An Israel studies programme at a US university has been shelved after a professor’s condemnation of Israel’s aerial assault on the besieged Gaza Strip last year reportedly led a major donor to pull funds. The University of Washington’s Liora Halperin joined over 200 other academics last year insigning a statement to “condemn the state violence that the Israeli government and its security forces have been carrying out in Gaza”. The message she signed was dated 22 May 2021, the day after Israel ended its deadly 11-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip which killed 256 Palestinians. The statement als…