December 18, 2007

Snookered, Too

I should have followed the "48 hour rule" and waited to see how the Princeton attack noted below played out. Even as I was mouthing off, the hammer was coming down on the perp -- the "victim" of the attack. He confessed to being behind the emails and self-mutiliation. The Daily Princetonian reports on the whole sordid affair here.

The university administration kept a cool head in this case, so hats off to the folks in Nassau Hall. I guess this means I shoudl double my Annual Giving donation into the high two figures.

Van | 12/18/07 at 06:29 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

December 16, 2007

Hate Crime Hits Princeton; Philosophical Discussion to Follow

[Monday update: The Princeton Tory is poking holes in this story, so I'll reserve judgment on what really happened.]

This is a story I will watch with a personal interest; as a Princeton graduate, I'm very curious about the university's response and rhetoric following death threats to conservative students and a faculty member, and a physical attack against one of them. Details here in the Princeton Tory. The story says:

After receiving multiple death threats, a Princeton student was beat unconscious last Friday in what appears to be a politically-motivated assault. The attack came after emails saying, "WE WILL KILL YOU," were sent to the officers of a student group that promotes traditional views of marriage and sexual ethics . . .

The attacks came two days after Nava and four others, including prominent politics professor and conservative scholar Robert George and Rhodes Scholar and Tory Editor-in-Chief Sherif Girgis, were sent email death threats. One message said, "SHUT THE F* UP WE WILL DESTROY ALL OF YOU WE ARE WATCHING YOU YOU DONT BELONG HERE WE WILL KILL YOU."

A rally was supposed to be held Saturday, the day after the attack, on campus, but it didn't happen.

The threats and attack raise a philosophical question never widely asked: can a hate crime be committed against a conservative? Gentlemen, start your precepts!

Continue reading "Hate Crime Hits Princeton; Philosophical Discussion to Follow"

Van | 12/16/07 at 09:59 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

September 25, 2007

William F Buckley on inviting tyrants to speak at universities

UPDATE: Noah's post was discussed further at the Corner - I am adding some of their comments at the bottom.

Noah Pollak points us to a speech by William F Buckley from 1963. The Yale Political Union had invited Gus Hall, the secretary of the Communist Party of the United States, to speak. Buckley made a case that Hall should not be invited, which eloquently rebuts arguments for inviting Ahmadinejad to Columbia, such as these:

"You at least have to let the guy speak . . . Why should just one world leader be denied that chance? There will be questions. If I had been alive in the 1930s I would have wanted to hear what Hitler was saying. There's no point just covering your ears."
. . . Defending the decision to issue the invitation, Mr Bollinger said that it represented the "best of America" — "Faith in freedom has been and remains our nation's most potent weapon against repressive regimes everywhere," he said.
President George W Bush said Mr Ahmadinejad's appearance at Columbia "speaks volumes about really the greatness of America".

The original article is a pdf. Read the whole thing. I am reposting Noah's transcription of some excerpts, below. But read the whole thing, especially if you felt there was something wrong about the Columbia invitation, but you can't put your finger on it.

I never thought, ten years ago, that I would ever speak approvingly of William F Buckley. . . .

Excerpts from "On Inviting a Communist Speaker to Yale":

Continue reading "William F Buckley on inviting tyrants to speak at universities"

Judith | 09/25/07 at 11:54 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

September 23, 2007

Letter to Bollinger from a fellow academic

I got this email with instructions to disseminate. The author brings up more crimes of the Iranian regime that I had forgotten about, like the persecution of the Bahais.

UPDATE: I just searched Juan Cole's blog for any mention of Ahmedinejad's visit. I thought since Cole is a Bahai he might have some thoughts on the matter. Didn't find anything. (Why we care.)

UPDATE: I googled Cole and Bahai and apparently he's an ex-Bahai, or at least at odds with the community in some way. in any case, he's shilling for the latest Iranian regime to oppress them.

So here's the letter from Dr. Denis MacEoin of Newcastle University:

Dear President Bollinger,

I write as an outsider to your university, but as a British academic with a background in Persian, Arabic, and Islamic Studies, and as someone versed in the complexities of the current Iranian regime. I have been advised that it is Columbia's purpose to invite the egregious President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak to its staff students, and that, despite pleas for you to reconsider this invitation, it is your intention to go ahead.

I must say that I find this regrettable on several grounds. Ahmadinejad has surely been described to you (and with much accuracy) as an opponent of the best values of Western society, not least the academic values that you and Columbia uphold. He does not care for freedom of speech, indeed he has done much to suppress it during the short time he has been in power. It may not have been made clear to you that, during the last year, he has instituted a major clampdown on Iranian universities, dismissing lecturers and imposing on all institutions of higher education in the country a severe discipline of censorship and political and religious acceptability. . . .

Continue reading "Letter to Bollinger from a fellow academic"

Judith | 09/23/07 at 11:08 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Academia too smart for its own good

UPDATE: Glenn suggests a guerilla action for creating the kind of discrediting which "tough questions" won't accomplish.

In case you were wondering how his Columbia U visit was going to be spun by Ahmadinejad:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the American people are eager for different opinions about the world, and he is looking forward to providing them with "correct and clear information," state media reported.

. . . . "The United States is a big and important country with a population of 300 million. Due to certain issues, the American people in the past years have been denied correct and clear information about global developments and are eager to hear different opinions," Ahmadinejad was quoted by IRNA as saying.

