderful people from Champaign-Urbana have reached out to me! I can’t wait to join the community. — Steven Salaita (@stevesalaita) July 23, 2014
But
, “sources familiar with the university’s decision say that concern grew over the tone of his comments on Twitter about Israel’s policies in Gaza.” As the blog pointed out, criticism of Israel is
in academia. Nor is it
at the University of Illinois, where varying viewpoints of the Israel-Palestine divide have played out in the pages of the campus newspaper, the Daily Illini.
In an Aug. 1 letter obtained by the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise and Christophe Pierre, the vice president for academic affairs, wrote Salaita, “Your appointment will not be recommended for submission to the Board of Trustees in September, and we believe that an affirmative Board vote approving your appointment is unlikely.”
For weeks, Salaita’s tweets have been very, very focused on criticizing Israel.
When will the attack on #Gaza end? What is left for #Israel to prove? Who is left for Israel to kill? This is the logic of genocide. — Steven Salaita (@stevesalaita) August 2, 2014
Note how the Israeli soul was pure and uncorrupted until it encountered Palestinians. Same old colonial discourse, different geography. — Steven Salaita (@stevesalaita) August 2, 2014
Make no mistake: in general world opinion, #Israel is no “light unto the nations.” It is a rogue state. #Gaza #ThirdIntifada — Steven Salaita (@stevesalaita) July 25, 2014
#Israel is now killing an average of 24 children a day. That’s my son and your daughter dying every hour. #Gaza #StopFundingIsrael — Steven Salaita (@stevesalaita) July 23, 2014
What I’ve learned from #Israel: –bombing hospitals is defensive –there are conditions in which it’s justifiable to shoot a baby #Gaza — Steven Salaita (@stevesalaita) July 23, 2014
Cornell Law School professor William Jacobson
that “Salaita’s Twitter feed is crudely anti-Israel and has been since long before the recent Gaza conflict.” Salaita’s Twitter bio touts his most recent book, “
.” Salaita is no stranger to controversy: In a
not about the Mideast, he wrote, “The first rule for any serious writer is to agitate the contentious and embrace the disreputable.”
Campus spokesman Robin Kaler would not comment on Salaita’s status, but told the News-Gazette: “Faculty have a wide range of scholarly and political views, and we recognize the freedom-of-speech rights of all our employees.”
The Illinois chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) posted a statement to its blog defending the professor:
Reports that the university has voided a job offer, if accurate, due to tweets on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would be a clear violation of Professor Salaita’s academic freedom and an affront to free speech that we enjoy in this country.Professor Salaita resigned his position at Virginia Tech and was about to assume his new appointment at the University of Illinois. We stand by the appointment and by Professor Salaita and defend his right to engage in extramural utterances.
But Cary Nelson, a University of Illinois English professor and former president of the AAUP, told the Chicago Tribune that “it was valid for the campus to basically say … we better take another look at this guy.” He also told the Huffington Post that Salaita had “stepped over a line.”
For several days this month, Salaita’s Twitter feed was quiet — until Monday, when he tweeted, “Thank you, everybody, for your support. I have received your many messages and am deeply grateful.”
Thank you, everybody, for your support. I have received your many messages and am deeply grateful. — Steven Salaita (@stevesalaita) August 12, 2014
Currently, a
calling for Salaita’s “immediate reinstatement” has collected more than 14,000 signatures.