(JTA) — A professor at a central California university says pro-Israel groups pressured the school to disband a search committee for a Middle East studies professor.

The search to fill the newly created Edward Said Professorship in Middle East Studies at California State University, Fresno, was in its final stages in April, when it was abruptly scrapped.

Vida Samiian, a linguistics professor at the university, said the search committee folded because pro-Israel groups and individuals objected to the politics and heritage of the four finalists. Samiian, a former dean of the school’s College of Arts and Humanities, resigned in protest.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“By closing the search, the Administration carried out the vicious and discriminatory attacks launched by Israel advocacy groups against the search committee and the four finalists who were of Middle Eastern and Palestinian ethnicity,” Samiian, who for years has been sharply critical of Israel, wrote in an open letter.

But leaders at all of the city’s major Jewish institutions dispute the allegations.

“If it happened, I don’t know anything about it,” said Rabbi Rick Winer, of the Reform Temple Beth Israel, which with 300 member families is Fresno’s largest synagogue.

University President Joseph Castro, denied that outside pressure influenced the decision.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount