At the recent Socialism Conference, Dr. Melanie Yazzie—a professor at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota—openly called for the dismantling of both the United States and the State of Israel, equating them with predatory colonial regimes and holding up Palestine as a “tip of the spear” for global revolution. Her inflammatory remarks, laced with anti-American and anti-Israel rhetoric, are not just controversial—they are dangerous.
Speaking on a panel organized by “Red Nation,” a group that promotes radical Indigenous and Palestinian activism, Dr. Yazzie proclaimed:
“Of all liberation struggles and the movements that seek justice, equality and peace, that hope to seek to dismantle the United States: I hope you dismantle the United States.”
Her comments went further, framing decolonization not as a metaphorical project of justice, but as a literal, uncompromising call to tear down the foundations of Western civilization. Referring to Palestine as “the alternative path for native nations,” she suggested that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not merely a regional struggle, but the model for global revolution. “Colonizers are scared,” she added. “Lean into scaring them!”
Let us be clear: This is not scholarship. This is incitement.
The conflation of Israel—a democratic nation home to Jews, Arabs, Christians, Druze, and others—with an empire of oppression is a false and intellectually dishonest narrative. The claim that “decolonization” requires the violent dismantling of nations like Israel and the U.S. echoes extremist rhetoric used by groups that reject peaceful coexistence and promote violence as a means to their ends.
Dr. Yazzie’s one-sided approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reveals a deeper bias. She admits she visited Palestinian territories but did not visit Israel. She praises the BDS movement, yet fails to acknowledge the complex realities on the ground, the Jewish historical connection to the land, or Israel’s repeated efforts to pursue peace.
Her statements are not isolated. They are part of a growing trend in academia where anti-Israel sentiment is disguised as social justice activism. Terms like “settler-colonialism,” when applied to Israel, erase the indigenous Jewish presence in the land, demonize an entire people, and justify acts of terror as acts of resistance.
We must ask ourselves: What kind of future are we building when our institutions of higher learning tolerate or even promote ideologies that glorify violence and dismantlement over dialogue and reform?
Dr. Yazzie is entitled to her views—but the rest of us are entitled, and obligated, to call them out for what they are: radical, destructive, and harmful to the cause of peace. Rather than inspiring a generation of students toward coexistence, reconciliation, and intellectual integrity, her remarks encourage division, fear, and the erasure of entire nations.
At Christians and Jews United for Israel, we believe in the pursuit of justice through truth—not through distortion. We believe in standing up to hate, no matter how it is dressed up in academic jargon. And we believe that peace is not built by dismantling nations, but by building bridges.
Let this moment be a wake-up call: The battlefield for truth now runs through our classrooms. And we must respond—with clarity, with courage, and with unwavering commitment to the values that bind us: freedom, faith, and the dignity of all people.