Columbia Uni urged to defend Joseph Massad amid pro-Israel pressure, death threats

The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) has called for the defence of Jordanian-Palestinian academic Joseph Massad after a petition emerged that called for his removal from Columbia University in the US.

In a statement from MESA's Committee on Academic Freedom, President Eve Troutt Powell and Committee Chair Laurie Brand urged Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to speak up in defence of Massad on grounds of protecting academic freedom.

"Your failure to speak out forcefully in defence of a member of the university faculty sends a chilling message to all - faculty, students and staff – that either the protection of academic freedom is not a cornerstone of your presidency or that you implicitly countenance the ongoing harassment and threats," the statement read.

The statement also adds that the university should investigate a death threat Massad received under his university office door, as well as the numerous threats he received by phone and email. Friends and colleagues of Massad have confirmed to The New Arab that death threats were sent to the academic.

MESA's statement comes following the creation of a petition on 13 October calling on Columbia University to "hold Massad responsible for his comments and immediately remove him from the Columbia faculty," after he published an article in Electronic Intifada praising Hamas' attack on southern Israel.

The article, published a day after the attack on 8 October, was decried by the petition for calling Hamas' Operation Al-Aqsa Flood a "stunning victory."

The petition, which now has over 53,000 signatures, notes that "Massad's decision to praise the abhorrent attack encourages violence and misinformation in and outside of campus, particularly putting many Jewish and Israeli students on campus at risk."

A separate letter by MESA dated 15 October condemned the petition as "incendiary and defamatory," and has received hundreds of signatures, including from Noam Chomsky.

Massad's article framed the operation as an historic moment in the history of the conflict, noting that "the sight of Palestinian resistance fighters storming Israeli checkpoints separating Gaza from Israel was astounding" for everyone in the region.

He also noted that Hamas fighters storming settlements near the Gaza border was a "death blow" to the belief that the Israeli army can protect "Israeli colonists."

The article was published before several allegations were made about the nature of the attack by Israeli and Western media outlets, including claims of "beheaded babies" at Israeli settlements. 

Massad has been the target of a previous campaign in 2004 when students made accusations against Massad and two other professors on the documentary "Columbia Unbecoming," stating that they had of made them feel intimidated for having pro-Israel views.

A subsequent investigation by the university found "no evidence of any statements made by the faculty that could reasonably be construed as anti-semetic," with Massad being "categorical in his classes concerning the unacceptability of anti-semetic views."

Massad is the author of a number of books, including The Persistence of the Palestinian Question and Desiring Arabs. 

The petition against Massad and letters from MESA are part of an ongoing battle between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters at Columbia which has ignited following Hamas' 7 October attack and Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza.

A counter petition released last week in support of Massad has been signed by students, faculty members, alumni and affiliates of Columbia's Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies department; including Noam Chomsky, Wael Hallaq and Judith Butler, among others.

At a pro-Israel rally at the Morningside Heights campus on Thursday, assistant professor Shai Davidai called President Shafik a "coward" for her alleged inaction over recent protests by pro-Palestinian student organisations at Columbia whom he labelled "pro-terror student organisations." Palestine solidarity marches in Western countries have been subjected to similar smears by right-wing commentators and supporters of Israel.

Columbia university released a statement in which it outlined its priority in "providing immediate support to Columbia community members whose lives have been directly affected," as well as increasingly public safety on campus and making a commitment to academic freedom on campus.

TNA contacted Columbia University Provost Office for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.