Joseph Massad, Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University, was invited by CEU’s Department of Gender Studies to give a public academic lecture titled “Islam and/in Sexuality” on June 2, 2015 based on his newly published book Islam in Liberalism. The student group CEU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) asked Professor Massad, who has written extensively on the Palestinian cause, to hold a smaller discussion earlier the same day on the topic of Palestinian solidarity, which he agreed to do.
During the small SJP-organized discussion Professor Massad spoke at length about anti-Semitism and the particular difficulties of pro-Palestinian activism in the socio-political context of Hungary. He reminded those in attendance of the need to remain vigilant against those who seek to coopt Palestinian activism in the service of anti-Semitic agendas, and to always make clear that a pro-Palestinian stance must also be a pro-Jewish one. He outlined his vision of an end to the conflict in the form of a democratic, one-state solution, in which Palestinians, Israeli Jews and other citizens of Israel/Palestine can live peacefully as fully equal citizens.
In the aftermath of Massad’s visit, a number of Hungarian journalists wrote articles in the local media criticizing CEU for inviting Massad to speak and wrongly advertised that his position is an anti-Jewish and thus an anti-Semitic one. A number of days after these incidents, a CEU professor alerted SJP to a discussion on the Facebook page of one journalist, where a picture of one of the event’s student organizers was publically posted. The journalist suggested that this student would like to see ‘Jew beatings’ at CEU – a patently untrue and deeply offensive attempt to slander the student and SJP.
A number of CEU faculty replied to this discussion, defending the university and its right to academic freedom. However, with the exception of the professor that alerted SJP to the Facebook page, none challenged the journalist for his attack on the student, or attempted to persuade him to remove the picture. The student’s picture was eventually taken down at the request of the first professor, but only if he ceded to the journalist’s demand to first remove SJP’s Nakba Day posters from around the CEU campus. In addition, despite alerting the relevant university authorities to these facts, nothing concrete has been done to protect the affected student to this day. At the very least, CEU’s statement on academic freedom, sent out in response to these journalists’ articles, should have referenced its commitment to the right of students to express dissenting views and engage in political activism, and its unequivocal condemnation of attacks on and slander of students who do so.
Even more alarmingly, CEU has reproduced these journalists’ false claims, placing its own academic reputation on the line by misrepresenting the world-renowned professor without evidence. Specifically this was done by publishing a statement on academic freedom in which the CEU’s Rector and President John Shattuck wrongly claimed that Professor Massad advocates the ‘abolition’ of the state of Israel:
“CEU understands that Joseph Massad has made statements in the past calling for the abolition of the State of Israel. CEU strongly opposes and rejects any statement calling for abolition of the State of Israel. Such a statement is particularly repugnant in light of the legacy and contemporary manifestations of anti-semitism…”
In subsequent discussions with SJP, the CEU administration has admitted that there is no evidence that Professor Massad ever made such claims. In other words, CEU knowingly put out an inflammatory statement about a world-renowned professor without checking its factual accuracy. As Professor Massad discussed at the SJP-organized talk, it is clear that he advocates for the dismantling of the oppressive institutions and laws that discriminate against the Palestinian people as part of a wider process toward the creation of a single, democratic state. CEU’s statement therefore completely misrepresents Professor Massad’s message and, moreover, is particularly politically irresponsible as it further feeds into the equation that a pro-Palestine stance (represented here in the call for ending the illegal Israeli occupation and establishing a single democratic state) is necessarily an anti-Jewish one.
Thus, the members of the SJP are stunned to see that CEU has willingly chosen to adopt this manifestly false interpretation of events, without asking any of those who attended the event what was actually said - despite the constant presence of its communications team at both events that day. By unreflectively adopting the uninformed opinions of a number of journalists, and neglecting to gather evidence on the content of Professor Massad’s talk and his publications, CEU has failed to uphold its commitment to an open society founded on the basis of reasoned dialogue and evidence-based claims. Rather than protect academic freedom, CEU has chosen to accept claims of those who attack our academic freedoms, and even our students and professors who are engaged in promoting CEU’s core values. CEU has sent a clear message that slanderous statements made about students will be met with no response so long as the student does not represent the University’s political line, and that the University will not step-up to its responsibility to challenge false and hateful discourse that enables such attacks. We are shocked by the University’s position, its lack of action, and its failure to uphold its commitment to academic freedom.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with us through the SJP’s Facebook group.
