Prof. Alam is a long-time supporter of the BDS movement. In 2002 he wrote an article for counterpunch in which he accused “the Zionist project of wiping out the Arab presence from Palestine to make room for Jewish settlers.” He also blamed Israel for the Palestinian suicide bombings of the Second Intifada, saying that “if the Palestinians now use the only defense they have – to weaponize their death – who is to blame?” In rationalizing his position, he argues that the Zionist movement sought to establish an exclusively Jewish state in Palestine and that “this is how Israel emerged in 1948, through conquest and ethnic cleansing of 800,000 Palestinians.”[1]

In another article for counterpunch in 2004, Alam drew parallels between the leaders of the American Revolution and the 9/11 hijackers, arguing that “both insurgencies seek to overthrow what they perceive to be foreign occupations,” and defending their actions by claiming that “if the Muslims don’t change their conditions, the Americans and Israelis have set in motion the machinery that will rearrange their world.”[2]

In an excerpt of his book “Israeli Exceptionalism,” Alam argues that prior to the formation of the State of Israel, the Jewish people’s “racial or historical connections [to Israel] were nonexistent or tenuous at best,” and that Jews are “illegitimate colonizers.”[3] In a 2012 speech to SJP members, Alam claimed that being labelled as anti-Semitic is “a sign of distinction for an academic or an activist, and evidence of one’s working for the right side, for the just cause.”[4]

[1] Alam, M.S. (July 29, 2002). The Academic Boycott of Israel. Counterpunch. Retrieved from http://www.counterpunch.org/2002/07/29/the-academic-boycott-of-israel/ [2] Alam, M.S. (Dec. 29, 2004). Seeking Parallels. Counterpunch. Retrieved from http://www.counterpunch.org/2004/12/29/seeking-parallels/ [3] Alam, M.S. (Aug. 21, 2009). Zionism: An “Abnormal” Nationalism. Counterpunch. Retrieved from http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/08/21/zionism-an-quot-abnormal-quot-nationalism/ [4] Apeacet. (Sept. 27, 2012). Denis Sullivan: Anti-Semitic Education at Northeastern University. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9mmOilcDA4