Uncivil Rites: Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom Kindle Edition

Excellent and crucial book! Very informative and a must read on those wanting to know about the struggles of academic freedoms.

Fantastic read! Really shed some light into the cost/benefits of academic freedom protections.

I watched the author interviewed on CSPAN 2. Gives another look to the Israeli palestinian situation. One we don't usually see.

Salaita is not only a perceptive and insightful writer, but he has a gift for the mordant turn of phrase. This is not only a valuable book, but also, in a curious way, a very funny one.

Brilliantly written and a real eye-opener. American patriots are in a fight for freedom that must be won! The attempts at censorship by Zionist entities to hide the truth about the Apartheid state of Israel is a vile attack on American values.

Congratulations to Mr. Salaita for his recent victory and legal settlement of close to one million dollars! The resignations of two college Zionists (including the chancellor) responsible for his firing is wonderful icing on the cake. Let this be a warning to other Zionists and their minions that the tide has turned and the TRUTH will be known!

This book is fabulous! Salaita, the author [and subject], is a college professor who studies colonized peoples, in particular Palestinians. He was offered a tenured position in the Native American Studies program by my alma mater, the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (now known as the UIUC, an abbreviation I don't like). He accepted the offer, resigned from his tenured position at Va. Tech, rented out his Virginia house, had his family's possessions ready to be picked up by the U. of Illinois paid moving vans, had made a down payment on a home in Illinois, when, he got a terse email, with an attached terse letter, telling him that his offer of a job would not be submitted to the University Board of Trustees. This occurred in August 2014, a year after he had accepted the job and on the eve of his departure for Illinois, just weeks before the fall semester, during which he was to teach two classes, was to begin.

Though all of the details have yet to emerge, what is clear is that the job was retracted because of opinions and observations he had tweeted during the summer of 2014 about the assault on the residents of the Gaza strip by the State of Israel. Influential donors (apparently) and stupid, utterly stupid trustees, decided that criticism of Israel was "anti-Semitic". [which would mean, using the same logic, that any criticism of the US government is "unpatriotic", a label the right-wing threw around in the aftermath of 9/11 as draconian invasive civil rights violations were being engrafted into US law].

My alma mater, in one of the dumbest and clumsiest moves ever, decided to knuckle under to this claim, and tried to "unhire" Salaita. Fortunately, a firestorm of protest arose, and the matter remains in litigation, with the odds and most preliminary decisions clearly in favor of Salaita and freedom of speech and thought. For what it is worth, I have informed the U. of Illinois that I will not make my usual small annual gift again until Salaita is in residence with tenure in Champaign (if he is still willing to teach there).

In this book, he riffs on many aspects of the situation, in short chapters, some of which are fully or partially in list format. There is much thought provoking stuff in this work, and I intended to go back for a deeper read, but I sped through the entire thing in one sitting yesterday and was rewarded with great writing and content.

In this work, Salaita shows the parallels between colonized people of the world, in particular Palestinians and Native Americans. He addresses the U. of Illinois' Chief Illiniwek mascot, and the refusal of many at the University to truly abandon the Chief. (for the record, I was a huge fan of the Chief while in college, but I am also an educable person who subsequently learned how hurtful and offensive the mascot was and is. My brain and my heart learned that the Chief had no place at my University or indeed in the world, and I am happy that he is gone.) Didn't know until I read this book that his "music" [the phony Indian dance tunes] is still played at sporting events. Appalling.

In my first reading, my favorite chapter was the one about lying to a child. Beautifully written.

So, if you are interested in academic freedom, and the lack thereof; the history of colonized peoples; the situation(s) in which modern day Palestinians find themselves; contract law; criticism of modern academia and its top heavy administrations; stupid behaviors by powerful people; human rights; liberation; freedom of speech; and/or current events, you are sure to appreciate this book.

I'm truly in awe of Steven and of his latest book. I didn't think he could improve much on his previous book--"Israel's Dead Soul"--which is also amazing, but he did. This is such a beautiful testimony to what kind of human Steven is and the blinders Zionists have that disallow them to see that level of deep humanity. This book is a collection of pieces that range from personal narrative detailing his experience since UIUC fired him to parenting to essays about academia and, of course, Palestine. Much of the book is deeply moving. A great deal is also hilarious--especially his parenthetical comments. If there is an award for the best footnotes in an academic book, the award should go to him. It's also a brilliant book for people interested in how to carefully tear apart or build up a writer's argument; it's great for those interested in rhetoric. Is also just sheer delectable, eloquent prose.

This is a chance to understand what happened to Prof. Salaita from his own, very thoughtful perspective. It is a series of essays, but all are linked through a series of themes - Palestine, colonialism, campus politics, and academic freedom. Salaita comes through as a more complex person and a more complex thinker than his enemies present him. His firing comes through as a very clear cut administrative fiat, overriding any considerations of academic freedom or collegial governance on campuses. He also helps readers think through what is happening on North American universities. Beyond that, there is some very moving and frequently hilarious writing in here. Highly recommended.