Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York City, has complained that pro-Israel advocates will “infest” the Donald Trump administration, twice using a term that usually refers to vermin or insects.
Khalidi, who is editor of the pro-Palestine Liberation Organization “Journal of Palestine Studies,” made the remarks Jan. 19 in an interview with Chicago radio station WBEZ.
Several critics of Israel have been called out by Jewish leaders in recent months for their use of dehumanizing rhetoric. Last July, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) said Israeli settlements were “like termites,” but later apologized for the remark. This month, former U.S. diplomat David A. Korn—writing in the Washington Post—compared the settlements to “a rash.” Korn subsequently told JNS.org that it was “ridiculous” for Jewish leaders to consider his rhetoric offensive and that he was “not going to apologize to anyone.”
