Northwestern professor under fire for ties to anti-Israel groups linked to terrorism
Northwestern University Professor Wendy Pearlman is facing scrutiny over her support for groups tied to anti-Semitism and anti-Israel terrorism.
Pearlman, a political science professor and former head of Northwestern’s Middle East and North African Studies program, serves as faculty advisor to Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at Northwestern.
Northwestern University Professor Wendy Pearlman is facing scrutiny over her support for groups tied to anti-Semitism and anti-Israel terrorism.
Pearlman, a political science professor and former head of Northwestern’s Middle East and North African Studies program, serves as faculty advisor to Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at Northwestern, according to the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
According to its website, Jewish Voice for Peace is the “largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world” and consists of “Jewish leftists” who “fight for the liberation of all people.”
Pearlman has previously supported Masar Badil, promoting one of the movement’s events in a social media post. Masar Badil is a movement linked to terrorist groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
During Northwestern’s 2024 campus protests, Pearlman supported groups that led harassment campaigns against Jewish students. She also co-signed an open letter published in The Daily Northwestern that attacked Jewish organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League.
According to the Combat Antisemitism Movement, Pearlman also interned with Al-Mezan, praising its leaders as “human rights defenders.” NGO Monitor notes that multiple “Al Mezan officials and employees are members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hamas, terrorist organizations designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.”
According to Pearlman’s biography on Northwestern’s website, she specializes in Middle East politics, social movements, and forced migration.
The professor teaches courses such as “Power and Resistance” and “The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.” Her books have included Triadic Coercion: Israel’s Targeting of States That Host Nonstate Actors and Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement.
In a statement about Northwestern’s current climate, the Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN) criticized the administration for failing to crack down on anti-Jewish discrimination.
“Northwestern’s antisemitism crisis is no longer confined to student protests,” CAAN stated. “It is embedded in the curriculum, entrenched in the classroom, sanctioned by faculty leadership, and — according to multiple federal investigations and civil rights complaints — shielded by Northwestern’s senior administration.”
Campus Reform reported last month that Northwestern’s SJP chapter held a June 3 protest condemning Israel, calling for resistance, and accusing the Jewish state of genocide. Jewish Voice for Peace backed the protest, denouncing police presence.
“JVP stands in solidarity with the efforts of SJP to conduct popular education around Palestinian liberation in the face of an ever-escalating genocide,” a JVP spokesperson said at the time. “We condemn the overwhelming police presence on campus and the university’s fascist threats of arrest in response to a peaceful and educational event.”
Campus Reform has contacted Northwestern University and Wendy Pearlman for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
