John Rieder
Overview
John Rieder is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS). He has also defended disgraced anti-Israel professor Steven Salaita.As of January 2020, Rieder was a Professor of English at the University of Hawai’i (UH).
Supporting BDS
Reider is a signatory to a list of endorsers of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).In 2015, Rieder signed an open letter calling for the academic boycott of Israel.
In January 2017, the MLA Delegate Assembly approved a resolution (2017-1) acknowledging “the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel contradicts the MLA’s purpose” and conflicted with another resolution (2002-1), that condemned boycotts against scholars. Therefore, the Assembly “resolved that the MLA refrain from endorsing the boycott.”
In February 2014, Rieder signed an open letter condemning the administration of the University of Hawaii (UH), for expressing its opposition to the American Studies Association’s (ASA) recent endorsement of the academic boycott of Israel.
Signatories of the letter, signed by Rieder, charged that opponents of the academic boycott of Israel “support academic institutions that participate in the denial of human rights, including the right to education, experienced by Palestinians who, like Native Hawaiians, live under conditions of occupation.”
In 2013On December 13, 2013, Rieder signed another letter supporting the academic boycott of Israel.
Signatories of the letter, signed by Rieder, charged that opponents of the academic boycott of Israel “support academic institutions that participate in the denial of human rights, including the right to education, experienced by Palestinians who, like Native Hawaiians, live under conditions of occupation.”
In 2013On December 13, 2013, Rieder signed another letter supporting the academic boycott of Israel.
The letter, published in December 2013 by the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, congratulated the American Studies Association (ASA) on their endorsement of the academic boycott of Israel.
Signatories of the petition claimed: “Israeli academia has never been a catalyst for change; it is at the core of Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies... We must refuse support for all institutions that downplay, whitewash, or contribute to Israel’s criminal actions against Palestinians.”
Defending Steven Salaita
In 2014, Rieder reportedly signed a letter to the Board of Trustees from UH staff in support of a “boycott of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) until you reinstate Dr. Steven Salaita.”In 2014, The University of Illinois withdrew an offer of employment to Salaita after becoming aware of his anti-Semitic tweets. One tweet, posted shortly after Hamas kidnapped three teenage Israeli high school students, read: "You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the f**king West Bank settlers would go missing.” In 2017, Salaita posted to Facebook: “People ask if I would go back in time and change anything. I would not…I will die unapologetic.” In February 2019, Salaita stated that he had become a school bus driver in the Washington, D.C., area.
Social Media and Weblinks
University Website:http://english.hawaii.edu/faculty/john-riederFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.rieder.9
- Status:
- Professor
- University:
- University of Hawai’i (UH)
- Organizations:
- BDS
- Related Profiles:
- Last Modified:
- 06/23/2025
Photos & Screenshots
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