Univ. of Washington Removes Mideast Center Director Who Criticized US-Israeli War on Iran

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https://www.commondreams.org/news/professor-fired-for-israel-criticism

Univ. of Washington Removes Mideast Center Director Who Criticized US-Israeli War on Iran

“There’s a chilling effect on not just my academic freedom, but that of my colleagues; anyone who dares to speak out against the war and against aggression,” said UW professor Aria Fani.

BRETT WILKINS
Apr 03, 2026

The University of Washington has removed a professor from his role as director of its Middle East Center after he criticized the illegal US-Israeli war of choice on Iran and condemned Zionism, the settler-colonial movement for Jewish hegemony in Palestine.

Aria Fani, who will remain an associate professor at UW’s Jackson School of International Studies, told The Seattle Times on Friday that new interim widirector Daniel Hoffman told him last week he was fired from his leadership role at the Middle East Center.

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“The [only] peace this secures is for weapons manufacturers, for oil companies, for drone companies,” Fani said in an implicit rebuke of Trump’s claim to be the “president of peace.”

“It secures peace for them, fills their pockets with money, and makes them fully invincible,” he added. “It’s creating a class of people that are living [on] an alternate planet.”

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