Ann Douglas, Parr Professor Emerita of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, has aligned herself with anti-Israel activism through repeated faculty petitions and public endorsements of campaigns targeting Jewish institutions. Her record places her among Columbia faculty who have openly supported initiatives that vilify Israel and provide cover for antisemitic activity on campus.
Faculty Petitions and Anti-Israel Endorsements
Douglas signed a Columbia faculty petition that attacked the university’s financial ties to Israel, accusing it of “systematic destruction of life and property, inhumane segregation and systemic forms of discrimination.” The petition explicitly declared support for Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)—groups responsible for fueling hostility against Jewish students on campus.
Support for Academic Boycotts
Douglas is a signatory to the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI). She also signed a 2013 petition calling for a boycott of the Oral History Conference at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, which claimed Israeli universities were “deeply complicit in the occupation, settler-colonialism, and apartheid.”
Opposition to Anti-Boycott Legislation
On February 13, 2014, Douglas signed a letter to the New York State Assembly opposing legislation designed to counter boycott campaigns. The letter asserted that boycotts were protected political speech, reinforcing her alignment with movements that single out Israel while emboldening campus antisemitic rhetoric.
Ann Douglas’s endorsements reflect a longstanding pattern of Columbia faculty using academic platforms to normalize anti-Israel activism and lend legitimacy to groups whose presence has made Jewish students feel targeted and unsafe on campus.
