University of Minnesota Withdraws Hiring Anti-Israel Professor to Head Holocaust Center

University of Minnesota Withdraws Hiring Anti-Israel Professor to Head Holocaust Center

If this is happening in Minnesota, perhaps the tide is finally turning.

Campus Reform reports:

University walks back hiring of Holocaust center director who accused Israel of ‘genocide’

The University of Minnesota recently withdrew its decision to hire Raz Segal of Stockton University as its new director for the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies because he previously called Israel’s military actions in Gaza a “textbook case of genocide.”

The move comes in response to an open letter signed by hundreds of faculty at UMN and other schools, who criticized the university’s plan to hire Segal, an outspoken critic of Israel who has voiced support for recent anti-Israel demonstrations across the US.

“This is an outrageous violation of both academic freedom and the integrity of the faculty hiring process,” the faculty members wrote. “These objections to Dr. Segal’s appointment stem from a political disagreement with his academic scholarship, his perspective as a scholar of genocide and his defense of anti-genocide protest.”

Interim UMN president Jeff Ettinger stressed the importance of listening to the opinions of faculty and students in considering potential new hires because of the “community-facing and leadership” responsibilities attached to the role.

“In the past several days, additional members of the University community have come forward to express their interest in providing perspective on the hiring of the posit[i]on of Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies,” Ettinger reportedly wrote in a statement. “Because of the community-facing and leadership role the Director holds, [i]t is important that these voices are heard.”

In October of 2023, Segal wrote an op-ed condemning Israel’s responses to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, which in his view serve to perpetuate the “racist regime of Israeli apartheid.”

“Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza is quite explicit, open, and unashamed,” he wrote.

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