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April 02, 2005
Academic Integrity and the Middle East: More Letters to the Editor
I wrote the Jewish Week a letter in response to their inaccurate reporting from the Columbia U Conference on Academic Integrity and the Middle East. They didn't print mine, but they did print these last week, and another one this week:As one of the co-sponsors of the Columbia Conference on the Middle East and Academic Integrity, I found your report omitted important facts and slanted others ("Wiener: Disband Columbia Bias Panel," March 11).Reactions to the official report from the university (includes links to my other reports on the conference).First, nearly 800 people attended, not 350, and others were turned away. Second, the conference was quiet and respectful with the exception of two minor outbursts. But more important, several important talks were not mentioned.
Professor Ephraim Karsh of the University of London discussed the use of phony footnotes and false references by so-called Middle East scholars to "prove" their anti-Israel allegations. Terrorism expert Rachel Ehrenfeld exposed the fact that Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries fund many Mideast programs and professors facilitating a powerful bias against Israel. And a paper presented by Susan Tuchman, director of the ZOA's Center for Law and Justice, focused on a recent complaint filed by ZOA to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights showing that the University of California Irvine has failed to ensure Jewish students an environment that is safe and free from intimidation and discrimination in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ZOA's complaint has spurred the Office of Civil Rights to begin an investigation.
Sadly, our experience is that the problem at Columbia exists at colleges around the country. After this conference, we have received calls from students at six other colleges asking us for help.
Morton A. Klein
New York, N.Y.
Judith | 04/02/05 at 10:43 PM | Categories: - Israel vs. the world
