Political correctness on American college campuses is manifest anti-Semitism, but can it be fought?
Nearly thirty years ago, I had a business trip to San Francisco that required me to spend the Sabbath in the Bay Area. I only knew one Orthodox Jew in the area: Someone from the class behind me in both high school and college (Columbia) was at the time the rabbi in Berkeley. He arranged for me to stay with one of his congregants - he was in the process of leaving the community to move on to 'bigger' things. I won't mention his name because I'm still friends with many of his relatives, but that Sabbath was a real eye-opener. My friend had become what we would today term 'anti-Israel' and a 'Jewish anti-Semite.'
I was floored.
What I'm about to describe was probably inevitable. The fight for 'safe spaces,' BDS and political correctness on American college campuses has morphed into blatant anti-Semitism. The role that prominent Leftist Jews has played in making this happen will not shield them from the monster they created. See Germany (which will be insulted if you say so, but remains anti-Semitic more than 70 years after Hitler's death) and Stalinist Russia. Different campuses are at different stages, but most American college campuses appear to be heading inexorably toward anti-Semitic group think.
This report that I saw on Facebook comes from a current student at my alma mater, Bir Zeit on the Hudson.
Rochman is describing a university course calling for the 'elimination' of Israel taught by what we would call an 'as a Jew' (someone who uses the accident of his birth to permit him to blatantly incite to anti-Semitism) using terms not much different from the terms that Hitler used to describe the elimination of Jews 70 years ago. As I have mentioned several times in the past couple of months, the role of Germany in financing the
continued prominence of the 'Palestinians' in world affairs reflects the continued anti-Semitism in Germany (I am now reading an earlier book by Tuvia Tenenboim about anti-Semitism in Germany today - that book's publication was nearly blocked!).
Let's start with what should be obvious: Being 'anti-Israel' or subjecting Israel to double standards in 2016 is no different than being anti-Semitic in the 1940's. Saying you're 'only against Israel' but 'not against Jews' is putting a politically correct cover on an ancient hatred.
At Berkeley, the cradle of the false distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, things have
only gotten worse. This article discusses a 'for credit' course on the Berkeley college campus.
According to Tammi Rossman-Benjamin,
co-founder of the AMCHA Initiative — which combats, monitors and
documents antisemitism at institutions of higher education in America —
the course in question, titled “Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis,” is a “classic example of antisemitic anti-Zionism.”
“Based upon the syllabus, the class
treats Israel as a settler colonial state and Zionism and Israel as
illegitimate,” Rossman-Benjamin told The Algemeiner,
adding that “a goal of the class appears to be talking about ways to
decolonize Palestine, which essentially means to eliminate the Jewish
state.”
“This is clear eliminationist
anti-Zionism, which is not just criticism of Israel, but opposition
to the existence of the Jewish state with efforts to eliminate that
state,” she said.
Lily Greenberg Call, a Jewish UC
Berkeley student who serves as a CAMERA Fellow and is the co-vice
president of the campus group Bears for Israel, told The Algemeiner that she became “very upset” after seeing posters advertising the class.
“It’s one thing to have a political
group like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on campus, but
teaching material that is so biased and factually inaccurate in a
classroom setting violates academic integrity,” she said.
“Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis” is being offered as a “DeCal” course,
which is part of a program of student-run classes that falls under the
jurisdiction of UC Berkeley’s Academic Senate. According to a
description of the course — which acknowledges “contentious” material
will be taught — the class will:
…[E]xamine key historical developments that have taken
place in Palestine, from the 1880s to the present, through the lens of
settler colonialism…we will explore the connection between Zionism and
settler colonialism, and the ways in which it has manifested, and
continues to manifest, in Palestine. Lastly, drawing upon literature on
decolonization, we will explore the possibilities of a decolonized
Palestine, one in which justice is realized for all its peoples and
equality is not only espoused, but practiced.
Students are also required to attend at least one event, on or off campus, “relating to Palestine.”
The faculty sponsor of the course, Dr. Hatem Bazian,
is the co-founder of SJP and a major supporter of the US Campaign for
the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI). Bazian is a
former fundraising speaker for the anti-Israel organization KindHearts,
which was shut down by the US government in 2006 for its alleged ties to
Hamas.
You might think there's nothing wrong with that because college campuses are supposed to facilitate 'the free exchange of ideas.' But that's not what's going on here.
