Steven Salaita

Steven Salaita (born 1975) is an American scholar, author and public speaker formerly holding the Edward W. Said Chair of American Studies at the American University of Beirut . He became the center of a controversy when University of Illinois withdrew its conditional offer of employment as a professor of American Indian Studies following university donor objections to a series of tweets critical of Israel and of Zionism . As a result of his outspoken critique of the university's handling of his situation, Haaretz wrote that Salaita has established "celebrity status on the lecture circuit" for his talk "Silencing Dissent".

American scholar (born 1975) Steven Salaita (born ( 1975 -09-15 ) September 15, 1975) is an American scholar, author and public speaker. He became the center of a controversy when the University of Illinois did not hire him as a professor of American Indian Studies following objections to a series of tweets critical of Israel's bombardment of Gaza in 2014. He also experienced similar controversy during the hiring process at the American University of Beirut in 2016. The Chronicle of Higher Education . But that summer, after getting feedback from donors, students and parents, then-Chancellor Phyllis Wise started raising concerns about Salaita's anti-Israel Twitter posts. Salaita had been posting prolifically about the Israeli government and its military actions in Gaza. In one tweet he wrote: "Let's cut to the chase: If you're defending #Israel right now you're an awful human being."