You would think a university president would be smart enough to forsee how he would be manipulated. Oh I forgot - this is academia we are talking about.

More mind-messing from the Dinner Jacket:

Continue reading "Academia too smart for its own good"

Judith | 09/23/07 at 02:20 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

September 18, 2007

The Times spins for Nadia Abu al-Haj - my response

We wrote about the Nadia Abu al-Haj tenure case here. Solomonia has been following it more thoroughly, most recently here, and now the case has broken the surface of the mainstream media and been reported in the NY Times. I reposted a comprehensive fisking of that article here.

Solomonia also links to an excellent summary of the case which places it is the context of other troubling examples of - in the author's words - "the alarming downward spiral of intellectual integrity and academic standards at what was once considered an esteemed institution."

I just sent this email to the NY Times reporter, Karen Arenson:

Continue reading "The Times spins for Nadia Abu al-Haj - my response"

Judith | 09/18/07 at 01:37 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

The Times spins for Nadia al-Haj

We wrote about the Nadia Abu al-Haj tenure case here. Solomonia has been following it more thoroughly, most recently here. His commenter Joanne fisks the recent NY Times article:

This article in the Times is nothing but an accolade to Nadia Abu El-Haj.

It starts out by stating in a neutral manner that she “has critically examined the use of archaeology in Israel.”

Then it immediately goes into a description of her brilliant credentials: “The professor, Nadia Abu El-Haj, who is of Palestinian descent, has been at Barnard since 2002 and has won many awards and grants, including a Fulbright scholarship and fellowships at Harvard and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. Barnard has already approved her for tenure...”

Continue reading "The Times spins for Nadia al-Haj"

Judith | 09/18/07 at 12:45 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

July 24, 2007

Not the sharpest knives in the drawer

Kesher Talk friend El Marco, lately of Queens NY and now in the Boulder CO area, took some photographs at the Churchill circus today, starting with the student acolytes:

As Mark says, "His scholarship IS about politics, not scholarship."

Judith | 07/24/07 at 11:46 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Will Ward Churchill be an employed professor by day's end?

UPDATE: Buh-bye, Ward! The decision was 8-1. Of course Churchill is going to sue, providing intermittant entertainment for the blogosphere for the next few years. I thought I knew all the shit he pulled but this one was new to me:

Among the more unusual charges is that Churchill published essays under the names of other people then cited them in his footnotes as independent sources supporting his views.

And in honor of Churchill's just desserts, Iowahawk reposted his parody Chutch.

Gateway Pundit has a link roundup on today's showdown between Ward Churchill and Colorado University. (Background information here.)

Slapstick Politics is liveblogging.
Pirate Ballerina is liveblogging.

Drunkablog is there annoying the faithful (his photo above), and also wrote here and here and here about attending some tiny and tedious Churchill support conference in April, which reads like every other pathetic gaggle of self-styled revolutionaries you've ever seen.

Ward's fans will hold a rally at 3:30 PM MST

S Weasel has some grooming advice for Ward.

Judith | 07/24/07 at 04:28 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

July 23, 2007

Final decision on Ward Churchill

In February we reported on the academic campaign mobilized to defend faux-Indian "Ethnic Studies" professor Ward "little Eichmanns" Churchill, as the regents of Colorado University deliberated on whether to fire him for "research misconduct," including lack of academic qualification, plagiarism and misrepresentation about his Indian ancestry, his military service, his Weathermen activities.

The wheels of academic justice grind slowly, and the regents will announce their decision tomorrow, July 24th. Churchill's fans will turn out in force (they hope) to protest what they expect to be a thumbs-down on Churchill's continued employment at Colorado U.

The ACLU of Colorado has issued a statement supporting Churchill, casting this controversy as a free speech issue, by minimizing - as do Churchill's other supporters - the charges of academic malfeisance:

Continue reading "Final decision on Ward Churchill"

Judith | 07/23/07 at 08:51 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 15, 2007

Erasing History, One Objection at a Time

Does objecting to history because it hurts your feelings make it go away?

The University of Leeds was accused of infringing free speech last night when it cancelled a lecture on “Islamic anti-Semitism” by a German academic.

Matthias Köntzel arrived at the university yesterday morning to begin a three-day programme of lectures and seminars, but was told that it had been called off on “security grounds”.

For security grounds, read "insecurity grounds." Namely, the fact that some Muslims can't deal with the free discussion of history. And some academics in the west seem eager to pander to their every insecurity.

Continue reading "Erasing History, One Objection at a Time"

Alcibiades | 03/15/07 at 01:03 AM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

February 26, 2007

"Obsession" at NYU

[ UPDATE: More from the NYU Dialogue Group & Friends at the end of this post. Read this article as a companion piece to what follows.]

"Obsession: The Threat of Radical Islam" is a controversial documentary which presents video and quotes from the purveyors of radical Islam, Islamofascism (or whatever you want to call it). At the end of this post is a 10 min. segment via YouTube. Recently the film has been the target of college campus political correctness.

Students at New York University decided they wanted to present it, despite misgivings by some Muslim students. At the screening there late last month, the viewers — many of them Muslims — ganged up on Robert Friedman, a discussion leader who had been sent by the “Obsession” filmmakers. (The event was sponsored by the Middle East Dialogue Group at N.Y.U., the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, Arab Students United and the Pakistani Students Association.)