According to Rossman-Benjamin, “You
just need to take a look at the instructor, facilitator, authors of the
reading materials and listed guest speakers to see that the course is
biased and presents an egregious framework against Israel.” Furthermore,
she noted, “Not one reading or guest lecturer isn’t a virulent
anti-Zionist, absolutely opposed to the existence of the state of Israel
and supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”
Reading material includes selections
from works by anti-Zionist Israeli historian Ilan Pappe; the late Edward
Said, a fierce Israel critic; and Saree Makdisi, an advocate of the
elimination of Israel as a Jewish state. Also, there are testimonies
from the controversial and widely debunked Israeli group Breaking the Silence.
“As seen from the syllabus, the class
doesn’t look at Israel and ask if it is a settler colonial state or if
Zionism is a legitimate ideology,” Rossman-Benjamin said. “The starting
point is that it is illegitimate. This is completely one-sided and has a
clear anti-Zionist bent, to the extent that it opposes the existence of
the Jewish state.”
And if you still think this course is anything other than a 'safe space' for anti-Semitic rants....
She also told The Algemeiner
that she finds it “concerning” that the course has “a strict
no-technology policy — no phones, voice recordings or photographs —
which makes me worried that some of the content will be inherently
anti-Israel and as such, the facilitators don’t want to make it public
in any way.”
By the way, if you pay taxes to the State of California, you're supporting this.
Is there any way to fight back? Here's one promising story from
Miriam Elman, an Associate Professor at Syracuse University.
A brief recap: [Israeli Filmmaker Shimon] Dotan [of New York University's Graduate School of Journalism] was invited by a University of Nebraska colleague to screen the film at SU. A tenured professor in SU’s Religion Department, M. Gail Hamner, then rescinded the invitation on account of warnings from colleagues that the “BDS faction on campus will make matters very unpleasant” for her and Dotan if he came. Bottom line: Hamner was reluctant to bring Dotan to the conference because she felt intimidated by a faculty caucus who wouldn’t be happy about the screening of a well-received Israeli film.
SU responded admirably by reasserting the university’s commitment to free speech and its opposition to “any boycott of Israeli academic institutions or faculty.” An invitation to Dotan to present his film at a later time this year was also extended. On her part, Hamner issued an apology and reaffirmed her own support for academic freedom. To my mind, this rings hollow. A true defender of campus free speech actively solicits diverse viewpoints, and doesn’t surrender to peer pressure to conform. Still, Hamner’s expression of regret seems sincere and heartfelt.
All’s well that ends well? Not quite. Lingering questions remain: did Hamner have to “vouch” in the same way for other films in the conference – or was it just the product of an Israeli national that required special scrutiny? Are a group of anti-Israel colleagues exercising subtle veto power when it comes to academic programming related to Israel?
To get answers to these questions, and assess the magnitude of the problem, I and other SU faculty are now urging the administration to undertake a comprehensive and transparent investigation. Supported by the Academic Engagement Network, a new national organization committed to opposing BDS on campuses and to preserving academic freedom and free speech, we believe that only a full exploration as to why Dotan’s invitation was withdrawn will both lay this incident to rest and ensure that something like it won’t happen again.
This inquiry shouldn’t be construed as a witch hunt, nor is it likely to reveal a campus awash in anti-Israel animus. SU is generally a welcoming place for Israeli scholars and students. An exploration of the matter may also show that Hamner panicked unnecessarily and that her fears of the “BDS faction” were overblown. But it’s possible too that the inquiry will uncover more evidence of stealth boycotting.
Three lessons about these silent boycotts and how to defeat them can be learned from my university’s “Dotan Affair.”
First, administrators need to recognize that just because their schools are on record opposing academic boycotts of Israel doesn’t mean that individual faculty members are adhering to that institutional policy in their personal instructional practices. Administrators must make school policy crystal clear, but they also have to institute mechanisms to ensure that faculty members comply with it.
Second, the case highlights that successfully confronting silent boycotting ultimately depends on whether individual faculty are willing to take a stand. Like all bullies, stealth boycotters get away with their bigotry and intimidation because most faculty aren’t as honest and forthright as Hamner was about the pressures they’re facing, and because the vast majority of professors prefer to do their research and teaching and hesitate getting involved in "campus politics." The now multiplying anti-BDS organizations operating on campus are going to have to figure out a way to incentivize more faculty to engage proactively – and get those feeling cowed by BDS harassment to go public.
