The widespread belief around here is that Salaita's insistence that he was
looking to be reinstated was a negotiating tactic.

I think there are a lot of victories here, actually.

1. The case brought down Chancellor Wise, when it was exposed that she had
deliberately used private email to conduct University business in the case
in order to avoid scrutiny. The interim chancellor appointed in her stead
has been a champion of resolving the dispute with Salaita.

2. The case showed the power of concerned academics in other institutions
to exert real pressure on the University in a way that affected the
University's calculus. The AAUP censure is perceived as a real thing here;
one of the arguments given here for settling the case with Salaita is that
this is a key step towards lifting the AAUP sanction. Also, the boycott was
perceived as a real thing here, damaging the University's reputation,
making it harder to recruit, making it easier for people to get hired away
by other institutions.

3. The University has been going out of its way on other fronts to prove
that it is not anti-Palestinian. Salaita may not be on the UIUC faculty,
but Sayed Kashua is. "It's an ill wind that blows no man good." :)

An Exile in the Corn Belt
Israel’s funniest Palestinian writer decamps to the Midwest.
BY RUTH MARGALIT
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/07/an-exile-in-the-corn-belt









Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
[email protected]
(202) 448-2898 x1

On Thu, Nov 12, 2015 at 11:32 AM, raghu <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 7:35 PM, raghu <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Sadly Salaita's reinstatement still seems highly unlikely, and perhaps
>> even undesirable considering hostility and resentment he is likely to face
>> there. But this may clear the way for some kind of resolution.
>>
>
>
> As I had commented earlier, despite his public pronouncements, it seemed
> unlikely to me that Salaita would ever get his job back. And that's what
> has happened.
>
> The size of the settlement may offer Salaita some vindication, but it is
> hard to see this as a victory:
>
> https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/steven-salaita-wont-get-job-back-deal-univ-illinois
> -----------------------------snip
>
> Steven Salaita <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/steven-salaita> will
> not be reinstated under the terms of an out of court settlement with the 
> University
> of Illinois <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/university-illinois>.
>
> The deal will pay Salaita $875,000 – about ten times the annual salary he
> would have received as a tenured professor in the American Indian Studies
> program at the university’s flagship Urbana-Champaign
> <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/university-illinois-urbana-champaign>
> campus.
>
> “This settlement is a vindication for me, but more importantly, it is a
> victory for academic freedom and the First Amendment,” Salaita said in a
> release
> <https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/settlement-reached-case-professor-fired-uncivil-tweets>
> from his legal counsel, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the law
> firm Loevy & Loevy.
>
> The settlement brings an end to Salaita’s breach of contract lawsuit
> against university trustees and administrators over his August 2014 firing
> because of his tweets excoriating Israel’s attack on Gaza.
>
> Salaita had sought reinstatement as well as financial damages.
>
> The terms of the deal will come as a surprise to some supporters. His
> lawyers had said all along that Salaita was willing to settle, but that his
> primary goal would be to get his job back.
> The university has been adamant, however, that it would not allow him into
> the classroom.
>
>
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>
>
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