An academic journal linked to Tel Aviv University faces outrage for publishing a call for papers accusing Israel of “systematic destruction” and echoing antisemitic propaganda — in the middle of a war.
The Israeli Sociological Society’s flagship journal, Israeli Sociology — published in affiliation with Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Social Sciences — is at the center of a storm after issuing a call for “real-time essays” on what it calls “Israel’s transformation into a society enabling systematic destruction.”
The invitation to researchers, circulated this week by the editorial board, accuses Israel of daily killing innocents, ethnic cleansing, and deliberately starving civilians — language critics say mirrors centuries-old antisemitic blood libels and modern anti-Israel propaganda.
📧 The Email That Sparked the Firestorm
The editorial team’s message to academics reads:
“In light of Israel’s ongoing inhumane actions in Gaza — including daily killing of innocents, systematic destruction of homes and infrastructure, starvation, and denial of basic life services to a civilian population — our ability to maintain the narrative of a necessary response to October 7 is eroding. Israeli Sociology is launching a special online section for short real-time essays on how Israeli society has come to enable systematic destruction and avert its gaze from the horrors committed in its name.”
🔥 Academic & Public Backlash
The reaction was swift — and furious.
“This is propaganda against the State of Israel during wartime, not academic research,” charged a senior Israeli academic. “The fact that this is being published from within an Israeli university is a national disgrace.”
Critics accuse Tel Aviv University of harboring a radical anti-Zionist intellectual enclave, using the veneer of scholarly debate to promote political messaging indistinguishable from Hamas talking points.
The proposed essays include themes such as:
- “The social causes enabling the continued policy in Gaza”
- “The boundary between victimizer and victim”
Analysts warn these framings blur the line between Hamas terrorists — who massacred 1,200 Israelis on October 7 — and the democratic state defending its citizens while adhering to moral and legal norms.
🎯 Editors’ Stated Goal: A Media Alternative
The journal’s editors admit their aim is “to present insights not found in other sources” — effectively positioning the project as a counter-narrative to mainstream Israeli media, built on an explicitly anti-Israel worldview.
🏛️ University’s Distancing Statement
Tel Aviv University quickly sought to distance itself, stressing:
“Israeli Sociology is an independent journal. Its content does not reflect the views of Tel Aviv University in any way.”
But for many, the damage is done — and the debate over the politicization of Israeli academia has been reignited.