A sociology class at Macalester College in St. Paul is teaching the Israel-Palestine conflict from an anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian perspective.
“Palestine,” a class started in 2024 at the liberal arts college, “explores the historical and contemporary politics and lived experience of Palestine as a land, a state, and a population,” according to the description. “We will cover the history of the conflict from the rise of Zionism and resistance to it, including both Palestinian resistance and the contemporary voices of dissenting American Jews.”
The school declined to answer if mainstream Israeli, Zionist, or broader Jewish perspectives would also be integrated into the primary reading materials to provide curricular balance.
In a statement, the school said. “It’s important that Macalester College students have the opportunity to study and explore issues affecting our world. Our students are free to choose the courses that best align with their academic interests. Our faculty are free to teach without interference from the college administration. These freedoms exist alongside our obligation to support a campus where every student can learn free from discrimination. These commitments are not in conflict, and we take both seriously.
“Macalester encourages open dialogue and welcomes a diversity of viewpoints in our shared pursuit of a more just and peaceful world. Concerns about discrimination are addressed under our nondiscrimination policy, and any member of our community can bring one forward at any time.”
The class description says that the “course draws on a range of scholarly sources, including works by scholars, critics, and international analysts, complemented by documentary media and guest presentations.” Professor Khaldoun Samman, who has taught at the school since 2002, did not respond to an email seeking clarification about what types of guest presentations would be made. However, in a 2024 article in The Mac Weekly student publication, Samman talked about the class, its popularity, and goals.
“So we’re gonna be reading things people have written on ‘Palesreal,’ like, [are] there ways to reassemble one-state solution versus two-state solution? What that looks like, some of the complexities of trying to go down these roads … so they’ll be studying that, and I’m gonna have them work in groups and come up with their thoughts on these different possible resolutions,” he said.
The booklist for the class features books from anti-Zionist authors Adam H. Johnson, Sim Kern, and Mohammed El-Kurd, who on Oct. 8, 2023, wrote on Twitter/X: “Much of what’s happening in occupied Palestine will be in future history books as an example of revolutionary struggle. Waiting until the history books tell you what to celebrate is easy. It’s much harder to stand on the right side of history as it unfolds in real time.”
Rabbi Jill Avrin, the director of campus affairs for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, said the organization has been in regular contact with the school administration over the last number of years, to have conversations about the campus climate and the way that Israel and Palestine are being presented on campus.
“The end goal is for Macalester to present the topic of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict, with diverse, multiple perspectives,” she said. “And both create a climate where Jewish students from all backgrounds and all ideologies will feel comfortable around campus, in the classroom; and second, for non-Jewish students to have an opportunity to learn diverse viewpoints that are factual and historical, and yes, to be challenged. But to be challenged in multiple directions, not only in one.”
With this particular course and course description, Avrin questioned whether the goal was education or activism.
“Typically…you’ll see a description that is attempting to present an unbiased, challenging look at a complicated history,” she said. “In this case, clearly the course description is not making an attempt in any way to present nuance. It’s the exact opposite.”
This is the height of intellectual dishonesty, and the dishonest president of the college will defend it, just as she falsely claimed that the school was in the top 50 of the recent list, which it was NOT. She is not trustworthy. I am ashamed of the school. But then, they hired El-Kati many years ago, so this poison has been embedded for decades.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EDW88CBo-8
Dennis Prager 5 min video, The MIddle East Problem, sums up the middle east “problem” perfectly.