A new study of anti—Israel activity at America's colleges and universities points to faculty members, not students, as the chief instigators.

That's the premise of a soon—to—be released report by the Israel on Campus Coalition, a group of 27 Jewish organizations that aid pro—Israel activists at U.S. colleges, and the American—Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, a group that aims to bolster the U.S.—Israel relationship.

The general leftward trend of America's professoriate was  reinforced by the late Edward Said's book Orientalism, which contended that it was racist for Western scholars to come to judgements about Arabs, producing a faculty bias against Israel. The dependence of so many Middle Eastern Studies departments on funding from Arab sources has only aggravated matters.

In the curious ethos of contemporary campus life, any attempt to reverse the systemic bias against Israel would be regarded as biased interderence in academic freedom. Meanwhile, pro—Israel scholars on campus, fearing retaliation, often find themselves remaining silent in the face of biased criticisms of Israel.

Posted by Thomas, with a hat tip to Richard   05 20 04