Mr. Friedman told the audience, “You have to understand a problem before you can solve it.”

But most of the viewers, including both a rabbi and a Muslim chaplain on a discussion panel put together by the students, said the film did not foster understanding. “The question about radical Islam and how do we fight it is unproductive,” said Yehuda Sarna, the New York University rabbi on the panel. “The question is how to break down the stereotypes facing the two religions.”

(Read Sarna's statement again. "Unproductive"? What? "Willful blindness" doesn't begin to describe this attitude.)

Steven I. Weiss, editor and publisher of CampusJ.com, an Internet site that covers Jewish news on campuses, said he was surprised by the Jewish skepticism to the film at N.Y.U. “Were a Jewish leader from virtually any significant organization to walk in on that discussion,” he said, “they’d be very surprised and displeased. This is the opposite of the change they’ve been looking for in campus rhetoric.”

(Kudos to Jewish blog mogul and Kesher Talk friend Steven Weiss for a mention in the Times. The NYU campus rhetoric is reminiscent of that at Brown when Nonie Darwish spoke - an uneasy backing-away from the speaker's disquieting facts.)

"Obsession" discussion leader Robert Friedman writes to the Times:

Continue reading ""Obsession" at NYU"

Judith | 02/26/07 at 02:08 PM | 5 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

February 20, 2007

Joseph Massad and Tanya Reinhart at "End Israel Apartheid Week"

The final installment of Pamela Hall's report from the trenches of the movement to delegitimize Israel. Read on to see (Chomsky protegee) Tanya Reinhart protest to Joseph Massad that Israel isn't racist, and Joseph Massad shut her down.

Part one.
Part two.
Part three.
Part four.

CHALLENGING ISRAELI APARTHEID (PDF)
These were our speakers at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on W. 126th St. In Manhattan:
Joseph Massad, associate professor of Middle East studies, Columbia University
Tanya Reinhart, professor emeritus, Tel Aviv University.

Such a lovely old church. Built when this was farmland in the 1830’s, I think. But, what a night. Listening to the hate-speech that Massad is “preaching to the choir”. It is so offensisve. And sadly, the Rector of St. Mary’s was way too happy to welcome this hate-monger into G-d’s house. Disturbing and disgusting. Certainly another example of the leftists and their social justice take-over of the church.

Continue reading "Joseph Massad and Tanya Reinhart at "End Israel Apartheid Week""

Judith | 02/20/07 at 02:07 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

February 19, 2007

The last stand of Ward Churchill

Via Boker Tov Boulder . . . .

Remember faux-Indian "Ethnic Studies" professor Ward "little Eichmanns" Churchill? His case continues to inch through the bureaucracy of the University of Colorado. As of last week, according to his defense team:

A University of Colorado faculty committee has recently heard testimony in Professor Ward Churchill's final internal appeal of the Chancellor's recommendation that he be fired for 'research misconduct.' The faculty committee is also holding hearings on Prof. Churchill's grievances concerning (a) selective or pretextual enforcement and (b) breaches of confidentiality by University officials. Their recommendations will be sent to President Hank Brown who, in turn, will make a recommendation to the Board of Regents, who have the final say.

Churchill's advocates are making a last-ditch effort to mobilize supporters in academia, via an Open Letter calling on the U of Colorado to reverse its decision. The signatories include the usual suspects Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, also controversial academics Rashid Khalidi and Juan Cole. Both Khalidi and Cole have recently had to defend their academic credentials in pursuit of professional advancement, and their participation in Churchill's defense gives credence to their detractors. (In a truly moronic convergence of nutty professors, Deborah Frisch (fired from U of Arizona for stalking a blogger and threatening his child) defended Churchill at CounterPunch in 2005.)

Other activities planned in support of Churchill include conferences, articles, coordinated responses to campus appearances by David Horowitz, and publication of the Open Letter, which isn't getting very far:

Continue reading "The last stand of Ward Churchill"

Judith | 02/19/07 at 07:02 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

February 13, 2007

Nonie Darwish doesn't have the right credentials for Brown

At Brown University last fall, the Jewish student organization Hillel had planned to sponsor as a speaker controversial Muslim feminist and Zionist Nonie Darwish. According to the Brown newspaper,

Darwish was originally scheduled to speak last semester, but her lecture fell through after the Sarah Doyle Women's Center declined to fund her appearance and Brown Hillel decided not to sponsor the event alone.

Brown Hillel states that the sponsorship was recinded because the pullout of the Women's Center left Hillel in the position of being the sole sponsor of a controversial speaker about Islam, thus endangering Hillel's delicate rapport with the Muslim student organization.

According to Yael Richardson '08, president of Hillel's executive board, Hillel decided not to sponsor the event last semester because of "inflammatory statements" Darwish has made about Islam. "We didn't see it as our place to bring a speaker who has spoken in a derogatory manner about another religion," Richardson said. "If another organization were to bring a speaker who has made anti-Semitic remarks, we hope they would also be respectful of us."

Yael Richardson hopes for a quid pro quo on the part of the Muslim students, but years of observing campus identity politics tells me that the concern about sensitivity only goes one way (see my five questions at the end of this post). If you read between the lines of the Hillel statement, the Hillel officers know this, and wanted Darwish to appear as long as someone less vulnerable took the heat for making it happen. (And given the probably answers to my five questions, that may have been the smartest thing to do.)

