Palestinian Split At Tufts

Pro-Israel students are calling out their university over a course that promises yet another one-sided view of the Arab-Israeli conflict. “The course, ‘Colonizing Palestine,’ will be offered in Fall 2018 and will teach students about the history of Palestine while situating Israel as an illegal apartheid state that oppresses Palestinians through settler-colonialism and violence, according to the course description,” George Behrakis and Toni Airaksinen write on the Campus Reform blog maintained by the Leadership Institute.

That description was most likely given by the professor who teaches the course. “Thomas Abowd—who has a long history of anti-Israel advocacy—will teach the class,” Behrakis and Airaksinen report. “Abowd is the author of the 2014 book Colonial Jerusalem, which makes claims of ‘Israel’s long military occupation’ in the city, mocks the Hebrew bible as a ‘celestial real estate guide,’ and claims that supporters of Israel are motivated by ‘racial anxiety.'”

“He is also active in the Students for Justice in Palestine movement. He was a featured speaker at Tufts University’s annual Israeli Apartheid Week, and notably claimed that ‘We have apartheid right here on this campus, and we have apartheid right here in this city.'”

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