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‘The Existence of a Malady is Not in Question’: Scholars Spar Over Fate of Israel Studies in America
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside the main campus of Columbia University during the commencement ceremony in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., May 21, 2025. Jeenah Moon via Reuters Connect.
An academic group of Israeli and international scholars is claiming that the field of Israel Studies is faring far better than depicted in a recent report which argued that the field is under sustained ideological attack by the pro-Palestinian movement and lacks a clear vision for the future.
The Association of Israel Studies (AIS)—founded in 1985 to promote the growth of the field—claimed Tuesday that the conclusions of a report published by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) in June—titled “Israel Studies at American Universities: Is There a Path Forward?“—were “anecdotal” and warped by a “profound lack of appreciation” for the subject’s success in higher education.
The report, written by University of Haifa professor Sara Yael Hirschhorn, claimed that Israel studies is working through a crisis of identity caused by competing visions of its scope and mission. As an interdisciplinary field serving as a “big tent” for other disciplines relevant to the study of Israel, the report said it winds up being open to “almost everyone who wants to affiliate” even as they undertake courses of study that are “haphazardly cobbled together into what has been called a discipline, with its attendant academic conferences, publications, employment, grants, and community that often lack coherence.”
Hirschhorn called on the leaders of Israel Studies to take steps to ensure its survival, recommending uniform standards of what constitutes “an original contribution to the field,” a shared consensus of what constitutes mastery of the subject, and new, bold fundraising strategies which stress the enormity of the changes underway in higher education, America, and the world.
But such claims are speculative and lacking the explanatory power of “critical metrics,” the AIS said in a statement shared with The Algemeiner on Tuesday.
“Anecdotes are not research. Strong statements are not a substitute for rigorous analysis,” said the statement, signed by AIS president and Fellow at the Israeli Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem, Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Smith College professor of Jewish Studies Donna Divine, former AIS president S. Ilan Troen, among others. “There are now four [Israel studies] journals publishing significant scholarship. Each has published many hundreds of scholarly articles about Israel. Many universities, including Yale, Princeton, Oxford and Cambridge and Indiana continue to produce and welcome solid scholarship. The Association for Israel Studies attracts more scholars than ever. Its annual conferences are attended by hundreds of people from all over the world.”
Israel Studies needs more “support,” AIS’s statement added, taking most exception to Hirschhorn’s suggesting that Israel Studies should find homes outside of culturally progressive institutions of higher education and plant new departments in places that “might prove more hospitable” — denominational Christian colleges, for example, or policy institutes.
“The existence of a malady is not in question,” AIS continued. “Aspects of it are uniquely characteristic of the field of Israel Studies, and others are part of a broader context of ailments afflicting the academy. Based on flawed research, however, the diagnosis proposed in this report compounds the flaws, and the prescription it proposes could well cause irreparable injury to a field of great importance. More support rather than radical surgery is indicated.”
Hirschhorn acknowledged that the report contains some difficult conclusions for the field, but implored practitioners to engage rather than criticize.
“This report is an urgent intervention in the crisis at American universities today and not an obituary,” she said in an interview with The Algemeiner. “The methodology employed in researching and writing this report, which drew upon historical studies (and documents), media coverage, interviewing, data, and trend analysis, was intended to provide a full picture of the complex environment in which Israel Studies is currently situated and to balance the voices of a multiplicity of invested stakeholders, which would assure the project’s independence and integrity.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘The Existence of a Malady is Not in Question’: Scholars Spar Over Fate of Israel Studies in America first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.