Lastly, the “Dotan Affair” shows that BDS, which bills itself as a human rights movement aimed at ending the Israeli "occupation," is in fact pure racist hatred, from which even famous anti-occupation, progressives Israelis – like Shimon Dotan – aren’t immune. To put a stop to stealth boycotting on campus and prevent more Israeli scholars from being privately shut out of academia, Zionists from across the political spectrum – left, center, and right – will need to fight together to ensure that all their voices can be heard on campus.
This battle is far from over. But I sure would not want my children or grandchildren on an American college campus today.
Labels: Adolph Hitler, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, BDS, Bir Zeit on the Hudson, Columbia, German anti-Semitism, Germany, Jewish anti-Semitism, University of California at Berkeley
Taxpayer supported institute at Columbia to boycott Israel?
From
Martin Kramer's Facebook page a taxpayer-supported Middle East Studies institute at Bir Zeit on the Hudson is calling for a boycott of Israel:
Lila Abu-Lughod, anthropologist at Columbia, has just signed a letter in
which she “pledge[s] not to collaborate on projects and events
involving Israeli academic institutions.” Fine for her, but she’s also
director of Columbia’s Middle East Center, which is a Title VI
taxpayer-supported National Resource Center (NRC) for the Middle East (http://bit.ly/aboutmei).
An NRC is supposed to “maintain linkages with overseas institutions of
higher education and other organizations that may contribute to the
teaching and research of the Center” (http://bit.ly/titleVInrc). So is a (taxpayer-subsidized) academic unit of Columbia now boycotting Israeli academe? Please clarify, President Bollinger.
Hmmm.
Labels: BDS, Columbia
The ghost of Columbia University
Bloggers have been repeatedly told to leave the questions about President Hussein Obama's background alone. Sorry, but I disagree. Henry Graff - a history professor at Columbia when I was there, and now retired - is a big name. I don't believe I ever took a course with him (I was a political science major), but I remember him well. And if he's willing to go on the record saying these kinds of things about the President of the United States, the time has long since passed to take a serious look at
whether the President has been lying to us.
But until now, I was the only one
publicly voicing my suspicions. That just changed in a big way. Meet
Professor Henry Graff, perhaps the most legendary and honored professor
ever at Columbia University. He was THE American History and Diplomatic
History professor at Columbia for 46 years. And he is more emphatic than
yours truly that there are no Obama footprints at Columbia.
I was put on Professor Graff’s trail
by another Columbia classmate, skeptical about Obama’s story. He told me
that Professor Graff had been the speaker for the Class of ’53 last
weekend at Columbia. My friend was watching Graff answer questions from
the crowd when he was asked about Obama at Columbia. Graff said, “I have
my doubts he ever went here.”
I did some digging and located Graff’s
home phone number. I called him yesterday. Now retired, he was
delighted to hear from me. He agreed to go on the record about Obama.
Unlike Obama, Professor Graff clearly remembered me. He was thrilled to
hear from his former student. I was in several of Graff’s classes and he
remembered me like it was yesterday. He sounded great- like he hasn’t
lost any of his trademark sharpness in 30 years since we last met.
I was honored to learn that this
legendary historian has been following my political career for many
years. But he had no such cheery things to say about the President.
Graff said, “I taught at Columbia for 46 years. I taught every
significant American politician that ever studied at Columbia. I know
them all. I’m proud of them all. Between American History and Diplomatic
History, one way or another, they all had to come through my classes. Not Obama. I never had a student with that name in any of my classes. I never met him, never saw him, never heard of him.”
Even more importantly, Professor Graff
knew the other history and political science professors. “None of the
other Columbia professors knew him either” said Graff.
Graff concluded our interview by
saying, “I’m very upset by the whole story. I am angry when I hear Obama
called ‘the first President of the United States from Columbia
University.’ I don’t consider him a Columbia student. I have no idea
what he did on the Columbia campus. No one knows him.”
