Joel Kovel, author of ‘Overcoming Zionism,’ loses teaching position at Bard College
Joel Kovel, an outspoken critic of the state of Israel and the author of Overcoming Zionism, has lost his job at Bard College, Inside Higher Ed reported today. 
An evaluation of Kovel released by a Bard spokesman “suggests that his ‘long and productive career’ at Bard has been problematic of late. The evaluation notes an increasing number of student complaints about Kovel’s lack of organization, which he has previously explained by saying that he likes his courses to focus on current material,” the story said. Bard president Leon Botstein also wrote to Kovel that the loss of his job was a consequence of “economic constraint” at the college.
This story caught my eye because I’ve interviewed Kovel a number of times, all related to the controversy surrounding his book, Overcoming Zionism — which argues for the elimination of the Israeli state and, in its place, the creation of a single, secular state for Israelis and Palestinians — and the University of Michigan Press.
The University of Michigan Press, which was the American distributor of books published by Pluto Press, a radical, British publisher, went through a long saga with Kovel’s book: First they stopped distribution of it, then reinstated it, then stalled over whether to keep their contract with Pluto Press, then decided to keep the contract, then all but cut ties Pluto Press by changing the terms of third-party distribution deals.
Throughout this see-saw period, I spoke with Kovel a number of times for various stories and interviewed him once in person when he came to speak at the University of Michigan. Despite the furor surrounding the message of Overcoming Zionism (hardly a surprise given the content of that message and the controversy surrounding any discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), I always noted that Kovel was hardly the diabolic figure he was made out to be, and that, after reading his book, it was hardly the vicious screed many said it was.
Yes, his message was explosive; but he set out in Overcoming Zionism to support that message as clearly and convincingly as he could. Being one of the few people either involved in or reporting on the Kovel controversy who actually read the book, I expected it to be a lot more controversial than it was. Did/do I agree with the book’s overarching message? No. Did I come away from reading the book a more informed and knowledgeable observer of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of Middle Eastern issues? You bet.
Which is why I was a bit disappointed hearing about Kovel losing his job at Bard. While I may not agree with his ideas, I do think he contributes to our discourse on Israel and Palestine, and I hope his termination at Bard wasn’t the result of political pressure of any kind, i.e. Juan Cole and Yale or Norman Finkelstein and DePaul. If it was for economic reasons, as Bard’s president claims, then so be it; we’re seeing job cuts throughout higher education for such economic reasons.
Still, I hope Kovel will continue writing in some capacity–be it another academic job somewhere, or as a writer and lecturer (like Finkelstein is now). No matter how loathed he might have been, I do think he can contribute to our discourse on Israel and Palestine, especially at a time right now when such discourse is most needed.
