A talk by Palestinian American scholar Ussama Makdisi has drawn a coordinated email campaign, community criticism and renewed tensions over academic freedom and antisemitism.
Ussama Makdisi is a professor of history at UC Berkeley, and a leading scholar of modern Arab history and U.S.-Middle East relations. His work focuses on colonialism, sectarianism and the politics of historical memory in the Arab world.
• Academic background: Formerly a longtime professor at Rice University, where he held the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies before joining UC Berkeley in 2021.
• Books include:
– “Faith Misplaced: The Broken Promise of U.S.–Arab Relations”
– “Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World”
• Public voice: Makdisi frequently speaks and writes about the erasure of Palestinian history and critiques what he views as Western and Israeli narratives that marginalize Arab identity and experience.
• Family ties: He is the nephew of Edward Said, the influential Palestinian American scholar and author of “Orientalism,” and the brother of UCLA professor Saree Makdisi.
Makdisi has drawn praise for challenging dominant narratives — and criticism from pro-Israel groups for his views on Gaza, genocide and the historical framing of Zionism.
A campaign targeting a Palestinian American scholar’s upcoming lecture at Sonoma State University has drawn thousands of emails in recent weeks — fueling debate over academic freedom, antisemitism and free speech amid the war in Gaza.
The controversy centers on Ussama Makdisi, a UC Berkeley history professor and expert on modern Arab history, who is scheduled to speak April 15 as part of SSU’s Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series. His talk, titled “Atonement at the Expense of Others: Palestinians and the Question of Genocide,” is one of 15 events in the spring series, which also includes scholars on the Holocaust and genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia and Armenia.
Makdisi has been a vocal critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The conflict followed the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people. Since then, more than 50,000 Palestinians have died, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Makdisi’s scholarship often explores how Palestinian history has been erased from mainstream narratives, and the long-term impact of Israel’s founding on Palestinian identity and self-determination.
The Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series has run for more than 40 years and draws hundreds of attendees each semester. This year’s opening event — featuring a rabbi, a reverend and a Palestinian American activist in conversation about being Jewish and Palestinian in the U.S. — drew an audience larger than the auditorium could hold. SSU history professor Stephen Bittner, who organizes the series, called it “the single most valuable teaching experience” of his career.
The email campaign criticizing the Makdisi lecture has arrived at a fragile moment for SSU. The Rohnert Park university is navigating a $24 million budget shortfall, proposed layoffs affecting more than 100 employees, and strained ties with parts of the campus and local community.
At the same time, the controversy is playing out against a broader national backdrop. The Trump administration has escalated pressure on universities and public institutions it accuses of tolerating antisemitism or promoting anti-Israel rhetoric, particularly in the wake of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. In recent months, federal agencies have launched investigations, revoked student visas and threatened university funding — fueling concerns that free expression on campus is being systematically curtailed.
At SSU, the backlash began in late January, when messages began pouring in to Bittner, as well as to Interim President Emily Cutrer, CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and other public officials. At one point, Bittner said he was receiving 20 emails per minute.
Many of the emails used identical language, suggesting a coordinated campaign. The organizer remains unknown.
Despite multiple requests for comment, Makdisi did not respond to The Press Democrat.
The emails called on the university to include speakers addressing “modern antisemitism, the atrocities of Oct. 7 and Palestinian terrorism.” While the messages did not explicitly demand cancellation of Makdisi’s talk, Bittner said he interpreted the campaign as an effort to pressure the university into deplatforming the scholar.
“If I ever feel like I am pressured to schedule the lecture series in a certain way because of outside pressures that are being brought to bear on the university — whether it’s the federal government or email campaigns — I will resign from this post,” he said.
Taking a stronger stance, Healdsburg resident Irene Hodes said the university should rescind its invitation to Makdisi, calling his “extreme views” a “shocking and inappropriate choice” for the lecture series.
“I’m disappointed in the university, and deeply concerned for the Jewish students, several of whom are required to attend for their coursework,” said Hodes, who works at the regional Jewish Community Relations Council but was speaking in her personal capacity.
A Jan. 29 email from a Florida sender echoed the broader criticism, alleging the lecture “lacks balance” and “dangerously distorts Holocaust history at a time when antisemitism is surging across U.S. campuses.” It accused the talk of promoting “the grossly inaccurate and inflammatory claim that Israel is committing genocide,” and linked to Makdisi’s profile on Canary Mission — a website that compiles and publishes dossiers on people and organizations it accuses of antisemitism.
The question of genocide in Gaza has been raised repeatedly by international observers. A United Nations special committee said in a November report that Israel’s actions in Gaza were “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.” In March, U.N. experts said Israeli forces had committed “genocidal acts,” citing the systemic destruction of women’s health care and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Despite the email campaign, Makdisi’s talk is proceeding as planned, with no changes to the speaker lineup.
