University of Washington director booted after calling Zionism ‘cancerous’ in explosive remarks
University of Washington removes Persian and Iranian Studies Program director after he called Zionism a "cancerous" outgrowth in remarks on Israel.
The director of University of Washington’s Middle East Center has been removed following remarks in which he was critical of the Iran war and called Zionism "cancerous."
"Ultimately, I understand Zionism as a cancerous, a potentially fatal outgrowth in our planetary body: multiplying uncontrollably, invading healthy tissues, spreading, disrupting organs, stealing nutrients, and ultimately shutting vital systems down," Professor Aria Fani wrote.
The Daily at UW reported in April that Fani was removed from his role as director of UW’s Middle East Center on March 27.
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In another statement, Fani said, "The Islamic Republic operates in very similar fashion to the US/Israel, albeit on a much smaller scale. As such, Iran poses a real danger to its population and ecology while the US/Israel pose a planetary threat. To combat the latter, we need to understand how two economies—military and linguistic—work harmoniously; the latter presents certain groups as less than human while the former enacts that vision in material ways."
He added, "Our ability to rein in the economy of militarism requires building a democracy, but we can get a massive head start on creating a new, anti-colonial economy of language."
The Daily reported that Fani was not surprised by the decision to be removed as director.
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"I knew it was gonna come," Fani said. "It was only a matter of time."
While removed from his directorship, Fani, who received his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley and started teaching at UW in 2019, is currently on medical leave until September, according to an automated response to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Fani said that his medical leave until September is unrelated to his firing as the director of the Middle East Center.
Fani also told Fox News Digital that "Zionism is a nineteenth-century political ideology that sought to define European Jewry as a nation and facilitate their settlement in the land of Palestine through the displacement, dispossession, and control of Palestinians and Arabs. One does not have to be Jewish to be a Zionist, and in fact most Zionists are not Jewish. There are plenty of atheist, Christian and Muslim Zionists."
He continued, "That Zionism offers a political theory of Jewish self-determination is a sterilized lie precisely because it overlooks how Zionism has historically been practiced."
Fani added, "I compared Zionism to cancer because it has constantly metastasized since the very beginning of its history in Palestine. Israel is the only country in the region that has never remained within its internationally recognized borders and has constantly invaded, ethnically cleansed, occupied, and bombed other lands and countries."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Victor Balta, university spokesperson and assistant vice president for communications, said, "I can confirm that Aria Fani is no longer the director of the University’s Middle East Center. Daniel Hoffman the director of the Jackson School of International Studies, will cover the administrative responsibilities of the Middle East Center for this spring and summer."
Balta added, "Fani remains an associate professor at the University. These types of decisions are made at the unit level, and no one outside the Jackson School of International Studies was involved in this decision."