The primary hypocrite here is the Sarah Doyle Women's Center, which isn't in a vulnerable position, but is more concerned with political correctness than supporting a Muslim feminist who criticizes Islam. I wonder if they also refuse to sponsor Catholic feminists who criticize the Church. What do you think? (As Charles Jacobs has said (quoted by Richard Landes in a speech at the Media as Theater of War conference), if you want to understand how the Left chooses which oppressions to care about, don't look at the victim, look at the perpetrator. If the perpetrator is white, they are outraged. If the perpetrator is of color, they minimize or ignore it.)

Finally a powerful neutral party took charge:

Russell Carey '91 MA'06, interim vice president for campus life and student services, said his office decided to sponsor the event after it was clear the speech would not go forward otherwise. "The whole purpose of a university is to have free and open exchange of ideas, particularly those that students initiate and develop," Carey said. "It's not so much about her, it's about the open and frank exchange of views and opinions."

In that spirit, Associate Professor of Political Science John Tomasi, who directs the Political Theory Project, introduced Darwish by stressing the "ideal of intellectual ferment and discomfort."

I bet Professor Tomasi has tenure.

Darwish spoke this past Wednesday at Brown to a fairly hostile crowd. One of my contacts (who prefers anonymity to keep her political activism separate from her professional life) talked with her afterwards, and emailed me the following:

Continue reading "Nonie Darwish doesn't have the right credentials for Brown"

Judith | 02/13/07 at 12:57 AM | 6 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

February 12, 2007

Nonie Darwish returns to Brown

Last November Nonie Darwish, Arab defender of Israel, was scheduled to speak at Brown University, sponsored in part by the Brown Hillel chapter, which withdrew the invitation. The university extended another invitation and Darwish spoke at Brown on Wednesday. More: . . . more »

Judith | 02/12/07 at 07:25 AM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

December 10, 2006

Denounce Judaism and Get an A

Ukranian immigrant and San Francisco Bay Area Jewish activist Aleksandra Fliegler speaks to the need for Jews to start standing up against anti-Semitism on college campuses and demonstrating pride and strength in their heritage. (To that end, B'nai B'rith International . . . more »

Cinnamon | 12/10/06 at 08:00 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

December 06, 2006

More Examples of Mob Rule on College Campuses

No sooner had my last SFGate column, "Mob Rule on College Campuses" come out, when bullying behavior reared its ugly head on America's college campuses yet again. Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, one of the strongest anti-illegal immigration voices in politics, . . . more »

Cinnamon | 12/06/06 at 02:44 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

November 21, 2006

Feedback for Hillel on Nonie Darwish

A friend sent an email to the Brown Hillel rabbi who supported the disinvite to Nonie Darwish. Dear Ms. Eisenberg, As a mother of two Jewish college students active in Hillel, I'm writing to say how tragic it is that . . . more »

Judith | 11/21/06 at 11:36 AM | 6 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

November 20, 2006

Not talking back to Nonie Darwish

[ UPDATE: Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers! Via Michelle: Nonie Darwish talks about the Brown disinvite on CNN. ] [ UPDATE: An email to the Brown Hillel rabbi. ] [ UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers! If you scroll down the main page . . . more »

Judith | 11/20/06 at 10:43 PM | 15 Comments | 8 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Talking back to the Communist Party

This was a comment on my experience at the Rachel Corrie "talkback." How things have changed. You have reminded me of an event over 40 years ago at Trinity College, Hartford. All of the top leadership of the Communist Party . . . more »

Judith | 11/20/06 at 10:40 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

October 27, 2006

Israel's Big Brother?

Judith has asked me to comment on the phenomeon of Israel Academia Monitor, a website which seeks to collate and expose various anti-, post-, etc-Zionist statements of various Israeli academics. As a student at an Israeli university this is an . . . more »

Benjamin | 10/27/06 at 07:50 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

October 15, 2006

Columbia and the Future of Education

Does the Columbia University fiasco portend a crisis in the future of American education? And if the traditional universities lose their credibility in teaching critical thinking - as the establishment media are losing their credibility in news reporting - how . . . more »

Asher Abrams | 10/15/06 at 06:40 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Long Live the Manly Virtues!

A friend forwarded me University of Texas Journalism Professor Robert Jensen's ode to pathetic wimpiness (which is posted at SFGate.com, for whom I also write), "Men being men is a bad deal, Guys should evolve beyond masculinity." Guys should evolve . . . more »

Cinnamon | 10/15/06 at 12:32 PM | 8 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

October 13, 2006

Walid Shoebat event the morning after

Yesterday the Columbia undergraduate magazine student blog had reported on a minor kerfluffle related to the Shoebat speech, which was an anonymous individual papering the the Muslim Student Association's office with what the not-quite unpartisan blog calls "inflammatory press releases;" . . . more »

Judith | 10/13/06 at 08:10 AM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

October 12, 2006

More fallout for Columbia from the Shoebat event

[ RELATED: Thanks to Amir Taheri, I have a new term for the type of behavior exhibited by Columbia University: Pre-emptive obediance. This is where you try to anticipate what your oppressor and/or authority wants from you, and obey before . . . more »

Judith | 10/12/06 at 05:13 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Report from the Walid Shoebat lecture, and a complaint

Previous posts on this topic: Email rescinding confirmed RSVPs to the event, email from someone coming by bus from Boston, another email responding to a criticism, photos and video of the scene outside of the people who couldn't get in, . . . more »

Judith | 10/12/06 at 12:12 PM | 2 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Too many empty chairs greet Walid Shoebat

Solomonia linked to a post at the blog of The Blue and White, Columbia University's undergraduate magazine, which exposes the desire of some student groups that the Walid Shoebat event be sparsely attended. If you want to go, RSVP soon . . . more »

Judith | 10/12/06 at 04:39 AM | 0 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

October 11, 2006

Seva asks, why does Columbia U shoot itself in the foot?

