Palestinian-Lebenese author Saree Makdisi was invited by the Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies (JIMES) department on Nov. 4 to give his presentation “Tolerance is Wasteland: Palestine and the Culture of Denial” on his work about Western denial of Palestinian oppression and genocide.

Makdisi, Chair of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) English department, specializes in colonial and postcolonial theory and criticism, for which he authored several books. His presentation took place during pouring rain, but the hall was filled with many interested students from different backgrounds.

Before the event, an email campaign — sent to Chancellor Andrew Martin, Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Beverly Wendland, and members of the US Senate and House of Representatives — called for it to be canceled due to concerns about antisemitism. Event organizers were unable to identify who was coordinating the campaign to cancel the event. 

JIMES department chair Jonathan Judaken said that Martin and Wendland supported the event and called for it to continue. Judaken, a self-described pro-Israel, Jewish professor, said that hearing about the cancellation campaign made him frustrated.

“I know this lecture will make me uncomfortable, but rather than try to convince my colleagues that we need to find someone with views less upsetting to me, I could plainly see that his viewpoint merited listening to,” Judaken said. “There is no irony lost in a campaign to cancel a talk about the process of denial.”

Makdisi believes that there are two forms of denial in play. The first is refusing facts and narratives, and the second is covering it with positive affirmations.

“[The denial] starts with things like ‘There were no Palestinians. Ethnic cleansing didn’t happen. There was no genocide,’” Makdisi said. “It’s sustained by appalling Western newspaper coverage. It’s sustained by making a set of values to affirm [themselves] in a positive sense, that transacts denial and makes the dark history possible.”

Makdisi elaborated on the “dark history” by going over the “expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948 Nakba,” followed by the demolition of Palestinian cities, which the Jewish National Fund “grew forests over” with their plant-a-tree initiative.

“The forests cover the ruins, in effect making the past terror and abuse disappear,” Makdisi said. “Israel is an apartheid state, and it is a form of denial to say that it is a democracy. The affirmation of Jewish democracy covers up the deniability of the apartheid status of the state.”

Makdisi explains that this denial enables the current situation in Gaza, with over 44,000 killed, including 16,700 children, which he calls an acceleration of previously occurring practices. He mentions that the assault is “so brutal” that family members are given lumps of flesh in bags to bury: “20 kilos for child, 50 kilos for women, 70 kilos for man.”

He went on to say that he does not want to deny the trauma that occurred on Oct. 7, but that he believes constantly returning to that day ignores the hundreds of days that have followed since when Palestinians have faced violence. 

“It transacts two structures of denial simultaneously and draws attention to this one day. It hides from you all the days that have followed ever since and ended up [justifying] the genocide that has been unfolding. That is the meaning of denial in the age of genocide,” he said.

Makdisi believes that Israel “rebrands the Palestinian genocide as self-defense.” Makdisi disputed this self-defense argument on legal grounds, given the nation’s status as an occupying power. He cites the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Occupied Territories, saying that a state cannot legally claim the right to self-defense from territory where it chose to impose a military occupation.

“There is no concept of self-defense that includes bombing children in tents, withholding food, water, and medicine from a population from whose welfare one is legally responsible,” Makdisi said.

Makdisi said that Israeli politicians and leaders use different language to describe their actions in addition to self-defense, quoting ex-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant who stated that Israel was fighting “human animals and will act accordingly” following Oct. 7, on which Hamas killed 1,200 Israeli civilians. 

“How can one sustain such levels of denial in the face of the first genocide to be live-streamed by its victims?” Makdisi asked. “I’m talking about ordinary people who call themselves solid progressives, and I think what we are seeing here isn’t heartlessness. It’s a manifestation of a much broader culture of denial.”

Makdisi explained that the reason Western progressives don’t seem to recognize Palestinian suffering is that they are too focused on the suffering of people “whom they can identify with,” which overshadows any other suffering.

“Why are you telling me to look at that instead of joining me in my outrage about this? [They are saying,] ‘Don’t look over there, look over here,’” Makdisi said. “This has enabled progressives and left-wing people to support the Zionist project in Palestine while remaining in denial about what they are actually supporting.”

Graduate student Safa Khatib said she came to see Makdisi speak since he embraces academic freedom and responsibility.

“I think that the political clarity he brought in, talking about the culture of denial, is what made this kind of space possible, where people could share their divergent views. It’s a lesson of what happens where academics and intellectuals embrace responsibility,” Khatib said.

Senior Danny Horn, a Jewish student, said he went to the lecture since he was concerned about potential antisemitic content. At the end of the lecture, he said he was hurt by what he learned about the actions of the IDF and the avoidance of discussing the effects of Hamas.

“I was absolutely disgusted by the fact that there were IDF soldiers who were posting photos on their social media accounts of them holding up a bullet-riddled dress and smiling. This is beyond dehumanizing to the Gazans,” Horn said. “The key distinction between these soldiers’ actions and Israel as a whole is that a vast majority of Israelis and non-Israeli Jews have been raised on stories of a future of peace.”

While Horn was upset by the violence committed by the IDF, he does not agree that Zionism is an inherently violent standpoint. Unlike Makdisi, he believes the “vast majority of the Zionist movement” is peaceful and wants a safe haven for Jewish people. 

He believes that having lectures like Makdisi’s can cause harmful effects, including accusatory and targeted remarks on social media and graffiti, such as that in a Hillman Hall bathroom stall saying “death to America and death to Israel.”

“Is it really smart of WashU to be bringing in speakers who incite this kind of hateful rhetoric on college campuses?” Horn asked. 

Tim Mellman, a junior and Jewish student leader on campus, asked during the Q&A about the rise of antisemitism on campus. Makdisi replied by saying that he doesn’t condone any form of racism, including antisemitism, but that sometimes antisemitism is conflated with critiquing the state of Israel.

“This conflation is deliberately, carefully manipulated for the purpose of repression. Jewish students in this country feel threatened. [But it’s important to ask] which Jewish students? Because if you go to the encampment at UCLA, about a third of the students in the encampment are Jewish students,” Makdisi said. 

Junior Shirine Awad, who is Palestinian, said she came to the event since there has been a lack of Palestinian perspective within the JIMES events.

“Talking about Palestinians in general is like not allowed. [But] they’re real people; I’m half Palestinian myself. So when people tell me ‘48 Nakba didn’t happen, I’m like, ‘what do you mean?’ I’m part of that. So it’s good to see and watch events like this,” she said.

Editors note: Tim Mellman is Student Life’s managing newsletter editor. Tim had no role in the writing or editing of this article.