Book accuses IDF of “maiming” Palestinians and harvesting their organs.
By Dion J. Pierre, The Algemeiner
The International Legal Forum (ILF), a nonprofit organization based in Tel Aviv which advocates for equality in Israel and the Middle East, on Sunday asked Princeton University to remove from the syllabus of a Department of Near Eastern Studies course a book that accuses the Israeli Defense Forces of “maiming” Palestinians and harvesting their organs.
Students in the class are assigned Rutgers University professor Jasbir Puar’s The Right to Maim for a course titled “The Healing Humanities: Decolonizing Trauma Studies from the Global South,” which will be taught by Professor Satyel Larson this fall. Right to Maim has been accused by academics of being “pseudo-scholarship” for trafficking in antisemitic blood libels rooted in medieval conspiracies charging that Jews murdered Christian children and drank their blood during Passover.
Puar began making such claims in Feb. 2016, when she said at Vassar College that “young Palestinian men…were mined for organs for scientific research.” At the same event, she accused Israel of committing “genocide in slow motion.” Later that year, during a panel at Dartmouth College she said Israel uses “maiming as a deliberate biopolitical tactic” to enforce settler-colonialism.
“Although we firmly believe in the notion of open debate on campus and do not take the call to exclude any kind of reading material lightly, the book in question does not contain any educational merit but only promulgates a dangerous conspiracy and age-old antisemitic trope,” said a letter ILF shared with The Algemeiner. “This kind of blind racism would not be permitted against any other minority not should it be tolerated with respect to Jewish students.”
ILF added that Princeton University’s record on keeping antisemitic ideas off its campus is spotted, citing the English Department’s hosting controversial Palestinian activist Mohammed-El Kurd in January despite his history of spreading blood libels and insulting Jewish students who attend his events. The group also explained that admitting Puar’s book into its curricula violates both its commitment to pursuing truth as well as the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism adopted by the US government in May and used by hundreds of governing institutions, including the US State Department, European Union, and the United Nations. Additionally, ILF argued that teaching the book may contravene Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which forbids discriminatory conduct at universities receiving federal funds.
The IHRA definition of antisemitism states that “antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews,” and includes a list of illustrative examples ranging from Holocaust denial to the rejection of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.
“Accordingly, we call on you now to stand steadfast against antisemitism in all its vitriolic and hateful manifestations as expressed in this vile book that has no place in a university of Princeton’s prestige or any educational environment and call for its immediate removal,” the group continued. “We look forward to your response.”
Princeton University president Christopher L. Eisgruber denounced antisemitism in May 2021, following a series of incidents in which, he said, “passing motorists…heckled identifiably Jewish students, accusing them of hostility toward Palestinians.”
In May 2022, Jewish student groups at Princeton University voiced concerns about the handling of a campus-wide anti-Israel referendum, as debate swirled over how the final result would be certified. The referendum, which was open to undergraduate voting from April 11-13, weighed a boycott of the Caterpillar Inc. construction company over its business with Israel, drawing inspiration from the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign.