Professor pulls fall course at Columbia after Trump admin agreement
A Columbia University professor announced he is withdrawing from teaching this fall, denouncing the school’s recent agreement with the Trump administration.
The professor, Rashid Khalidi, made his announcement in an open letter published in The Guardian and on Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies website on Aug. 1.
A Columbia University instructor announced he is withdrawing from teaching this fall, denouncing the school’s recent agreement with the Trump administration.
The professor, Rashid Khalidi, made his announcement in an open letter published in The Guardian and on Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies website on Aug. 1.
In his statement, Khalidi described what he calls “the genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza with the connivance and support of the US and much of western Europe.”
Khalidi accused Columbia of “capitulating” to pro-Israel forces and claimed the IHRA definition “conflates Jewishness with Israel.” Khalidi also accused Israel of “apartheid,” noting “the apartheid nature of [Israel’s] control over millions of Palestinians who have been under military occupation for 58 years.”
Khalidi, is a professor emeritus and historian specializing in Middle East studies, according to his biography on Columbia’s website.
In his letter, Khalidi also criticized mandatory anti-Semitism training from groups like the Anti-Defamation League and blasted Columbia’s plan to monitor classrooms for compliance.
Framing Israel as a central aggressor in the region, Khalidi accused Columbia of turning into “an anti-university” hostile to dissenting views on the Jewish state.
“Disgracefully, all of this is being done to cover up one of the greatest crimes of this century, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, a crime in which Columbia’s leadership is now fully complicit,” the professor concluded.
This is not the first time that Khalidi has spoken out against Israel. In 2024, the professor contended that The New York Times serves as a pro-Israel, U.S. government–aligned voice whose Middle East coverage made the outlet an “apologist for genocide” in Gaza.
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However, Khalidi’s view is not unanimously supported on Columbia’s campus.
Before the school’s deal with the Trump administration, Columbia University faculty members urged leadership to address campus anti-Semitism and proposed reforms such as disciplining offenders and protecting pro-Israel professors’ reputations.
In July, Israeli professor Shai Davidai resigned from Columbia University, alleging the school tolerated anti-Semitism and failed to take meaningful action, criticizing its leadership, radical faculty, and indifference.
“I have decided to leave Columbia because I feel like its leadership is unwilling to take the real, necessary steps to fight against the anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli, and anti-American hatred on campus,” Davidai explained.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University and Rashid Khalidi for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
