University faces backlash for anti-Israel speaker as part of 'Holocaust and Genocide Studies' lecture series

A Palestinian-American speaker was scheduled to give a presentation on genocide at Sonoma State University (SSU) in Rohnert Park, California on April 15, sparking criticism from groups who feared the presentation would be anti-Semitic.

The speaker, Ussama Makdisi, is a professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley. As part of an annual lecture series from the university’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, his presentation on April 15 was entitled, “Atonement at the Expense of Others: Palestinians and the Question of Genocide.”

Makdisi has consistently criticized Israel’s counter-offensive in Gaza, according to The Press Democrat. Since January, the SSU administration had reportedly received numerous emails requesting that the school also invite speakers to address “modern antisemitism” and the “atrocities” of “Palestinian terrorism.”

[RELATED: Trump admin sets terms, orders DEI rollback and protections for Jewish students for Harvard to preserve $9B in federal funding]

In August 2024, less than a year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis, Makdisi published an article accusing Israel of cruelty against Palestine.

“Israel has set out to methodically obliterate every aspect of Palestinian life in Gaza,” Makdisi wrote. “It has also caused irreparable harm to tens of thousands of students, in what UN officials have described as a ‘scholasticide.’”

Makdisi continued to describe Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza as a “genocide,” and urged the United States to condemn the Jewish state.

“It is extraordinary that to date not a single US university has officially condemned the genocide in Gaza – or, at the very least, the systematic Israeli destruction of universities there,” he said.

Makdisi additionally expressed support for pro-Palestine student activists and described Israel’s government as perpetrating “apartheid.”

A resident of nearby Healdsburg, California told The Press Democrat that the school should disinvite Makdisi on account of his “extreme views.” The individual also described the administration’s decision to include Makdisi as “shocking.”

[RELATED: Former Columbia president says during deposition she doesn’t remember students calling for Israel’s destruction]

Campus Reform previously reported that SSU played home to an anti-Israel encampment erected by student activists last year. The pro-Palestine demonstrators demanded that the university divest from companies that had ties to Israel and add a recognition of Palestinian identity into the school’s curriculum.

In the fall, student activists set up fake checkpoints to mimic those created by the Israel Defense Forces.

“We don’t want to make people uncomfortable, but we want people to be uncomfortable with the idea of what we’re paying for overseas with our tax dollars,” said one student, a member of SSU’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter.

Campus Reform has contacted Sonoma State University and Professor Ussama Makdisi for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.