There is something wrong with Obama’s story- I know that. Many of my classmates at last weekend’s 30th reunion
knew that. Now the most beloved Professor ever at Columbia joins us in
publicly questioning the story. Obama is either the ghost of Columbia,
or the perfect Manchurian candidate. But something smells rotten at
Columbia.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Columbia, lies
Official anti-Israel events at Columbia Law School
I received the following email regarding the goings on at Columbia Law School:
Carl,
I have learned that over the past few days there have been a number of announcements (by email) of official events, sponsored by Columbia Law School (or departments/clinics/etc within the school). So far as I know, these announcements appear to have been treated as unremarkable by students or faculty, but I hope you (especially as a lawyer, if I remember correctly) can write about this. I have copied and pasted two of these emails below, and here are the available links to "lawcal" (the CLS online event calendar): http://www.law.columbia.edu/calendar/event/62581, http://www.law.columbia.edu/calendar/event/62582, http://www.law.columbia.edu/calendar/event/62531, http://www.law.columbia.edu/calendar/event/61376
As you can see in the first email below, only one out of the four events sponsored by the school's "Human Rights Institute" is not directly related to Israel. But it is today's email (in which three of the six events relates to Israel) that is really disturbing in its condoning the use of the term "pinkwashing," and the co-sponsorship of an event with "Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine." (the attachment was sent along with this email).
Also, if you look at the website of CLS's "Human Rights Institute," you can see there already have been a number of similar recent events (http://www.law.columbia.edu/human-rights-institute/events/calendar - "Doing Human Rights in Israel and the OPT" a discussion with Bill Van Esveld, Middle East & North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch, 2/13/2012; Struggling for Legal, Civil, and Human Rights: Bedouin Citizens of Israel in the Negev/Naqab, 10/27/2012; Rawia Aburabia, Association for Civil Rights in Israel, 10/19/2012), and last year (http://www.law.columbia.edu/human-rights-institute/events/pastevents/2010-2011- Libby Lenkinski Friedlander, Director of International Relations at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, 2/21/2011; 'Housing, Land, & Property Rights in East Jerusalem & the West Bank' Antonia Mulvey of the Norwegian Refugee Council in discussion with Professor Peter Rosenblum, 2/7/2011).
These events can also be found on the website of the school's "Center for Gender and Sexuality Law," http://www.law.columbia.edu/center_program/gendersexuality/events
Thank you.
I'm sure you're all just shocked that a school that is part of Bir Zeit on the Hudson would behave this way.
Labels: Bir Zeit on the Hudson, Columbia
Bir Zeit on the Hudson segregates Jews
Some of you may recall Bir Zeit on the Hudson Professor Joseph Massad, a 'Palestinian' born in Jordan, who was found to have
harassed students who disagreed with him, and who was subsequently
granted tenure at the university through the back door.
This all left the university with a little problem: How to keep students who disagreed with Massad out of his classes. How the university went about doing that is now going to be the
subject of an investigation by the US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.
The OCR is investigating allegations that university faculty "steered" a Jewish student away from taking a class. In January, the student got some troubling guidance from Barnard’s Middle East studies department chair. The young woman told the chair that she was interested in taking a course on the Arab world with Prof. Massad, who is notorious for his animosity towards Zionism. Massad, whether fairly or not, has been repeatedly accused of anti-Semitism. The chair looked at the young woman, whose Orthodox background is apparent in her modest attire. Then, as the student tells the story, the chair told her that she would not be “comfortable” in Massad’s class and that she should instead consider a course on Ancient Israel.
According to Professor Kenneth Marcus ... Columbia violated the Jewish student's civil rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 by deterring the student from taking the class.
By suggesting that a Jewish student may feel uncomfortable in Professor Massad's class, Columbia faculty are implicitly acknowledging allegations that Massad creates a hostile environment for Jewish and pro-Israel students. But instead of creating classroom environments where all student feel welcome, Columbia seems to think segregation of Jews might be the solution.
I think every Orthodox Jewish kid on campus should sign up for Massad's class. But since actually taking it would destroy their grade point averages, I'd suggest dropping out at the deadline.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Bir Zeit on the Hudson, Columbia, Joseph Massad, Orthodox Jews
Students at Bir Zeit on the Hudson to dine with Ahmadinejad?
Students at Bir Zeit on the Hudson (sometimes known as Columbia University) may have the 'opportunity' to dine with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he visits the United Nations next week according to a
report in the school's daily student newspaper The Spectator (Hat Tip:
Gary P).
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may soon break bread with members of the Columbia International Relations Council and Association.
