The publisher of a prominent academic art journal has paid $75,000 and committed to making a public apology to an Israeli scholar who was the subject of a critical review by a controversial Columbia University professor, the Forward has learned.

The College Art Association, publisher of Art Journal, made the payment as part of a settlement reached a month ago pertaining to an article written by Joseph Massad, an associate professor of modern Arab politics at Columbia who is embroiled in a tenure dispute and has been criticized by some Jewish students on campus.

The CAA had been threatened by a lawsuit in the United Kingdom by Gannit Ankori, chair of the art-history department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Ankori objected to an article written by Massad that was published in the fall 2007 edition of Art Journal. In his article, which was titled "Permission to Paint: Palestinian Art and the Colonial Encounter," Massad accused Ankori of "drawing heavily" on the works of a Palestinian artist in her book "Palestinian Art" without giving proper credit — allegations that Ankori disputed.

The Chronicle of Higher Education first reported on the existence of the settlement between Ankori and the CAA, but additional details of the agreement, in particular the financial compensation, were obtained by the Forward on Friday. In an e-mail, Ankori said that she will use the settlement money to pay for her legal bills and donate the remainder to the Parents Circle, a grass-roots organization of Palestinian and Israeli families who lost loved ones in the conflict and are now working together for peace.

Massad, who could not be reached for comment Friday, told the Chronicle that the settlement was a "cowardly act." He acknowledged that his article did contain a few errors but said that the CAA should have defended the right to an open academic debate...