Palestinian University Faces Criticism After Resignation of Professor

The resignation of Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi, a professor at Al-Quds University who triggered a storm of criticism after taking a group of students to Auschwitz, has refocused international attention on issues of tolerance and academic freedom at Al-Quds University, a Palestinian institution on the outskirts of East Jerusalem.

In November, Brandeis University suspended a decade-long partnership with Al-Quds ("Jerusalem" in Arabic) over disappointment at the university’s response to a campus rally where students flourished fake automatic weapons, gave Nazi-style salutes, and appeared to lionize suicide bombers.

"It is disappointing that Professor Dajani felt he had to resign from the faculty at Al-Quds," Frederick M. Lawrence, the president of Brandeis, wrote in an email to The Chronicle. "His scholarly and teaching activities are one example of the type of activities in pursuit of better understanding between Palestinian, Israeli, and American students and faculty that the Brandeis-Al-Quds partnership was designed to foster."