Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi (born 1955)
is a
Palestinian-born American scholar, activist, educator, editor, and an academic director. She is an
Associate Professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...
of Ethnic Studies, Race and Resistance Studies, and the founding Director of Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies (AMED) at
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...
(SFSU).
Colleen Flaherty of ''Inside Higher Education'' described her as "a controversial figure in an already controversial field".
Early life and education
Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi was born in 1955 in
Nablus
Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
,
Jordanian-occupied West Bank, into a
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
family.
She received a B.A. degree (1994) in
women's studies
Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...
from
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
. She then completed a
M.A. degree (1995), a
M. Phil. degree (1998), and a
Ph.D. (2000) in
sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
, all from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. Abdulhadi's
dissertation, under advisor Michele Dillon, was titled, "Palestinianness in Comparative Perspective: Inclusionary Resistance, Exclusionary Citizenship" (2000).
Career
From 2004 to 2006, she served as the founding Director of the Center for Arab American Studies, and as an associate professor of sociology at
University of Michigan–Dearborn
The University of Michigan–Dearborn (UM-Dearborn) is a public university in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1959 with a gift from the Ford Motor Company, it was initially known as the Dearborn Center, operating as a remote branc ...
.
In January 2007, she joined the faculty at San Francisco State University.
Since her hire in 2007, Abdulhadi has been the only faculty within her department, much of which has been supplemented by student research assistants, visiting scholars, and lecturers over the years.
In 2018, Abdulhadi formally filed a lawsuit and complaints, and has stated she was promised two faculty positions, at her time of hire.
Abdulhadi has routinely come under fire by Zionist and pro-Israel groups such as the
David Horowitz Freedom Center
The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a conservative anti-Islam foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier. It was ...
, the
AMCHA Initiative,
Campus Watch
Campus Watch is a web-based project of the Middle East Forum, a think tank with its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to its website, Campus Watch "reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to impr ...
, and the
Lawfare Project. Posters at SFSU have circulated multiple times, featuring caricatures of Abdulhadi's likeness in derogatory manner, as well as implying Abdulhadi was involved in terrorist organizations.
In 2017, the SFSU Associated Students, Inc. (ASI), the
General Union of Palestinian Students
The General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS; ) is a Palestinian student organization. Created in the 1920's, it is generally considered one of the first Palestinian institutions. It was officially launched in Cairo in 1959 with chapters formed ...
(GUPS), and the
Black Student Union
In higher education in the United States, a Black Student Union (BSU) is an organization of Black students, generally with a focus on protest. Historically functioning as a Black counterpart to the largely white organization Students for a Democra ...
(BSU) have stood with Abdulhadi and expressed disappointment in how then-university President
Leslie E. Wong, and the on-campus police handled the
hate speech
Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...
.
In 2017, the mayor of Jerusalem was to give a speech on the SFSU campus, and was met with student protests.
A group of Jewish students accused the school of encouraging
antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, led by Abdulhadi and her "anti-Zionist statements".
Speaking in support of Abdulhadi, former San Francisco Supervisor
Eric Mar
Eric Lee Mar (born August 15, 1962) is an American politician. He served on the San Francisco Board of Education and San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee. In 2008, he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He represe ...
stated that such "well-funded campaigns are really harmful to the careers of great community activists and professors like Abdulhadi" and that these actions have a "chilling effect".
The issue went to court and 2018, a federal judge found no evidence of discrimination. This event was covered by US national media.
In 2019, Abdulhadi was co-hosting an online talk using SFSU's instance of
Zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* ''Zoom'' (2006 film), starring Tim Allen
* ''Zoom'' (2015 film), a Canada-Brazil film by Pedro Morelli
* ''Zoom'' (2016 Kannada film), a Kannada film
* ''Zoom'' (2016 Sinhala film), a Sr ...
by Palestinian political activist and member of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...
,
Leila Khaled
Leila Khaled ( ; born April 9, 1944) is a Palestinian former militant and activist who was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). She is famous as being the first woman to hijack an airplane.
Khaled gained her pr ...
. The night before the event, the university informed Abdulhadi that Zoom would not allow SFSU to use Zoom for the talk, stating that the talk contravened the Zoom terms of service.
Though the event was shifted on the scheduled day to YouTube, that shift only lasted for 23 minutes before YouTube shut down the stream, similarly stating it went against YouTube's terms of service.
Facebook also shut down the event page, claiming violations of its policies.
The United States government considers The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to be a terrorist organization.
The Leila Khaled event added to the tense national news debate on the "boundaries and consequences of freedom of expression",
and had SFSU President
Lynn Mahoney
Lynn Mahoney (born 1964) is an American university president, author, and social historian. Mahoney is the president of San Francisco State University (SFSU) since July 2019, and is the first woman to hold this role. Her scholarly work has focuse ...
fielding questions about her support and/or lack of support for the Middle Eastern studies program.
In 2024, a guest speech from Abdulhadi at
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...
was cancelled after the planned event received backlash from pro-Israel Jewish students and others. A petition to cancel her speech received over 8000 signatures, accusing Abdulhadi of supporting antisemitism and Hamas in the wake of the
Gaza genocide
According to a United Nations Special Committee, Amnesty International, and other experts, Israel is committing genocide in Gaza against the Palestinian people during its ongoing invasion and bombing of the Gaza Strip as part of the Gaza w ...
. She delivered her lecture at a local church in
Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...
.
She is a member of the
Democratic Socialists of America
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization in the United States and the country's largest Socialism, socialist organization. Sitting on the Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left of the politic ...
.
Awards
Abdulhadi has received several awards from national and international academic, civic, and professional organizations in recognition for her work and community service. Notable awards include:
*2004, New Century Scholarship, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
*2020, Georgina M. Smith Award by the Association of American University Professors
*2023, Jere L. Bacharach Service Award by the
Middle East Studies Association
Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA) is a learned society, and according to its website, "a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and enco ...
, "recognizing her lifelong work for freedom and liberation"
*2023,
American Studies Association
The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture, U.S. culture and American history, history. It was founded in 1951 and claims to be the oldest scholarly organization d ...
's Angela Y. Davis Award for Outstanding Public Scholarship
*Lucius Walker Community Organizing Award by the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizing
*Annual Alex Odeh Memorial Award,
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) states that it is "the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States." According to its webpage, it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicitie ...
*Courage Award,
American Muslims for Palestine
*Community Leadership Award, American Muslims for Palestine
Publications
Books
*
Articles and chapters
*
*
*
*
*
See also
*
Marc Lamont Hill
Marc Lamont Hill (born December 17, 1978) is an American academic, author, activist, and television personality. He is a professor of urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. He is the host of '' UpFront'' on Al Jazeera Eng ...
*
Steven Salaita
Steven Salaita (born ) is an American scholar, author and public speaker. He became the center of a controversy when the University of Illinois did not hire him as a professor of American Indian Studies following objections to a series of tweets ...
References
External links
Profile pageat Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies (AMED) in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University
Profile pageat San Francisco State University Faculty Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdulhadi, Rabab
1955 births
Living people
American sociologists
Palestinian emigrants to the United States
21st-century Palestinian women writers
Palestinian sociologists
Palestinian women sociologists
Palestinian women's rights activists
Hunter College alumni
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America
San Francisco State University faculty
University of Michigan faculty
Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
21st-century American women academics
21st-century American academics
American women sociologists
Palestinian women academics
American people of Palestinian descent
21st-century Palestinian academics
People from Nablus