It's a good bet that Columbia U rescinded public invitations to Walid Shoebat's talk at least in part because they feared a repeat of last week's semi-brawl over the Minutemen appearance. This amounts to intimidation by violence, the same tactic . . . more »

Judith | 10/11/06 at 11:58 PM | 1 Comments | 5 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Seva Brodsky vs Suleyman Ferguson

Somebody named Suleyman has been making the rounds of the blogs posting about the Shoebat shut-out at Columbia U, leaving reasonable dissenting comments. I don't agree with him but he conducted himself well on my blog, which is always welcome . . . more »

Judith | 10/11/06 at 11:03 PM | 1 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Columbia U trying to avoid embarrassment, cont.

Remember Solomonia's buddy Seva, who videoed the pro-Hezbollah rally in Boston this summer? He replied to Jewelnel Davis' email and all of us who had been disinvited in her email got a copy (so he must have used "reply all"). . . . more »

Judith | 10/11/06 at 08:55 PM | 6 Comments | 9 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Avoiding Political Embarrassment the Columbia University Way

How do you avoid political embarrassment at Columbia University these days? Disinvite invited guests to a talk sure to interest conservatives and other hawks in the larger NYC community. A talk, by the bye, well advertised in several major conservative . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/11/06 at 08:54 PM | 12 Comments | 12 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

The Welcome Wagon - Palestinian Style

Remember that dear old cultural institution that used to exist in the US, the welcome wagon. Whenever you moved into a new neighborhood, various delegations of people would arrive and welcome you to the neighborhood, with small gifts of food, . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/11/06 at 09:49 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

October 10, 2006

Synchronicity...

never fails when it comes to leftist antisemitism. Monique Dols, who seems to have become official spokesman for those who initiated the anti-Minutemen Columbia University riot, appears to also have an interesting weakness for antisemitic conspiracy theory. . . . more »

Benjamin | 10/10/06 at 01:07 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

October 09, 2006

Juan Cole surfaces again

Devotees of this blog know that one of our special projects is tracking the academic and bloggish career of Juan Cole. Well, the irrepressible Professor Cole is in the news again. [He] sent a letter to Condoleezza Rice protesting the . . . more »

Judith | 10/09/06 at 01:12 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

September 22, 2006

Where Exactly is the Line, Lisa?

We were remiss yesterday not to cover news of Columbia's invitation to Ahmadinejad to speak at the University at its World Leaders Forum. Eliana Johnon at the NYSun - still my favorite paper, even though for the last 3 weeks . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/22/06 at 10:49 AM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

September 15, 2006

Professor Juan Cole explains it all to you

Juan Cole is a good guide to evaluating the Pope's remarks about Islam. Because the truth is reliably the opposite of whatever Juan Cole says it is. . . . more »

Judith | 09/15/06 at 06:48 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

July 28, 2006

Gallery of supercilious antisemitic boycott letters

In addition to the well-publicized academic boycotts, Israelis have been subject to informal boycotts often initiated by customer-facing employees in organizations which may not approve of their particular biases, or covert boycotts which are company policy, but invisible until you . . . more »

Judith | 07/28/06 at 06:44 AM | 10 Comments | 6 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

July 25, 2006

Why not Juan Cole?

The controversy over Yale University's decision not to appoint Juan Cole has taken two forms: Either Cole was unfairly denied because he dares to criticize "the Likud Lobby" (his formulation), or because academic blogging is considered too edgy for a . . . more »

Judith | 07/25/06 at 08:08 AM | 7 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

July 13, 2006

Big Gloat Moment

Completely off topic, but I just heard a report on CNN about the negative effects of the Larry Summers ouster on Harvard University fund raising, and I can't help gloating. Apparently, Larry Ellison is not the only big donor reneging . . . more »

Alcibiades | 07/13/06 at 09:11 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

July 09, 2006

A gallery of nutty professors

[ UPDATE: Deb Frisch is spinning as hard as she can. Don't buy into it. If you follow the links I've provided to other examples of her online behavior, you can see clearly how she initiates and provokes these confrontations. . . . more »

Judith | 07/09/06 at 04:34 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Hold Her Responsible? But...She Identifies With Palestinians

Some of you may have already heard about Deb Frisch by now, the nutty leftist psycho-logist who was an adjunct professor at University of Arizona, who got so enraged by a discussion on Jeff Goldstein's Protein Wisdom that she began . . . more »

Alcibiades | 07/09/06 at 08:47 AM | 6 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

July 06, 2006

Eurabia Here We Come: Wackademics Censor the Truth in the Netherlands

According to a large majority of the chancellors of the Dutch universities, it is now verboten to criticize Islam in Dutch universities. Because it is inappropriate and dangerous and there might be violence as a result of so speaking. From . . . more »

