Brandeis University has issued the following “Statement by Brandeis University Regarding Allegations made in Connection with the Appointment of Dr. Khalil Shikaki as Senior Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies”:
This is a statement refuting allegations made in recent days that Dr. Khalil Shikaki, a Senior Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, is a member or sympathizer of Islamic Jihad or any other terrorist organizations.
As far as I know no one has suggested that Shikaki is currently a member of Islamic Jihad. I cited evidence in my article linked above that he was involved with the organization up until 1995, when Bill Clinton added it to the list of terrorist organizations. It would seem that in this Brandeis is setting up a straw man, or at least not addressing the actual point.
Dr. Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, is a scholar widely considered to be among the most serious, responsible, credible, committed and courageous observers of Middle East politics. For more than a decade and a half, he has been at the forefront of numerous attempts to help reach a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. During this period, Dr. Shikaki has been lecturing at leading institutions in America and Israel dealing with Middle East affairs and has often briefed senior U.S. government officials and Jewish organizations in the United States. These include the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the Anti-Defamation League, and the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Brandeis University is convinced that the allegations made against Dr. Shikaki are based entirely on unsubstantiated claims, mischaracterizations, innuendos, and guilt by association. Nothing in the material released in the framework of these attacks provides grounds for Brandeis University to reconsider its judgment that Dr. Shikaki has all the necessary credentials to serve as Senior Fellow at the Crown Center.
“Unsubstantiated claims, mischaracterizations, innuendos, and guilt by association.” Really? Steven Emerson at the Investigative Project has compiled an exhaustive report: “Khalil Shikaki and His Role in the Formation of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Network in the United States.” Read that and get back to me about “unsubstantiated claims, mischaracterizations, innuendos, and guilt by association.”