Jewish Students at Princeton Defend Professor Slammed for Promoting anti-Israel Book - Haaretz.com
NEW YORK – Nearly 400 students, alumni and faculty at Princeton University have signed a petition expressing solidarity with a professor under attack for including a book deemed hostile and even defamatory to Israel in her fall syllabus.
The letter in support of Satyel Larson was initiated by members of a progressive Jewish organization on campus, and many of the signatories are Jewish.
Larson, an assistant professor in the department of Near Eastern Studies at the Ivy League university, has drawn fire from Jewish leaders worldwide for requiring students on a course she teaches to read “The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability.” The book devotes considerable space to Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians and has been accused of making groundless claims against the Israel Defense Forces.
Among those pressuring the university to ban the book, and even fire the professor, have been World Jewish Congress President Ron Lauder and Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli.
The book, written by Rutgers University Prof. Jasbir K. Puar and published in 2017 by Duke University Press, alleges that Israel supplements “its right to kill” with “the right to maim.” It argues that “the Israeli state relies on liberal frameworks of disability to obscure and enable the mass debilitation of Palestinian bodies.”
Larson incorporated the book into the upcoming fall syllabus of a course she teaches called “The Healing Humanities: Decolonizing Trauma Studies from the Global South.” It is one of six books on the course reading list.
“The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability,” by Jasbir K. Puar.Credit: Duke University Press
The open letter penned by the Alliance of Jewish Progressives stated: “We are deeply troubled by the attempt to censor Professor Larson, ban Puar’s book, limit intellectual inquiry, and silence faculty-student exchange within and beyond the classroom, particularly on issues of such political, moral, and philosophical significance.”
They added: “As progressive Jewish students, alumni, faculty, parents, and non-Jewish allies, we want to express our gratitude for the Princeton professors who take time and care to teach about complex, controversial issues of the utmost importance.”
The Alliance of Jewish Progressives describes itself as “a collective of non-, post-, and anti-Zionist Jewish students at Princeton who stand in solidarity with Palestinians, against Israeli apartheid, and for intersecting anti-colonial struggles for human rights and justice around the world.”
Lauder had demanded that Princeton not only cancel the course but also fire Larson, saying that “Princeton University is not only sanctioning hate speech but establishing fertile ground for a new generation of antisemitic thought leaders.”
In a letter sent to Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber earlier this month, Chikli wrote: “It was shocking to see that this book includes explicit insinuations that Israel uses a deliberate strategy of maiming Palestinians. This delusional and false accusation is nothing but a modern-day antisemitic blood libel.”
He warned that including “such antisemitic propaganda” in a course offering would contribute to “a hostile and divisive atmosphere against Jews and Israelis who study at your university.”
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli heading into a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem last month,Credit: Marc Israel Sellem
‘Intimidation campaign’
The Hillel at Princeton University, known as the Center for Jewish Life, has also become involved in the controversy. In a letter sent to the center’s alumni community last week, CJL Executive Director Rabbi Gil Steinlauf did not expressly call for banning the book. But he did say that he had reached out to the professor and the department chair, “asking them to reconsider the impact of this text and to explore alternative ways to teach the course without including an author whose rhetoric and writings have deeply hurt many in the Jewish community, and could do real harm to Jewish students on our campus.”
Steinlauf said he had also requested a personal meeting with the two in an effort “to facilitate a campus culture of deep listening, dialogue, mutual understanding, and communication across differences.”
“While we at the CJL recognize academic freedom and the right of professors to present materials based on their expertise and educational goals, and we respect the professor’s expertise in crafting the course, we are still deeply concerned about the potential impact of including this text,” he wrote. “We are concerned about the negative impact of Jasbir Puar’s damaging and unproven views on the discourse on our campus, as well as the safety and well-being of our Jewish and Israeli students.”
An estimated 10 percent of Princeton’s students are Jewish.
The petition initiated by the Alliance of Jewish Progressives denounced Steinlauf’s letter as part of “an intimidation campaign against Professor Larsen’s free _expression_.”
AJP leader Emanuelle Sippy said this was the first time that she could recall Hillel intervening in a matter concerning a course syllabus.
“We absolutely understand how controversial this book is,” she told Haaretz. “That said, we think the university’s purpose is to cultivate an environment where we are able to wrestle with controversial material and texts together with world class professors. To not engage with issues of this kind seems not only to be a disservice to our education, but also antithetical to the mission Princeton claims to uphold.”
Another Jewish student signed on the petition is Abigail Leibowitz, an incoming sophomore active in AJP as well as the progressive Zionist organization J Street U (which focuses on ending the Israeli occupation) and in CJL. A daughter of Israelis, she said that although she “completely understands” why there would be attempts to silence the book, “I think a lot of the aversion to teaching it is part of a greater trend of not engaging with Israel-Palestine because it’s such a sensitive topic.”
The AJP petition, which had attracted 382 signatures as of press time, noted that the CJL had justified hosting an event in the spring with Ronen Shoval, founder of the ultranationalist Im Tirtzu organization, on the grounds of freedom of speech. “It is now clear, however, that the CJL’s commitment to academic freedom and _expression_ only extends to right-wing activists and not those who are concerned with human rights violations,” the petition charged.
AJP leader Emanuelle Sippy: “We absolutely understand how controversial this book is. That said, we think the university’s purpose is to cultivate an environment where we are able to wrestle with controversial material and texts.”
In an email exchange with Haaretz, CJL’s Steinlauf denied charges by AJP leaders that he had come under pressure from right-wing students at Hillel, as well as the organization’s donors, to speak out.
“Exactly the opposite is the case,” he wrote. “While there certainly has been a strong reaction by many in the Jewish community to pressure the university because of the ‘Right to Maim’ book, my letter was not the result of any external pressure from students or supporters – nor was its purpose to apply any pressure to the university.”
Hinting at his discomfort with the outside interference of world Jewish leaders, Steinlauf added: “My reason, in fact, was to assert the role of the Center for Jewish Life, Princeton Hillel, in this situation, as the central address for our campus.”
World Jewish Congress President Ron Lauder. Demanded that Princeton fire Larson.Credit: Marc Israel Sellem
He added: “Many external off-campus organizations and individuals want to enter into the situation on campus without first consulting with Princeton Hillel, without having an intimate knowledge or familiarity with students, faculty, staff, administrators, and the other important components of the campus ecosystem. I disagree with this approach.”
A Princeton graduate himself, Steinlauf assumed his current position a little more than a year ago after serving as senior rabbi at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington.
Asked if he had received a response to his invitation for meetings with the course professor and department chair, he said: “Not as of yet, but I’m hopeful that they will reach back out to engage and continue this important discourse and dialogue.”
Neither Larson nor the Princeton University spokesperson’s office responded to requests for comment.