Universities Bow To Right Wing Pressure, Censor Scholarship, Cut Off Debate

[Purveyor]

Issue date: 10/9/07 Section: Perspectives

The fact that universities often stifle scholarship and squelch debate to appease wealthy alumni is hardly news. Adjusting policy to suit the points of view of powerful donors and university regents is a practice of long standing and our own university is not immune, however often we're told that open debate and academic freedom are the very foundation of any institution of higher learning.

Although academics are often intimidated into silence by the very institutions that purport to value academic freedom and diversity of opinion, some are courageous enough to publish their unpopular findings, even without the blessings of their employers. These scholars are either blackballed or ignored.

Some brief media attention was paid to the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota's banning of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu after he criticized Israeli human rights violations. To criticize Israel is, of course, somehow anti-Semitic and will not be tolerated, no matter how many people die as a result of Israel's murderous policies. St. Thomas caved to pressure from the Zionist Organization of America and the increasingly hysterical Anti-Defamation League. Doug Hennes, St. Thomas' vice president for university and government relations issued a statement saying, in part, "We had heard some things he said that some people judged to be anti-Semitic and against Israeli policy." Against Israeli policy? Universities in the United States now choose their speakers according to "Israeli policy," rather than making decisions based on the best interests of their students' intellectual growth.

Political scientist Norman G. Finkelstein, a widely respected scholar on the Palestine-Israel conflict, was forced out of his job at DePaul University after publishing his most recent work, the meticulously researched "Beyond Chutzpa: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History," wherein he exposes the shoddy scholarship and intellectual dishonesty of Harvard Law Professor and rabid Zionist Alan Dershowitz. After a bitter struggle with the university, Finkelstein resigned last month.

---EOE---

The Michigan Journal - http://tinyurl.com/yrl7xp

[BOSSHOG]

1. Shoddy and intellectually dishonest

that sums up alan dershowitz. How Israel believes it is being served by this man is not understandable.

But I thought all colleges in America were bastions of liberalism where conservatives feared for their lives and had no rights to express any of their opinions whatsoever.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Wow, not only are we 'unAmerican' to disagree with US policy, but now we can't even disagree with

Israeli policy! When will someone rewrite those lyrics in the national anthem; they no longer apply?