Ilana Feldman is a Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at George Washington University (GWU). Her research centers on Palestinian history and the politics of humanitarianism, but her academic platform has also been used to advance anti-Israel activism. Feldman has repeatedly defended boycotts of Israeli academic institutions, signed letters and petitions critical of Israel, and publicly minimized the October 7 atrocities by reframing them through her political lens.
Public Defense of Anti-Israel Narratives
In March 2024, during a lecture, Feldman described the crisis in Gaza as the product of “decades of Israeli collective punishment,” accusing Israel of deliberately using starvation, restricting aid, and targeting hospitals—acts she labeled as “war crimes.” She claimed that Israel denies Palestinian political existence dating back to 1948 and portrayed humanitarian aid itself as complicit in “systems of oppression.”
In October 2024, she published an essay, From Gaza Hospital to Gaza’s Hospitals, again accusing Israel of systematically targeting medical facilities as part of a “genocidal campaign.” Earlier, in February 2024, she argued that humanitarian aid is controlled by Israeli policies in ways that perpetuate displacement and suffering.
Support for Academic Boycotts and BDS
Feldman has a long record of advancing the academic boycott of Israel.
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In 2016, she publicly urged the American Anthropology Association (AAA) to adopt a boycott of Israeli institutions, arguing that “boycott is a political act.”
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In 2015, she voiced support for the BDS resolution in WeaveNews, heavily criticizing Israel’s policies.
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In 2009, she signed a petition with the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).
Her activism has not been limited to professional organizations. In May 2020, Feldman’s appointment as interim dean of GWU’s Elliott School of International Affairs sparked controversy among pro-Israel students, who pointed to her history of backing academic boycotts as alienating and discriminatory. Despite petitions opposing her appointment, GWU defended her leadership.
Campus and Public Activism
Feldman is tied to groups that promote anti-Israel activism on campuses:
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In January 2023, she was listed as a member of the “organizing collective” of Anthropologists for the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions (Anthroboycott).
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That same year, she served as vice president of the Palestinian American Research Center (PARC).
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In April 2024, she participated in a GWU roundtable on “The War in Gaza and the International Context,” which reinforced her political framing of the conflict.
Feldman has also used her public platform to contest media reports of Hamas atrocities. In May 2024, she joined other academics in demanding The New York Times investigate reports of Hamas’s systematic sexual violence on October 7, implicitly casting doubt on the victims’ accounts.
Longstanding Pattern of Rhetoric
Across multiple publications, Feldman has framed Israel in ways that erase or minimize Jewish suffering:
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In 2015, she described Gaza as an “open-air prison.”
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In 2014, she wrote that Israel deploys “immobility as a lethal weapon” against Palestinians.
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In 2009, she argued that Gazans’ election of Hamas disqualified them from the “victim category,” but nonetheless defended their “political claims.”
Conclusion
Ilana Feldman is not just an academic observer of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict—she is an active proponent of academic boycotts and a defender of encampments and student activism hostile to Israel. Her record demonstrates a pattern of framing Hamas-led violence as resistance, minimizing Israeli suffering, and embedding anti-Israel politics into her academic leadership roles. At GWU, her presence has repeatedly sparked concern among Jewish and pro-Israel students who see her advocacy as contributing to a campus climate permissive of antisemitism.
