US Prof Fired For Pro-Palestine Tweets Seeks Reinstatement

Local Editor

A professor who lost a promised job over his tweets on the recent seven-week Zionist aggression on seized Gaza demanded on Tuesday that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [UIUC] reinstate him, citing free speech and academic freedom.

The termination of Steven Salaita in August, two weeks before he was to start teaching, has ignited debate and protests at UIUC and other universities over academic freedom and politics.

A number of UIUC students on Tuesday walked out of classes to listen to Salaita's first public comments since the university rescinded his appointment to the department of American Indian Studies.

"Universities are meant to be cauldrons of critical thinking; they are meant to foster creative inquiry and, when at their best, challenge political, economic, or social orthodoxy," said Salaita, who spoke along with UIUC professors who support him.

He defended his Twitter messages, saying they were passionate and unfiltered, reflecting his dismay at Palestinian martyrdom.

He accused the university of terminating him under pressure from wealthy donors who dislike his pro-Palestinian views.

Salaita said he is not anti-Semitic and that the entirety of his tweets in context shows that "my stand is fundamentally one of acknowledging and countering anti-Semitism."

Salaita tweeted heavily during the Zionist aggression, including this message on Aug. 1: "Supporters of #"Israel" should be forced--A Clockwork Orange style--to view pics of smiling children who were killed on endless repeat. #Gaza."

However, the university said it was standing by its decision to withdraw Salaita's professorship over his pro-Palestine tweets.

American-born Salaita, of Jordanian and Palestinian parents, has written a number of books and taught at Virginia Tech before accepting a tenured position at Illinois.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team