Rashid Khalidi: Arab-American Professors in Good Shape

The Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University, Rashid Khalidi, went on the Al-‘Arabiya television channel this evening and talked a great deal about Barack Obama (of whom he does not expect great things). He also answered a question from the anchor about his own career:

Gisele Khuri: Is it true that the Zionist lobby tried to force you out of Columbia University, as some Arab articles claimed? Is there pressure?

Rashid Khalidi: There is a faction of people who attack me, who attack each week, every week. But they have no influence. That is, the situation of Arab professors in American universities is generally acceptable. The pressure in Colombia and in other universities means little. We handle it as best we can but it is not a problem.

Comment: Keep this quote handy next time Arab professors in the United States play the victimization card. (December 20, 2008)

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Daniel Pipes

Daniel Pipes, a historian, has led the Middle East Forum since its founding in 1994. He taught at Chicago, Harvard, Pepperdine, and the U.S. Naval War College. He served in five U.S. administrations, received two presidential appointments, and testified before many congressional committees. The author of 16 books on the Middle East, Islam, and other topics, Mr. Pipes writes a column for the Washington Times and the Spectator; his work has been translated into 39 languages. DanielPipes.org contains an archive of his writings and media appearances; he tweets at @DanielPipes. He received both his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard. The Washington Post deems him “perhaps the most prominent U.S. scholar on radical Islam.” Al-Qaeda invited Mr. Pipes to convert and Edward Said called him an “Orientalist.”