05/04/2025
Two leaders of Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies are being forced to leave their positions at the end of the academic year, according to news reports by the student-run Harvard Crimson, The Guardian, and The New York Times.
The departures of the center’s director, Cemal Kafadar, a professor of Turkish studies, and its associate director, Rosie Bsheer, a professor of history, come as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has launched investigations at institutions that have had pro-Palestinian protests over the past year, threatening to withhold federal funds unless they do more to address perceived antisemitism on their campuses. At Harvard, nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts may be on the line. The Crimson noted that the Center for Middle Eastern Studies has repeatedly been criticised by Harvard affiliates who allege that some of its programming has been antisemitic and has failed to represent Israeli perspectives.
The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), in a letter dated 31 March 2025, linked the dismissals of Kafadar and Bsheer to broader political pressures on U.S. universities to curtail discussions on Palestine, and denounced Harvard’s action as “an egregious violation of longstanding and widely accepted norms of faculty governance as well as the principles of academic freedom”.
MESA said Harvard’s action contradicted the university’s own commitments to academic freedom and speech protections. Notably, the dismissals coincided with a university-wide policy shift mandating that all research centers ensure “diverse viewpoints” in their programming. Critics argue this sets a dangerous precedent, signaling that discussions on Palestine face heightened scrutiny and institutional suppression.
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