During the small SJP-organized discussion Professor Massad spoke at length about anti-Semitism and the particular difficulties of pro-Palestinian activism in the socio-political context of Hungary. He reminded those in attendance of the need to remain vigilant against those who seek to coopt Palestinian activism in the service of anti-Semitic agendas, and to always make clear that a pro-Palestinian stance must also be a pro-Jewish one. He outlined his vision of an end to the conflict in the form of a democratic, one-state solution, in which Palestinians, Israeli Jews and other citizens of Israel/Palestine can live peacefully as fully equal citizens.In the aftermath of Massad’s visit, a number of Hungarian journalists wrote articles in the local media criticizing CEU for inviting Massad to speak and wrongly advertised that his position is an anti-Jewish and thus an anti-Semitic one. A number of days after these incidents, a CEU professor alerted SJP to a discussion on the Facebook page of one journalist, where a picture of one of the event’s student organizers was publically posted. The journalist suggested that this student would like to see ‘Jew beatings’ at CEU – a patently untrue and deeply offensive attempt to slander the student and SJP.
A number of CEU faculty replied to this discussion, defending the university and its right to academic freedom. However, with the exception of the professor that alerted SJP to the Facebook page, none challenged the journalist for his attack on the student, or attempted to persuade him to remove the picture. The student’s picture was eventually taken down at the request of the first professor, but only if he ceded to the journalist’s demand to first remove SJP’s Nakba Day posters from around the CEU campus. In addition, despite alerting the relevant university authorities to these facts, nothing concrete has been done to protect the affected student to this day. At the very least, CEU’s statement on academic freedom, sent out in response to these journalists’ articles, should have referenced its commitment to the right of students to express dissenting views and engage in political activism, and its unequivocal condemnation of attacks on and slander of students who do so.
Even more alarmingly, CEU has reproduced these journalists’ false claims, placing its own academic reputation on the line by misrepresenting the world-renowned professor without evidence. Specifically this was done by publishing a statement on academic freedom in which the CEU’s Rector and President John Shattuck wrongly claimed that Professor Massad advocates the ‘abolition’ of the state of Israel:
“CEU understands that Joseph Massad has made statements in the past calling for the abolition of the State of Israel. CEU strongly opposes and rejects any statement calling for abolition of the State of Israel. Such a statement is particularly repugnant in light of the legacy and contemporary manifestations of anti-semitism…”
In subsequent discussions with SJP, the CEU administration has admitted that there is no evidence that Professor Massad ever made such claims. In other words, CEU knowingly put out an inflammatory statement about a world-renowned professor without checking its factual accuracy. As Professor Massad discussed at the SJP-organized talk, it is clear that he advocates for the dismantling of the oppressive institutions and laws that discriminate against the Palestinian people as part of a wider process toward the creation of a single, democratic state. CEU’s statement therefore completely misrepresents Professor Massad’s message and, moreover, is particularly politically irresponsible as it further feeds into the equation that a pro-Palestine stance (represented here in the call for ending the illegal Israeli occupation and establishing a single democratic state) is necessarily an anti-Jewish one.
Thus, the members of the SJP are stunned to see that CEU has willingly chosen to adopt this manifestly false interpretation of events, without asking any of those who attended the event what was actually said - despite the constant presence of its communications team at both events that day. By unreflectively adopting the uninformed opinions of a number of journalists, and neglecting to gather evidence on the content of Professor Massad’s talk and his publications, CEU has failed to uphold its commitment to an open society founded on the basis of reasoned dialogue and evidence-based claims. Rather than protect academic freedom, CEU has chosen to accept claims of those who attack our academic freedoms, and even our students and professors who are engaged in promoting CEU’s core values. CEU has sent a clear message that slanderous statements made about students will be met with no response so long as the student does not represent the University’s political line, and that the University will not step-up to its responsibility to challenge false and hateful discourse that enables such attacks. We are shocked by the University’s position, its lack of action, and its failure to uphold its commitment to academic freedom.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with us through the SJP’s Facebook group.
-CEU Students for Justice in Palestine
* The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author(s) of the above op-ed are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of The CEU Weekly.
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