How Israeli Universities Undermine Palestinian Freedom
A Review of Maya Wind, Towers of Ivory and Steel
Often it is claimed that Israeli universities are the last bastions of academic freedom in an increasingly oppressive state. Yet a growing number of critical scholars — and now Maya Wind is first among them — have shown us that the freedom that is claimed to flourish in Israeli universities is only available for supporters of the Israeli state. Wind’s new book, Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom, entered production shortly before Israelis' latest onslaught in Gaza began in October 2023. The book will be published on 30 January 2024 and can be pre-ordered now.
Drawing heavily on Hebrew sources that have not been discussed in the English-language debate around Israel and Palestine, Wind documents a long history of collaboration by Israeli academic institutions in the occupation of Palestine and denial of Palestinian rights. Wind documents in painstaking detail how, from the beginning of the founding of the state of Israel in 1948 if not earlier, Israeli universities have been designed as “regionally strategic outposts for the Israeli state’s territorial and demographic project.” The locations, research focus, and academic hierarchies of Israeli universities all reflect this broader aim.
