Academic research on Middle East becomes increasingly politicized in US
(MENAFN) Academic research on the Middle East has become increasingly politicized in the United States, with some critics claiming a “Palestine exception” limits free speech. A recent example involves a special edition of the Harvard Educational Review (HER), entirely devoted to Palestinian issues, which was ultimately canceled.
The edition, planned six months after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and subsequent Israeli actions in Gaza, included articles like a paper by anthropologist Thea Abu El Haj examining the destruction of education systems (“scholasticide”) in Gaza, drawing parallels to Palestinian teachers’ experiences during Lebanon’s Civil War.
However, the authors were later told their work needed a final legal review by Harvard’s Office of the General Counsel — a step they had never encountered in decades of academic publishing. After the authors raised concerns about censorship, HER director Jessica Fiorillo informed them the entire special issue had been scrapped.
Fiorillo denied the decision was censorship, citing procedural issues and the editors’ choice to restrict the publisher’s involvement to copyediting rather than politically sensitive content. El Haj criticized the move as evidence of the “Palestine exception,” arguing that Harvard failed to uphold its own free speech principles.
The controversy occurs amid renewed political scrutiny, with former President Donald Trump accusing top US universities of anti-Semitism for not adequately protecting Jewish students during protests over Israel’s Gaza operations.
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