Steven Salaita (born in 1975) is an American scholar, author and public speaker currently holding the Edward W. Said Chair of American Studies at the American University of Beirut. He became the center of a controversy when University of Illinois withdrew its offer of employment as a professor of American Indian Studies after attention was drawn to his tweets on the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. The tweets were seen as criticism of the Israeli government by some, and as expressions of antisemitism by others. As a result of his outspoken critique of the university's handling of his situation, Haaretz wrote that Salaita has established "celebrity status on the lecture circuit" for his talk "Silencing Dissent".