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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Columbia (U) Unbecoming.... |
| 2005-01-01 |
| Jewish students charge that three professors in the university's Middle East & Jewish Studies department have ridiculed and intimidated them for making pro-Israel remarks, violating their rights as students to express opinions contrary to those of their professors. The allegations reflect the growing scrutiny that Middle East studies departments across the country are facing from pro-Israel groups that claim Arab or Islamic professors are slanting their courses to favor the Palestinian side, sometimes to the point of challenging Israel's right to exist. Ahhh... the plot Sickens! Its all a JEWISH plot! Brahahahahaha..... But nowhere is that scrutiny more public--or more heated--than on the one-block-wide quadrangle of Columbia's main campus. The university's Middle East & Jewish Studies department was the subject of a highly critical documentary this fall by a Boston-based pro-Israel group, and university President Lee Bollinger named a committee of Columbia academics in December to investigate the students' charges and decide whether the three professors should be disciplined. Far from being treated as colleagues, some students of professor Joseph Massad, one of the faculty members under scrutiny, say he berates and humiliates those who challenge him. A female student who asked him whether Israeli authorities warned Palestinians before destroying the residences of suspected terrorists said he cut her off and told her that he would not allow her to deny Israeli "atrocities" in his class. Massad, a professor of modern Arab politics, reportedly asked another student who identified himself as a former Israeli soldier how many Palestinians he had killed. Another faculty member at the center of the controversy is professor George Saliba, a specialist in the history of Arabic and Islamic science, who reportedly told a student that her opinion about Israel was not valid because she had green eyes and was not a "true Semite." And professor Hamid Dabashi, the former chairman of Columbia's Middle East and Asian languages and cultures department, reportedly has said that Israel is a "ghastly state of racism and apartheid" that "must be dismantled." As opposed to certain Islamic states which are the sole model of tolerance... These accounts of the three professors' actions and beliefs are included in "Columbia Unbecoming," a 20-minute documentary produced by the David Project, a Boston-based group that says its mission is to make sure the Israeli position is fairly represented in college classes. "I have been maliciously slandered," Dabashi said in an e-mail message, adding that his relationship with his students has always been "one of mutual respect, irrespective of their gender, nationality, or religious identity." I'm sure the Nazi's also had this sort of relationship with all their citizens.... As for his comments about dismantling Israel, Dabashi said the quotes were taken out of context and that he opposes "any sort of religious state," including a "Christian empire," Islamic republic or Jewish state. So he also rallies against Saudi Arabia and Iran right? No? I'm SHOCKED! Saliba wrote a rebuttal in the student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, in which he said he did not remember making a remark about the student's eye color disqualifying her from having a valid opinion about Israel. "The aim of the David Project propaganda film is to undermine our academic freedom, our freedom of speech, and Columbia's tradition of openness and pluralism," he says on the Web site. This single statement PROVES their case. He is basically saying that any film which does not agree with him is 'propaganda'.... Since the campus screenings of "Columbia Unbecoming," more students have come forward with allegations that the professors made intimidating remarks, according to Beery, the Columbia student, who is president of the student body of one of Columbia's undergraduate colleges. "They have been degrading and dehumanizing and disrespecting and completely overstepping the modes of behavior that they should stick to when they have such incredibly important positions of responsibility," said Beery, an Israeli who is studying economics and political science. Others have rallied to support the professors. More than 700 scholars from around the world signed a petition backing Massad. I'm sure they all have first-hand knowledge of his classes right? How many of the 700 are from Islamic Universities? And a newly formed student group at Columbia, the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend Academic Freedom, disputes many of the charges of intimidation. Jacobs, the David Project head, sees the Columbia dispute as one example among many nationwide. His group is planning to make similar films about other, unnamed universities. For Columbia, however, the controversy goes to the heart of the university ethos--the balance between a professor's right to express unpopular views and a student's right to challenge those views. "Academic freedom is something that is basic to free inquiry, but it's not an unlimited principle," said university spokeswoman Susan Brown. "So the question is: When does a professor cross the line?" How about when he stops doing WHAT HE IS DAMN WELL BEING PAID TO DO. When he is simply spouting out his own political agenda and not the 'facts'? |
| Posted by:CrazyFool |