UC Berkeley establishes $3 million Palestinian and Arab studies program amid Israel-Hamas war
Students at the University of California, Berkeley can enroll in one the nation's first Palestinian and Arab studies program.
The program will be funded through a $3.25 million anonymous gift, and another $500,000 will be used to promote the initiative.
The University of California, Berkeley recently announced its newest program on Palestinian and Arab Studies coincidentally following last year’s violent pro-Hamas campus protests and arrests.
An anonymous university gift of $3.25 million will fund the initiative and establish the “May Ziadeh” Chair position, named after a historical Palestinian feminist. The college says the gift comes as a result of “years of collaborative planning and philanthropy.”
The announcement also notes the university’s commitment to promoting the program through an additional $500,000 in funding. This investment would support engagement initiatives, academic grants, and conferences to garner undergraduate student enrollment to the program.
Being one of the first schools in the country to offer a Palestinian-focused study, Berkeley seeks to “explore neglected fields of study; and to build inclusive education.”
The program comes after the university has experienced countless incidents of anti-Semitism since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, including violence and student arrests.
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Enrollees will be afforded the “opportunity to discuss and learn freely about the deeply interconnected and embedded streams of Palestinian and Arab history, culture, politics and society” through the program.
Professor Ussama Makdisi, who will assume the inaugural Chair, is a long-time Middle Eastern scholar.
Berkeley says there is “evident student demand” to learn Palestinian history as it relates to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
[RELATED: University of California spent $29 million responding to anti-Israel protests]
This proposal comes “at a time when understanding the complexities of the Middle East is more crucial than ever,” said Social Sciences Dean Raka Ray, who specializes in feminist and gender theory.
Campus Reform has contacted UC Berkeley, the school of Social Sciences, and Ussama Makdisi for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
