Nathan Guttman at the Jewish Daily Forward has a round-up of the Salaita case at the University of Illinois. dotCommonweal has had a discussion about the free speech aspect; Guttman gives a run down of the ups and downs with the conclusion that Salaita says he will take his case to court if his job offer is not honored. Apparently he is turning down a university offer for a financial settlement, paying him to go away, it appears.

Two of Guttman's key points: "It is a university’s nightmare scenario, involving almost every possible mess an academic institution could encounter: choosing between free speech and the need to maintain civil discourse; balancing academic faculty hiring prerogatives with donor pressure; defining the role of social media in academic settings; distinguishing between what’s personal and what’s fair game for professional review and treading the fine line of tenure and the protection it provides.

"For Jewish students seeking to defend Israel and other pro-Israel activists, the Salaita debate also means finding the right balance between fighting anti-Israel sentiments on campus and framing the case as one that affects all students, not just supporters of the Jewish state."

Margaret O’Brien Steinfels is a former editor of Commonweal. 

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