Alcibiades | 07/06/06 at 07:59 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

June 20, 2006

Steven Rose doesn't smell so sweet

From the NY Jewish Week, a carefully uncritical article about one of the originators of the UK boycott of Israeli academia, who is - big surprise - Jewish. I sent it to Adloyada because she is following that story. She . . . more »

Judith | 06/20/06 at 10:38 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

June 06, 2006

No Yale for Cole

When last we checked on Juan Cole's journey toward his coveted Yale professorship, his department (History) had voted him in with a very slim majority, with the Senior Appointments Committee still to weigh in. I missed this news because I . . . more »

Judith | 06/06/06 at 08:29 PM | 5 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 29, 2006

The Good News and the Bad News

There's some positive news from the Presbyterian Church leadership - a recommendation from a group of eleven Presbyterian Church (USA) leaders who completed a five day fact finding mission to end its policy of divestment. While adoption of the divestment . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/29/06 at 10:02 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 23, 2006

Juan Cole Update, cont.

Previous Juan Cole entries here and here and here. Cole is inching ever closer to his coveted Yale Professorship, but his road is not smooth: Earlier this month, the history department voted on allowing Mr. Cole to teach classes under . . . more »

Judith | 05/23/06 at 12:25 AM | 7 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 16, 2006

Pillage Idiot goes all manly...

on the Harvard presidential search Committee. And, uh, I got that letter, too. Unlike, Attila, though, I kind of just put it down and forgot about it. . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/16/06 at 11:16 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

The Chomsky Video

Europe's favorite public intellectual, Noam Chomsky, met with Hizbollah last week. Memri has the video. . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/16/06 at 04:38 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 13, 2006

Juan Cole Update

Michael Rubin said on Wednesday that Juan Cole will indeed be extended an offer from Yale. Here's the latest: The history department’s vote was . . . . to offer him honorary affiliation with the department when YCIAS formalizes his . . . more »

Judith | 05/13/06 at 08:02 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 11, 2006

Hirsi Ali at Harvard II

Previous Hirsi Ali lecture at Harvard here. Hirsi Ali interviewed on Danish TV here and here (both in English). Hirsi Ali's speech to American Jewish Committee here. Report on Ayaan Hirsi Ali panel at Harvard on 5/9/06, from LGF reader . . . more »

Judith | 05/11/06 at 12:33 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 10, 2006

Cole Alert: The Light Dimming at Yale

[ A roundup of links to Cole's various misstatements, dishonest debate, historical inaccuracies, conspiracy theories, attacks, and whining. ] According to Michael Rubin from PhiBeta Cons, at NRO: The Yale History Department has voted to extend Juan Cole an offer, . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/10/06 at 02:29 PM | 4 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 09, 2006

Ayaan Hirsi Ali at Harvard

Two reports from Hirsi Ali's talk at the Harvard JFK School of Government this afternoon: Ms Kelly and Michael S. The format and content of her presentation are similar to what she did at the PEN Festival. Apparently most . . . more »

Judith | 05/09/06 at 09:08 PM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Harvard, Yale Law Schools Battle to Enroll Moussaoui

(Parody) Fresh from a resounding win in a court that awarded him life without parole, convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui now finds himself in the middle of a high-profile battle between two prestigious law schools. Harvard Law and Yale Law both . . . more »

Van | 05/09/06 at 10:33 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 07, 2006

A Cole cornucopia

Recently Iowahawk gifted us with a Juan Cole edition of his parody skillz, but Prof. Cole has trumped Iowahawk by parodying himself. As we know, Christopher Hitchens' challenge to Cole's understanding of Farsi led to a flame war between the . . . more »

Judith | 05/07/06 at 11:33 AM | 1 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 05, 2006

Wackademics Gone Wild

Pillage Idiot calls the shots on the escalating friendly "rivalry" between Harvard and Yale. Van provided an earlier take on the delicate state of the Harvard-Yale relationship here. . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/05/06 at 12:47 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 03, 2006

Mr. Cole's "Eloquent" Refutation of Christopher Hitchens' Charges

Yesterday, Christopher Hitchens had a piece in Slate that pointed out some of Mr. Juan Cole's more egregious recent misstatements about Iran and Israel. In some ways, the continuing row over his call for the complete destruction of Israel must . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/03/06 at 11:30 AM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Walt & Mearsheimer roundup

If you want to understand the intellectual environment which produced the Walt & Mearsheimer paper, read this. If you want to know how long W & M have been on the mattress - here you go. (That was posted on . . . more »

Judith | 05/03/06 at 04:04 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 01, 2006

A Juan Cole potpourri

(In response to Professor Cole being in the news again, we retrieved the Best of Juan Cole from the Kesher Talk archives, which was a good first pass at assessing how Cole has acquitted himself in the fights he has . . . more »

Judith | 05/01/06 at 08:08 AM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

April 24, 2006

Juan Cole: a disgrace to scholarship

Like many academics, University of Michigan professor Juan Cole is a well-known habitue of the political blogosphere. Most academics, mindful of their professional reputations, make their points with dignity and careful application of their expertise. Cole, however, comes out swinging . . . more »

Judith | 04/24/06 at 08:51 PM | 8 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

