Criticizing Israel is the third rail in American politics, the major media and academia.
Cynthia McKinney twice lost her congressional seat in 2002 and 2006. Supporting Palestinian rights was costly.
DePaul University denied Norman Finkelstein tenure for his outspokenness and books like "The Holocaust Industry." It did so despite calling him "a prolific scholar and an outstanding teacher." It went further. It cancelled his classes. It placed him on administrative leave. He became persona non grata. He resigned following his academic lynching.
Bard College fired Joel Kovel for writing "Overcoming Zionism" and comments like calling Israel "a machine for the manufacture of human rights abuses."
The University of Ottawa fired internationally recognized physics and environmental science expert Denis Rancourt. He was a tenured professor. His students loved him. It didn't matter. Criticizing Israel cost him his job.
Injustice targeted other US and Canadian academics for the same reason. America's First Amendment and Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms don't matter.
Nor matters other rule of law principles. Or fairness. Or justice. Or other democratic values.
Dissent is an endangered species. Fundamental freedoms are fast disappearing.
Supporting Palestinian rights is verboten. Daring to criticize Israel virtually assures academic lynching. It's a career-ender for professors deserving much better.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-champaign (UIUC) fired Steven Salaita. He was Arab-American Professor of American Indian Studies.
On August 6, Inside Higher Ed said his job offer was "revoked." He was "informed by Chancellor Phyllis Wise that the appointment would not go to the university's board, and that he did not have a job to come to in Illinois..."
At issue were his Twitter comments about Israel before and during Operation Protective Edge.
A knowledgable source said Salaita was fired. Documentation proved it. He resigned his Virginia Tech professorship in order to take the Illinois job offer.
Criticizing Israel cost him his job. UIUC at first remained silent.
On August 22, it shamelessly claimed Salaita's firing was "not influenced in any way by his positions on the the conflict in the Middle East nor his criticism of Israel."
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