Rashid Khalidi, a retired professor at Columbia University and former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization, has canceled his planned Middle Eastern history course. Khalidi cited Columbia's recent settlement with the Trump administration, which included adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism, as making it 'impossible to teach' about the region's history honestly. He criticized the university's new policies, including mandatory anti-Semitism trainings and increased oversight of the Middle East department, as stifling academic freedom and punishing criticism of Israel. Instead of teaching at Columbia, Khalidi will hold public lectures in New York, with proceeds going to Gaza's universities, which he says have been destroyed by Israeli military actions.