Remarks spur college probe

[Herschel]

Two weeks after a newspaper interview with a professor prompted a furor over what some on campus believed were anti-Semitic comments, Foothill College administrators are investigating how the story came to be published and are scheduling a meeting with the Anti-Defamation League.

In a letter about the situation, college President Bernadine Chuck Fong called the interview with adjunct political science Professor Leighton Armitage ``regrettable.'' Neither she nor other administration officials could be reached for comment beyond her letter, and it was unclear whether Armitage would be subject to disciplinary action.

In the question-and-answer style interview, published Jan. 28 in the student-funded paper The Sentinel, Armitage said, of Israeli treatment of Palestinians: ``And what are they doing with Palestinians, every day? They're killing them. They're walling them in, they're essentially doing the same thing that was done to them. . . . It's exactly what Hitler did to the Jews.''

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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7917724.htm

Outrageous. This so called professor should be dismissed.

[Taeger]

1. Tenure

This is EXACTLY what tenure is designed for.

This professor didn't make a SINGLE statement against the Jews. He made a statement in support of the Palestinians.

Tenure is designed so that academics CAN take unpopular points of view without retribution. This is how knowledge is created. People engage in reason without fear of retribution or violence.

If we fired every professor who expressed an unconventional view, we would still live in the 19th century. Every RELEVANT idea has once been wildely unpopular and anti-establishment.

I don't necessarily believe in what this professor says. But every so-called "liberal" should believe in his right to say it without getting fired.

BTW, read David Brock's "Blinded By the Right" for a nice treatise on what turns a queer moderate into a mindless conservative attack dog. You'll find that stuff like THIS is what causes it. Liberals are supposed to be for FREE SPEACH. But many just want their way. In that regard, they are NO DIFFERENT from the right wing fundamentalists.

[Muddleoftheroad]

5. He said the Israelis (5/6 of whom are Jewish) are acting like Nazis

I disagree about your view of tenure. Tenure is designed so that academics do not have the pressures of work performance that the rest of us face.

[Taeger]

6. You're obviously not aware ...

I don't think you're aware of the level of work and pressure that academics do. They literally LIVE their subject area. They have to, because they ALWAYS have to work overtime on it just to GET that tenure and to stay in their positions.

The old axiom is "publish or perish". Someone who fails to produce academic work WILL be drummed out.

It is not unreasonable to suggest that Israel is engaging in an effort to eliminate the Palestinians from their homeland. That sounds pretty fascist to me.

I'm not saying it's true. I'm saying that the proffesor has the RIGHT to say it. It has NOTHING to do with the religious or ethnic makeup of Israel. He's commenting on the actions of a state. If they choose to be all-Jewish, that's THEIR problem.

I believe that Israel has EVERY right to build a wall to keep Palestinians out. They don't have a right to build a wall that unnecessarily divides Palestinian communities from one another.

[bluestateguy]

2. No, we don't do that in this country

Any institution that claims to support academic freedom will not fire a professor for expressing unpopular views. Those are exectly the ideas that need the most protection. Several years ago when some people were calling for the firing of a Florida State genetics professor who was a David Duke supporter I also opposed that as well. Combat bigoted ideas with better ideas, not suppression.

[legin]

3. Oh goodie !

The 'Thought Police' at work again.

[legin]

4. It's funny how

you have all these bastards stomping around the planet with their banners of 'freedom and democracy' flying prominantly at their head, and somehow it feels just like living in a rather squalid totalitarian dictorship.

[Taeger]

7. Liberals should STAY Liberal

So called "liberals" fought hard to express their social views. They fought for the right to dress a certain way and say certain things. THEN, they turned around and started persecuting people who didn't think like they do.

Political Correctness is wrong. It led to the conservative backlash. It's fine to censure someone who says things you don't like. Protest is perfectly appropriate. But, penalizing someone for saying something you don't like (regardless of HOW offensive) is wrong in our society.