April 11, 2006

PARODY: Harvard, Yale Team Up to Produce Deluxe Edition of "Israel Lobby" Paper

[UPDATE: The April 12 New York Times carries an article titled, "Essay Stirs Debate About Influence of a Jewish Lobby." It's worth a look to see how brave Dr. Mearsheimer and stalwart Dr. Walt are holding up to the onslaught . . . more »

Van | 04/11/06 at 09:01 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 29, 2006

Big Apple dhimmitude

Another university has succumbed to Fear of a Jihadist Planet, right here in contentious multicultural New Yawk City. This time, it's NYU that has censored the viewing of the Dreaded Cartoons of Blasphemy (TM). But they aren't preventing the cartoons . . . more »

Judith | 03/29/06 at 12:34 AM | 1 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 28, 2006

Unmistakably Smelly

Christopher Hitchens, no friend of Israel, as he makes clear in the article, delivers his normal trenchant analysis on the now notorious Mearsheimer and Walt Jewish Lobby paper. Mearsheimer and Walt belong to that vapid school that essentially wishes that . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/28/06 at 12:41 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 25, 2006

News from the Near Future: Yale to Award Honorary Degree to Sirhan Sirhan

April 1, 2006: Yale University has announced it will award an honorary degree to Palestinian-American activist Sirhan Bishara Sirhan. University president Richard Levin told a press conference, "Sirhan is an outstanding representative of the Palestinian people, a true fighter for . . . more »

Van | 03/25/06 at 06:50 PM | 3 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 19, 2006

School For Propaganda

Writing in FrontPage Magazine, Lee Kaplan reveals the mechanics of the propaganda operation that is the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), when it hosted its fifth annual divestment conference at Georgetown University. He and many members of his organization - Stop . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/19/06 at 07:23 PM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 15, 2006

Printing the Mohammed cartoons can get you fired

[ UPDATE: Alt newspaper columnist Dan Savage - an alumnus of U of Illinois - is furious. ] Acton Gorton, an Iraq vet, and editor of the Daily Illini, the University of Illinois newspaper, was fired yesterday, ostensibly for not . . . more »

Judith | 03/15/06 at 03:28 PM | 1 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

February 10, 2006

Moronic convergence Dept.

This blog has been following two controversies (among others) about distorting Jewish history: The MESA-ization of Columbia University (especially by Professor Joseph Massad), and the film Munich. These issues converge in a review of Munich by the flower of the . . . more »

Judith | 02/10/06 at 12:07 AM | 0 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

January 11, 2006

Columbia Still Unbecoming: Ah, Lisa Anderson!

When Alcibiades posted about the latest doings at the Columbia Middle East Studies Department, the name "Lisa Anderson" rang a bell. She is the subject of an article that is part of a series on Columbia University by Campus Watch. . . . more »

Judith | 01/11/06 at 08:00 PM | 1 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Columbia Still Unbecoming

Previous entries on this topic can be found in the category to the left, Israel vs. the World Look for the title: "Academic Integrity and the Middle East." Two new items today about the politics of Middle Eastern politics at . . . more »

Alcibiades | 01/11/06 at 11:07 AM | 0 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 05, 2005

AUT update

The British academic boycott of Israeli academics is facing a huge backlash. The American Association of University Professors condemns it. (Although the AAUP is not averse to getting into bed with anti-Israel academics.) (Via Norm, who also posts two . . . more »

Judith | 05/05/05 at 07:25 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 03, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East: outside agitators

Previous entries on this topic here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and description of the conference and speakers here. The original complaint of the Columbia students was very precise. It did not accuse anyone of antisemitism. . . . more »

Judith | 05/03/05 at 05:10 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

May 02, 2005

More antisemitism in the UK: the AUT boycott

I previously linked to many stories sent to journalist Melanie Phillips about antisemitism in the UK, particularly at universities. Melanie has also been tracking the infamous AUT boycott initiative and the heartening response. . . . more »

Judith | 05/02/05 at 08:20 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

April 14, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East: Jewish campus disagreements

Previous entries on this topic here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and description of the conference and speakers here. Predictably, the activism of the Columbia students who made the movie and raised the issues has put them . . . more »

Judith | 04/14/05 at 09:35 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

April 12, 2005

School propaganda watch

I posted previously about a biased and inaccurate middle school history textbook being piloted in Scottsdale, AZ. The good news is that the district in question received numerous complaints and at this time does not plan to continue using . . . more »

Judith | 04/12/05 at 10:48 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

Oy, more antisemitism watch

After a short break for good news, back to the muck. Previous entry in this series here. (But I will put up another good-news post soon.) Another British boycott of Israeli academics is gaining steam, this time recapitulating the . . . more »

Judith | 04/12/05 at 07:25 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

April 10, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East: the press controversy continues

Previous entries on this topic here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and description of the conference and speakers here. Campus-J's stringers at Columbia and Columbians for Academic Freedom are on the front lines of this controversy; check both . . . more »

Judith | 04/10/05 at 02:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

April 04, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East: the continuing controversy

Previous entries on this topic here, here, here, here, here, here, and description of the conference and speakers here. Campus-J's stringers at Columbia and Columbians for Academic Freedom are on the front lines of this controversy; check both sites . . . more »

Judith | 04/04/05 at 07:36 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

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 . . . more »

Judith | 04/02/05 at 10:43 PM | Categories: - Wackademia

March 31, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East: the report

Previous entries on the Columbia U Conference on Academic Integrity and the Middle East here, here, here, here, and here. Video clips of all the speakers are now online! . . . more »

Judith | 03/31/05 at 06:06 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 26, 2005

Letter to the editor, cont.

