Uproar as George Mason’s Lifelong Learning Program Offers Class on ‘Palestinians’ Resistance’ Taught by ‘Victim’ of Israel’s ‘Genocide’

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, a nationwide adult education program founded by a major supporter of Jewish and Israeli causes, will offer a course next semester at its George Mason University branch on Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza and the “Palestinians’ resistance” to the “new colonists,” according to course materials obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The course will be taught by Palestinian-American activist Haitham Arafat, who sailed on Greta Thunberg’s notorious Global Sumud Flotilla that has been linked to Hamas.

The Osher Institute, or OLLI, is a premier provider of adult learning programs that was founded in 2001 by Jewish philanthropist Bernard Osher, a strong supporter of Israel. OLLI can be found at around 120 colleges across the country, including George Mason. Osher also maintains a Jewish Philanthropies Foundation that has given prolifically to pro-Israel causes, such as the Birthright Israel tours, Jewish community centers, and Jewish federations.

Though OLLI is deeply rooted in the Jewish community, its programs have taken a sharp turn toward anti-Israel activism. The latest example of its evolution, the upcoming course at George Mason, “The History of Palestine,” signals how the anti-Israel fervor at colleges and universities has drifted into traditionally less political adult education programs.

The board of George Mason’s Osher branch will hold a special executive session on Friday to discuss the “History of Palestine” course after it received complaints from several Osher members, according to an email from executive director Lisa Mariam that was viewed by the Free Beacon. Mariam said that the “instructor was recruited by one of our members” and that the board will likely add “a special sensitive topic label on this class in the online catalog.”

The course description published by OLLI does little to hide its view of the Israel-Palestinian matter.

“This course will survey modern Palestine from the late 1890s to the present. We will look at the beginnings of Zionism, what happened to those living in Palestine when new colonists arrived, what conditions led to the Palestinians’ resistance, and what forms that resistance took,” the description reads. “We will also examine what life is like for Palestinians today.”

Arafat, the instructor, is described in the course materials as an “American Palestinian born in Gaza. He closed his cybersecurity consulting business after the genocide began, dedicating his time to fighting starvation. He lost over 100 family members in northern Gaza. Recently, he sailed in the Global Sumud Flotilla.”

The Sumud flotillas were staged by anti-Israel activists—most notably by Thunberg, the Swedish provocateur—to portray Israel in a negative light. Western European activists waving Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyehs sailed in multiple boats—which they said carried aid—straight into Israel’s Gaza blockade, where they were arrested. Following their arrest, they presented themselves as having been beaten by Israeli soldiers, although Israel’s foreign ministry presented video evidence that demonstrated the activists were feigning their injuries.

Arafat—who told Democracy Now in May that he participated in “multiple missions attempting to break Israel’s long-standing siege”—discussed his views on terrorism during a June appearance on a podcast dedicated to glorifying the flotillas: “When Ukrainians bomb Moscow they are defending themselves and they are heroes,” he said while wearing a keffiyeh and a “Free Palestine” T-shirt and hat. “When Palestinians defend themselves, they are terrorists. We have the right to defend ourselves, we have the right to resist by all means. We’re not terrorists when we resist occupations. You are the terrorists for helping a terrorist army to make genocides.”

In the case of the Sumud flotillas, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar revealed in July that “Hamas documents seized by the IDF indicate financing, operational involvement, and covert ownership of the vessels through a Spanish shell company.” Sa’ar said that the organization underwriting the flotilla is operated by a network connected to both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, “thereby giving legitimacy and civilian cover to terrorist organizations and their goals,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

A separate investigation by the Amit Terrorism and Intelligence Research Institute noted that “the involvement of Hamas activists and its supporters, led by Zaher Birawi, indicated the possibility that the Hamas external leadership helped launch the flotilla as part of a broad anti-Israel propaganda and incitement campaign.” Jewish Onliner, meanwhile, determined last year that several of the flotillas’ key members “met with officials from U.S.-designated terror groups like Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and have given money to Hamas-linked bodies in Gaza.”

The State Department has also described the flotilla as a “pro-Hamas initiative” and said in April of this year, during its last voyage, that it was organized by the U.S.-sanctioned “Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, which was designated as a specially designated global terrorist in January for operating at Hamas’ behest.”

Arafat’s affiliation with the flotilla and its anti-Israel mission fueled several complaints to OLLI officials and George Mason and the university’s board of directors, three of which were obtained by the Free Beacon.

“In addition to the inflammatory course description, the instructor’s affiliation (and social media attributed to him) suggest this course will be a one-sided narrative failing to meet academic standards,” the complaint letter states. “Rather than being an appropriate academic endeavor, this course seems to be an effort to ‘weaponize’ adult education and spread venal political propaganda. This course has the potential to create a toxic environment for adult learners, GMU’s student community, and the broader community.”

A second missive, penned by Middle East expert and Virginia resident Eric Rozenman, wrote OLLI’s leadership that “‘Israeli genocide’ and ‘Israeli starvation’ claims amount to contemporary repackaging of ancient anti-Jewish blood libels. And they appear to be effective, helping fuel today’s resurgence of antisemitism across Europe and North America. So, on what legitimate grounds does OLLI offer a course promoting them? There can be none. This is not a matter of presenting ‘diverse viewpoints’ or ‘controversial positions.’ It is lending a platform to incitement of Jew-hatred.”

The Zionist Organization of America penned a third letter on Wednesday, saying that the course has “serious flaws” and that there is “an equally serious problem with the instructor who intends to teach it.”

Mariam, the OLLI executive director at George Mason, sought to explain the matter in her email about the coming executive session.

“This instructor was recruited by one of our members to lecture at OLLI after hearing him speak elsewhere,” Mariam wrote in a copy of that note obtained by the Free Beacon. “The class was accepted through our usual curriculum development process.”

However, Mariam wrote, the OLLI Mason Board will meet later this week to discuss the matter and “there will be a special sensitive topic label on this class in the online catalog and a Disclaimer at the front of the online catalog that views of the instructors do not necessarily represent those of OLLI Mason.”

Mariam said that a Zoom section of the class “will be cancelled” and that a note will go out to participants “advising of the sensitive content and a reminder of our code of conduct.” Separately, OLLI will offer a “six-session class on the topic from the Israeli/Jewish perspective by Professor Lukacs scheduled for spring term.”

A George Mason spokesman told the Free Beacon that “History of Palestine” is being offered solely by OLLI, which “is a separate organization from George Mason University.” OLLI members, the spokesman said, “can pick and choose courses based on their interests,” and “the opinions expressed by instructors and presenters are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute or host institution.”

Geoge Mason’s being “separate” is not reflected in the literature for “OLLI Mason” where, according to the course offering, “OLLI courses are presented by GMU faculty” at the “Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University.”

The contretemps at George Mason mirrors a 2019 episode at OLLI’s Carnegie Mellon University chapter, where a course deemed overly pro-Israel was canceled as another championing the “Palestinian perspective” was renewed.

“Israel’s War and Peace: Past, Present and Future” was created by Professor Michael Vanyukov as a counterweight to another OLLI course, “The Palestinian Story: Hope in the Absence of Hope.” The latter was taught by Tina Whitehead, who reportedly volunteered in the West Bank with Sabeel, a Palestinian Christian group known for its fierce anti-Israel bias. Friends of Sabeel North America is listed by the Anti-Defamation League as one of its top 10 anti-Israel groups in America, the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle reported at the time.