Arab world studies at the center of the dispute between Trump and universities

Donald Trump 's feud with American universities , which he accuses of allowing "anti-Semitism," has academic researchers on the Middle East fearing for freedom of expression.

A recent example is the suspension of the publication of a special edition of the prestigious Harvard Educational Review (HER) that was to be devoted entirely to the Palestinian issue.

Although the articles had been meticulously edited and approved and were ready for printing, a last-minute review by the university's legal department resulted in the decision to suspend publication.

Six months after the deadly Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the start of Israeli military retaliation in Gaza, the magazine launched a call for contributions in March 2024 for a special issue on the conflict.

Anthropologist Thea Abu al-Haj presented with colleagues an article on "scholasticide," a term that seeks to designate the destruction of the educational system in Gaza, broadening the perspective to include Palestinian teachers during the Lebanon War (1975-1990).

The publication was announced in the spring of 2025, but a few weeks later, the authors learned that their texts would ultimately have to be submitted to Harvard's legal department for a "risk assessment."

"For decades I've published in scientific journals, including twice at the HER, and I've never been asked to go through this type of review ," Abu al-Haj, a professor at Barnard College affiliated with Columbia University, told AFP.

The authors denounce "censorship" and a violation of "academic freedom." Harvard Education Press director Jessica Fiorillo rejected these accusations, describing the incident as "an inadequate editorial review process."

"The only explanation I see is that this is another case of a Palestinian exception to freedom of expression," says Abu El-Haj, who believes Harvard is not the "champion" of academic freedom it claims to be in the face of Trump. When contacted by AFP, Harvard did not comment on the cancellation of this special issue.

In its confrontation with the university, the federal government has blocked more than $2.6 billion in grants and is seeking to revoke its permit to accept international students, who make up more than a quarter of its student body.

Harvard says it has strengthened its protocol to protect Jewish and Israeli students, while challenging the government's measures in court.

In early 2025, the university also dismissed the directors of its Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Cemal Kafadar and Rosie Bsheer. A group of progressive Jewish professors criticized the decision and accused the university of caving to pressure by "sacrificing" these specialists who defend Palestinian rights.

" There's a chilly climate surrounding research on Palestine at Harvard and beyond... Faculty, staff, and students are living in a context of fear and anxiety," Margaret Litvin , a specialist in Arabic literature at Boston University and a member of this group of professors, told AFP.

In July, Columbia signed a $221 million financial settlement with the government to end the investigations it faces and unblock frozen grants. The agreement stipulates that the university must "review" its teaching on the Middle East.

Harvard also adopted earlier this year, before Columbia followed suit in July, the definition of antisemitism proposed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

However, this definition lacks consensus, as its detractors argue that it could prohibit criticism of Israel. And this is precisely what appears to be at the heart of the disagreement over the special issue "Education and Palestine," according to Chandni Desai, a professor at the University of Toronto who was to sign a text.

The submitted articles "probably wouldn't pass" the IHRA definition because "they're all critical of Israel," he says. "We've never seen an entire special issue (of an academic journal) get canceled (...) It's unprecedented," he notes.