A course at the University of California, Berkeley, offering a "settler-colonialist" perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has sparked a fresh wave of outrage among Jewish parents and students.
They argue that the course promotes a heavily biased, anti-Israel narrative and condones antisemitic rhetoric. Titled "Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis," the course grants students two academic credits but has been a source of heated debate for years.
The controversy isn’t new - back in 2016, the same course was suspended briefly following complaints that it failed to meet Berkeley’s academic standards. Though reinstated after a review and with certain conditions, critics claim the course still lacks balance. Jewish advocacy groups and parents argue that no meaningful modifications have been made and are now calling for its complete removal from the curriculum.
At the center of the controversy is Professor Hatem Bazian, a Berkeley faculty member who endorses the course and co-founded the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). SJP, known for leading pro-Palestinian demonstrations, has faced accusations of fostering antisemitic incidents, leading to its ban at several other universities.
In a petition by 'UC Berkeley Parents and Allies Cal,' Jewish parents argue: "The course title alone, 'Settler Colonial Analysis,' distorts Israel's history. Colonial powers are not indigenous to the lands they colonize, yet Israel is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, who have lived there continuously for thousands of years. Historic and genetic evidence links Jews to the land, a fact that the course deliberately ignores." The petition further defends Zionism as a national revival movement, not colonialism, emphasizing that Jews returned with the intent to cultivate their ancestral land, not conquer it.
As the debate reignites, the course remains a flashpoint of contention, bringing to the forefront larger discussions on academic freedom, political bias, and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
* Ynet contributed to this article.