Last week I sent this letter to the Jewish Week criticizing their coverage of the Columbia U Conference on Academic Integrity and the Middle East. They didn't print my letter but they did print these: . . . more »

Judith | 03/26/05 at 08:00 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 21, 2005

Antisemitism watch, yet again.

Previous entry on this topic here. Gerard on the ancient virus. Check out this Israeli version of CampusWatch. Gaze with awe upon the full moonbattean glory of Israeli universities, and contemplate the self-hatred of their Jewish Israeli professors, who . . . more »

Judith | 03/21/05 at 11:22 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 15, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East: Letter to the Editor

The Jewish Week published this report on the Columbia conference on Academic Integrity and the Middle East. I just sent them this letter: . . . more »

Judith | 03/15/05 at 12:14 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 14, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East, cont.

Previous entries in this series here and here. The Forward puts a lot of spin on its report of the Columbia conference, showcasing the students' complaints that their nuanced positions about Columbia in particular are being swamped by a . . . more »

Judith | 03/14/05 at 08:01 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 09, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East - the students

Previous entry in this series here. Mary has posted her report, with pix. She has details of Phyllis Chesler's speech (including the unimaginative and boorish heckling and canned "protest" at nonexistant "censorship"), and Charles Jacob's speech (which he shared . . . more »

Judith | 03/09/05 at 07:29 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 07, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East - the speakers

Last Sunday, several of us NYC Liberal Hawks attended a free all-day conference at Columbia University on Academic Integrity and the Middle East, sponsored by Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. The events that precipitated the conference were . . . more »

Judith | 03/07/05 at 11:59 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 04, 2005

Antisemitism watch, cont.

Jihadism is taking a page from the leftist academic establishment and trying to establish its ideas in our culture by infiltrating schools, in this case grade schools. Solomon has a link to a chilling report on the effort, and . . . more »

Judith | 03/04/05 at 04:50 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

February 18, 2005

Nutty professors

As the Ward Churchill scandal wore on and more information came to light, it became clear that Churchill was not only an eccentric person with reprehensible views and questionable behavior - which alone would not necessarily deny him the . . . more »

Judith | 02/18/05 at 09:34 AM | 1 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

December 15, 2004

The Spirit of America link-fest was getting so long . . .

. . . I put the Juan Cole/Iraq the Model feud here. Go here to read what all the bloggers and journalists have to say about Omar and Mohammed's December 2004 tour of America, and check back frequently for . . . more »

Judith | 12/15/04 at 07:27 PM | 5 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

December 06, 2004

The new fifth column

Robert Jensen, University of TX journalism professor:The United States has lost the war in Iraq, and that's a good thing. . . . as a U.S. citizen, I welcome the U.S. defeat, for a simple reason: It isn't the . . . more »

Judith | 12/06/04 at 08:23 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

November 03, 2004

Antisemitism watch

Palestinian students attack Republican students, at - you guessed it - our old friend San Francisco State U. . . . more »

Judith | 11/03/04 at 06:55 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

October 14, 2004

The annual fall migration of the ISM

It's October, and long time Kesher Talk readers know what that means. No, I'm not talking about crisp fall days, flame-colored leaves, or the World Series. I'm talking about . . . The annual ISM Conference! That's right, the . . . more »

Judith | 10/14/04 at 03:07 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

August 29, 2004

Further evidence of liberal slant on campus

According to Time:. . . according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, 72% of university employees' $16.7 million in contributions during this election cycle has gone to the Democratic Party. The figure for Harvard is . . . more »

Judith | 08/29/04 at 09:00 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

March 22, 2004

Free speech

Daniel Pipes gave a speech at American University. As par for the course, his speech was attended by a protest action. It was milder than some and didn't prevent Pipes from speaking, although from the description it sounds annoying . . . more »

Judith | 03/22/04 at 11:05 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

December 28, 2003

Creepy academic antisemites, continued

Remember Tony Judt? He's still around, and he doesn't understand why people got so upset at his article, and he says he's a "proud Jew." (Best Judt fisking here. Which isn't refuted by anything said here.) Meanwhile, check out this . . . more »

Judith | 12/28/03 at 12:03 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

November 29, 2003

Andrew Wilkie and his ilk

Remember clueless creepy British antisemite academic Andrew Wilkie? He's the one who got caught. If you don't think this will affect you personally, think about what the world will lose if Israelis are excluded from global intellectual endeavor. Remember who . . . more »

Judith | 11/29/03 at 10:30 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

July 02, 2003

Creepy antisemitic British academics, part II

Some updates on the Andrew Wilkie case, which I reported on last week: So far, the best letter to Oxford about the case. States all the issues succinctly and thoroughly. Thank you, Andrew. Excellent update at Jewsweek (via Buzz Machine), . . . more »

Judith | 07/02/03 at 10:32 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia

June 29, 2003

Creepy antisemitic British academics Dept.

Tom Paulin, Mona Baker, and now . . . Andrew Wilkie, Nuffield Professor of Pathology, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford, UK. funded by the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine have just got a grant from the Wellcome Trust and . . . more »

Judith | 06/29/03 at 12:35 PM | 0 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - Wackademia