Professor Shibley Telhami (University of Maryland) and Professor Marc Lynch (George Washington University), co-directors of the Middle East Scholar Barometer, released an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education summarizing the findings of the latest Middle East Scholar Barometer survey on the perceptions of the crisis on American campuses that has been driven by the ongoing war in Israel and Gaza. Some of the key findings are:
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Over 80% of the US-based scholars surveyed say they continue to self-censor when discussing the Israeli/Palestinian issue professionally, overwhelmingly self-censoring criticism of Israel
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Most respondents do not see Islamophobia or antisemitism to be driving the pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Instead, a majority of respondents see the Pro-Israel demonstrations as either showing support for Israel's response in Gaza (30%) or protesting anti-Israeli sentiments on campus (27%), while the Pro-Palestinian demonstrations were mainly seen as protesting Israeli actions in Gaza (51%) and Biden's support for these actions (31%)
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Overwhelmingly, respondents are critical of President Biden's handling of the campus crisis with nearly three-quarters saying it was negative for advancing free speech and a healthy campus environment, over two-thirds saying it was negative for protecting Muslim and Arab students on campus, and more respondents saying it made Jewish students less safe than more safe
