Growing Number of U.S.-based Mideast Scholars Self-censoring After Oct. 7 Hamas Attack
An overwhelming majority of U.S.-based Middle East scholars say they have felt the growing need to practice self-censorship since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, according to a survey published Wednesday.
The survey, known as the Middle East Scholar Barometer, found that the main reasons they were restricting what they said in academic or professional capacities were concerns about offending students and pressure from external advocacy groups.
The survey was conducted between November 10 and November 17, with the findings based on responses from 936 participants. The Middle East Scholar Barometer is a joint initiative of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, directed by Prof. Shibley Telhami, and the Project on Middle East Political Science at George Washington University, directed by Prof. Marc Lynch.
Among the respondents, 72 percent said they felt a greater “direct or indirect need to self-censor” since the massacre perpetrated by Hamas, which prompted a massive Israeli military response in the Gaza Strip.
A pro-Israel supporter chanting during a rally at UC Berkeley in October.Credit: Jessica Christian/AP
Among this group, 60 percent said they were concerned about campus culture, while 53 percent said they were concerned about pressure from external advocacy groups – presumably organizations that lobby for Israel.
Among those who practiced self-censorship, a far greater share, 81 percent, said they withheld their criticism of Israel compared with those who withheld their criticism of the Palestinians (11 percent).
Most of the Middle East scholars polled said that anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian sentiments were far more prevalent on their campuses than anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiments. Only 18 percent of the respondents said that antisemitism was somewhat or very prevalent at their institutions, compared with 41 percent who said anti-Muslim sentiments were.
Half of the respondents said that anti-Palestinian sentiments were somewhat or very prevalent on their campuses, compared with 36 percent who said that anti-Israeli sentiments were.
The findings are noteworthy considering that the pro-Palestinian solidarity movement has gained enormous traction on campuses over the past eight weeks. Indeed, data published Tuesday by a group of U.S. experts who track political demonstrations across the country found that the number of pro-Palestinian events held over the past eight weeks – a large share of them on university campuses – was nearly five times greater than the number of pro-Israel events.
University administrators have also faced criticism far more often in the past eight weeks for tolerating antisemitism on their campuses than for tolerating Islamophobia. According to a recent poll from Hillel International, more than half of Jewish college students in America say they feel unsafe on campus since the Hamas assault.
This is the sixth survey published by the Middle East Scholar Barometer since its launch in February 2021.