Steve Salaita

Dressing Down, Layering Up

Perseverance is a radical’s most important quality.

Last year I was exchanging messages with Tommy J. Curry, who had recently arrived in Scotland to begin a position at the University of Edinburgh. Curry was a philosophy professor at Texas A&M in 2017 when The American Conservative ran a hit-piece accusing him of “racist bilge” and claiming that Curry is the Black inverse of neo-Nazi Richard Spencer (but even worse).

A storm of racism and defamation predictably followed. Curry became the latest Black scholar to be dehumanized in a public mobbing, a periodic ritual of white supremacy. The intensity of the vitriol was such that Curry, fearing for his family’s safety, left the United States. Leaving the country was also a professional decision. Now marked as “controversial,” a concept larded with racist undertones, he was no longer viable in the academic job market.

Off-The-Record Advice for Graduate Students

A few things they won’t tell you during orientation.

An industry exists for providing advice to would-be professors. Unfortunately, that industry is generally worthless, filled with self-serving platitudes urging conformity to a system that will gradually kill your soul. The following advice is intended for young scholars who aspire to maintain a sense of humanity in environments of bald careerism and brutal competition. There’s no foolproof method, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying. I hope the following observations help:

How Bernie Sanders Became a Fighter for Palestine

On the importance of mythology to presidential campaigns

With the Democratic primary in full swing, the outlines of public debate are pretty much entrenched. Common wisdom on the left says that all of the candidates are bad on Palestine except for Bernie Sanders. Despite some problems, pundits declare, Sanders is still the best. Is the statement true, though, or is it a convenient truism?

Andom Ghebreghiorgis and the Limits of Left Electoralism

What must a radical candidate do to get some love?

For various reasons, I avoid political campaigns. I just can’t get excited about them, in part because electoralism has so thoroughly colonized the US left. In a healthy intellectual culture, its predominance would be automatic cause for skepticism. Unfortunately, these days sickness feels compulsory. Rejecting electoralism invites disdain and derision.

Amid the bickering on the US left about the utility of voting, a compromise usually emerges: voting is merely a form of damage control that one performs every few years before returning to the serious stuff. But the rhetoric of voting supersedes the physical act. In turn, elections have become a nonstop preoccupation. The off-season no longer exists.

The Magical City of Jerusalem

“Where are you from?” For Palestinians, it can be a devastating question.

The other day I was browsing the July issue of Palestine in America (an excellent magazine) featuring a profile of fashion designer Rami Kashou. Kashou is best known for his appearance on season 4 of Project Runway (2007-08), a design competition in which he placed second. He went on to a successful career in fashion.

Although I didn’t follow Kashou’s career, I remember him well. My wife and I liked Project Runway in its heyday and were watching when Kashou was introduced. His accent, his body language, his facial features—all felt deeply familiar. We glanced at each other. “Gotta be,” she said. The energy in the room got happier. We would have the rare opportunity to cheer on a Palestinian contestant.

Renouncing Israel on Principle

How to answer the question, “Do you affirm Israel’s right to exist?”

When anti-Zionists discuss the Middle East, the topic of Israel’s existence rarely arises. It’s almost exclusively a pro-Israel talking point. We’re focused on national liberation, on surviving repression, on strategies of resistance, on recovering subjugated histories, on the complex (and sometimes touchy) relationships among an Indigenous population disaggregated by decades of aggression. That a colonial state—or any state, really—possesses no ontological rights is an unspoken assumption.

The Unlocked Turnstile of Palestine Solidarity

At what point can Palestinians trust former Zionists?

Around a year-and-a-half ago, I received an email from Mira Sucharov, a professor at Carleton University, inviting me to join a conference roundtable, “Israel-Palestine Scholarship, Activism, and the Threat to Academic Freedom.” The request was polite and professional and the topic seemed fine (though the term “Israel-Palestine” always give me pause). A day later, I declined the invitation.

The Utility of Fear

Don’t buy the myth of fearless journalism. Real dissidents have good reason to be afraid.

Fearlessness. We often hear about the condition in relation to independent media: this journalist is fearless; that outlet produces fearless reporting. Fearlessness is our mandate; fearlessness depends upon your donation. It’s a strong claim, but not especially flattering as self-description, being the kind of adjective best left to disinterested parties. What does it really mean, though? Is it an empty branding device or does it signify indispensable contributions to public discourse?