According to an email from the club’s listserv, members are invited to a private, Sept. 21 dinner in Midtown with the man whom University President Lee Bollinger introduced as “a petty and cruel dictator” when he spoke on campus in 2007.
A version of this article that appeared online over the weekend stated that CIRCA vice president of academics, Tim Chan, CC ’14, said someone in the group has a close relationship with the Iranian ambassador. After the article was published online Chan told Spectator he was mistaken and that there is no one in group with a close relationship to the ambassador. He also emphasized that the meeting with Ahmadinejad is still tentative.
Members of the group were informed over the summer that they might have the opportunity to bring 15 students to dinner with the head of state, whose views on Israel, human rights, and homosexuality have drawn sharp criticism.
Chan said that so far he hasn’t heard any concerns from members of the group.
“Everyone was really enthusiastic,” Chan said. “They’re thrilled to have this opportunity.”
I wonder how many of them would be thrilled to have the opportunity to dine with Binyamin Netanyahu. I suspect that the answer is 'far fewer.' America's future diplomats? Feh.
The
New York Post adds:
The location of the dinner has not been determined.
...
The Columbia International Relations Council and Association is one of Columbia's largest undergraduate organizations and claims on its website to be "the largest devoted to international relations."
I wonder how many gay members CIRCA has. Oh, I forgot. It's only Iran where there are no homosexuals according to Ahmadinejad. They have hung them all.
Labels: Bir Zeit on the Hudson, Columbia, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Bir Zeit on the Hudson's strange idea of academic balance
And you thought that going to college was supposed to be about being exposed to lots of different ideas. Welcome to the 'Palestine studies' department at Bir Zeit on the Hudson:
And to think that 35 years ago,
Warner Schilling taught me in that very same building.
Well, the
course offerings at Bir Zeit on the Hudson look a little different these days than they did in 1976:
And then there was this one last spring:
Is there anyone on the faculty at Columbia who's embarrassed by this? Or are they all too busy counting how much money they're getting for having a 'Palestinian' propaganda department?
One thing this isn't is academic.
Arthur Hertzberg must be rolling over in his grave.
Labels: Bir Zeit on the Hudson, Columbia, Palestine studies, Palestinian propaganda
Bir Zeit on the Hudson and the Alexandria terror attack
A professor at
Columbia University Bir Zeit on the Hudson has joined the chorus
blaming the Mossad for last Friday night's car bomb targeting a Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt (I could not access the original source).
Columbia's shame, Joseph Massad: "One week before the terrorist attack in Alexandria, the Egyptian authorities uncovered a major Israeli spy ring... Given the history of Mossad bombings of Egyptian post offices, cinemas, cultural centers, and train stations in the 1950s... it would be important to investigate possible or even potential links between the Mossad operatives and the church bombers."
Obviously!
Remind me to send them that one the next time Columbia asks me for money.
Labels: Alexandria church terror attack, Bir Zeit on the Hudson, Christian Copts, Columbia, Joseph Massad
'Checkpoints' at Bir Zeit on the Hudson
On Thursday, a pro-'Palestinian' demonstration blocked the center of the campus at
Bir Zeit on the Hudson.
Students dressed as Israeli soldiers stopped other students, ordered them to the ground, and blindfolded them in a demonstration that drew multiple campus groups to a standoff on College Walk Thursday afternoon.
The Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine set up mock checkpoints—to resemble those manned by the Israeli army in the West Bank—drawing crowds and counter-protests for several hours.
Organizers from CSJP said the demonstration was meant to protest human rights violations at these checkpoints, while representatives from pro-Israel groups argued that the event was offensive and the checkpoints are a needed form of protection.
Four groups under the Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the umbrella organization for Jewish student life, set up camp opposite CSJP on the sundial and distributed fliers telling passersby that checkpoints were a necessary evil and a product of a complicated relationship.
Read the whole thing.
Martin Kramer points out that the Jewish students did not do
what they should have done in response.
"Our gut reaction was to show up with suicide belts and say, 'See this is why we have checkpoints'," said Jonah Liben, Hillel's Israel coordinator. "We did not want to stoop to that level of evocative anger." Actually, that's precisely what they should have done.
Indeed.
Labels: Bir Zeit on the Hudson, Columbia, Israeli checkpoints, Palestinian suicide bombers
