IN SESSION #7: Kicking power in the shins with Maura Finkelstein & Michel DeGraff

I was so excited to be joined by two kickass and unbending comrades and colleagues, both of whom have been fighting the struggle against the violence of Zionism in the academy and beyond. We discuss each of our "cases" with specific focus on the mechanics of these zionist smear campaigns and their intention to silence us, disappear us, and derail us from our political commitments. But more importantly, we talk about how we have NOT disappeared and we continue to confront power—maybe even commit to kicking it in the shins ;-) Maura Finkelstein is a writer and anthropologist. Her first book, The Archive of Loss: Lively Ruination in Mill Land Mumbai, was published by Duke University Press in 2019. Her anti-Zionist writing has been published by Allegra Lab, The Scottish Left review, The New Arab, The Markaz Review, Mondoweiss, Middle East Eye, and Al Jazeera. She is currently working on a book about Hillel International and a history of Zionist repression on US college and university campuses. Check out some of Maura's writing and speaking here: https://themarkaz.org/equating-critique-of-israel-with-antisemitism-us-academics-are-being-silenced/  https://www.americananthropologist.org/online-content/what-is-our-anthropology-for-knowledge-production-and-platform-in-a-time-of-genocide https://azadessa.substack.com/p/on-academic-freedom-in-a-time-of?publication_id=274849&post_id=160531034&isFreemail=true&r=58m3sz&triedRedirect=true Michel DeGraff is a linguist, educator and human-rights advocate. After being faculty at MIT Linguistics for 28 years, he now has a brand-new title of "Faculty at Large" at MIT School of the Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences — in retaliation for his protesting the rejection of his "Special Topics" course proposal on "Language and linguistics for decolonization and liberation in Haiti, Palestine and Israel." For nearly three decades now, his work has centered on justice for marginalized communities through liberatory linguistics, mother-tongue-based education and related initiatives toward universal access to quality education and equal opportunity. His most recent articles, for a Free Palestine and on academic freedom and free speech, have been published in Curriculum Inquiry, CounterPunch, Middle East Eye, Academe Blog, Mondoweiss, Newsweek, Inside Higher Ed, Le Monde Diplomatique, etc. (all available at http://mit.edu/degraff). His forthcoming book, to be published by MIT Press in both Kreyòl and English, is titled: Our own language: Harnessing the Power of Kreyòl and Other Mother Tongues for Education and Liberation / Lang a nou : Kreyòl ak lòt lang manman se zouti pou edikasyon ak liberasyon Find Michel here: http://mit.edu/degraff And check out some of his writing: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03626784.2025.2607673 https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/17/what-a-federal-court-taught-us-and-what-universities-must-learn-about-anti-zionism-vs-antisemitism/ https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/teach-linguistics-mit-zionist-lawsuit-shows-language-silence-israel-critics  https://academeblog.org/2026/01/30/the-new-mccarthyism-at-the-mit-chapter-of-aaup/ Make sure to follow us on IG: @psychicmilitancypod; TikTok: @psychic.militancy; UpScrolled: @psychicmilitancy And for pre-releases and all the updates, consider becoming a patron at: www.patreon.com/psychicmilitancy