“We need to show that we have academic values and American values of free speech,” Cutrer told The Press Democrat. “The talk is geared toward educating students and the public, and a university has to be able to do that.”
She said administrators considered canceling the lecture but ultimately chose to uphold the institution’s academic mission. The university, she added, is taking steps to ensure the event is safe, orderly and without financial repercussions.
The university has protocols in place to manage disruptions both in person and during the event’s livestream. Cutrer said the CSU Time, Place and Manner policy — adopted in the fall — will be enforced. The policy bans encampments and prohibits actions that disrupt or interfere with others’ speech.
Ariel Kelley, a Healdsburg City Council member and regional chair of the Bay Area Network of Jewish Officials, said the lecture series has historically encouraged open dialogue and critical thinking — and she’s interested in hearing Makdisi’s perspective.
But, she said, those conversations must happen on a foundation of trust. And for some, that foundation has weakened.
“That is in part why folks in the community are concerned about this particular topic and speaker,” said Kelley, who serves on a Jewish advisory group formed by SSU last year. “Because the trust in the university is starting to erode.”
The mistrust traces back to spring 2023, when then-President Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee sent a campus-wide email announcing a four-point agreement with pro-Palestinian protesters. The pact included steps toward financial divestment and a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Lee was placed on leave shortly after and later retired. The university publicly distanced itself from parts of the agreement weeks later.
While some applauded the move as a bold stand for student voices, others — including members of the local Jewish community — felt excluded from the process and alarmed by the academic boycott language.
Bittner had openly criticized that part of the agreement at the time, calling it “morally reprehensible” and contrary to the principle of scholarly freedom. He said he would oppose a similar boycott of Palestinian scholars.
The university has since worked to rebuild bridges — but tensions remain, particularly as financial uncertainty deepens.
According to Tarik Kanaana, a Palestinian activist and staff member at SSU’s Children’s School, calls to cancel Makdisi’s lecture are part of a broader tactic to silence criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“They equate being pro-Palestinian with antisemitism and terrorism,” he said. “This tactic vilifies those people so they lose credibility.”
Kanaana said his group, Sonoma County for Palestine, recently had to cancel a planned event with Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha in Santa Rosa. Abu Toha, citing safety concerns, called off his entire U.S. tour.
“I felt unsafe traveling, especially after watching students and university professors abducted on the street just in front of other people,” the poet wrote in a post on X. “I even don’t feel safe going out to pick up my kids from school. These threats made online against me and my family are vile. And the serious threats and actions against free speech are even more vile.”
Similar backlash followed a lecture last November by Makdisi’s brother — Saree Makdisi, chair of UCLA’s English department — at Washington University in St. Louis. That talk, which focused on Western denial of Palestinian oppression, went forward as scheduled and was well attended.
At the national level, civil liberties advocates are increasingly alarmed by federal actions targeting students, faculty and universities over pro-Palestinian expression. More than 300 student visas have reportedly been revoked under recent Trump administration policies, including at UC and Stanford campuses. Students at Columbia, Tufts and the University of Alabama have also been detained.
At SSU, sociology major Josue Benjamin Chavez Villegas said the chilling effect is real.
“A lot of student activists are feeling anxious and confused, but also finding creative ways to continue to organize,” he said. “The university has not addressed students who are at risk of suffering consequences for their activism.”
Bittner sees the Makdisi lecture — and the university’s response to it — as a litmus test for higher education’s role in a deeply divided world.
“We have to be brave,” he said. “We can’t change what we do because we’re afraid of the federal government or some people who disagree with us. As long as we honor our principles as an academic institution, we’re doing the right thing.”
You can reach Tarini Mehta at 707-521-5337 or tarini.mehta@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @MehtaTarini.
Ussama Makdisi is a professor of history at UC Berkeley, and a leading scholar of modern Arab history and U.S.-Middle East relations. His work focuses on colonialism, sectarianism and the politics of historical memory in the Arab world.
• Academic background: Formerly a longtime professor at Rice University, where he held the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies before joining UC Berkeley in 2021.
• Books include:
– “Faith Misplaced: The Broken Promise of U.S.–Arab Relations”
– “Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World”
• Public voice: Makdisi frequently speaks and writes about the erasure of Palestinian history and critiques what he views as Western and Israeli narratives that marginalize Arab identity and experience.
• Family ties: He is the nephew of Edward Said, the influential Palestinian American scholar and author of “Orientalism,” and the brother of UCLA professor Saree Makdisi.
Makdisi has drawn praise for challenging dominant narratives — and criticism from pro-Israel groups for his views on Gaza, genocide and the historical framing of Zionism.
Thousands urge SSU to alter Gaza lecture. The university isn’t backing down. – The Press Democrat
