Friday, August 31, 2007
I was bored and started flipping through the signatures on the "Grant Nadia Abu El-Haj Tenure" petition. My comments are in the brackets. Affiliations noted if noted by the petition signatory (most don't):
#1010 rula krikorian: "I am sure if the professor's last name was bloomberg or levi. She would have been given Tenure without any question !!!" [Or Said.]
971. ce dobworth: "The American Zionists only prove the point that they will interfere anywhere in U.S. society--media, politics, academia, Congress, the White House, etc--to continue to deceive the American public about the theft and destruction of Palestine (even changing its name to Israel!), and their continuing racist treatment of Palestinians who have been refugees in their own country since the middle of the last century."
930. Caroline Lamb "and by the way, I'm Jewish." [Thanks for the info, Caroline, we feel better now.]
898. Kenneth Swain "Stop all funding to the Apartied State of Israel"
884. Chris Tsombanis "enough cowering to izrael and its lobby!" [Seize him!]
850. R Barkett "It is high time for U.S.A. to gain independence" [From...?]
773. Robert N. Cable "Stop Zionist "cleansing" --ethnic and academic."
767. Sally Mendzela "I encourage Columbia/Barnard to follow-through on their plans to offer tenure to professor El-Haj. The Israel lobby has no business participating in this discussion." [Remain silent and the inmates start running the asylum, speak out and it's "the Jews are silencing my dissent!"]
737. Tiva Montalbano "Archaeology is the brainchild of nationalism. Israeli archaeology is a prime example of this, not to mention a tool of occupation. It MUST be studied!" [Was anyone else not expecting that one to end with the word "studied?" I was expecting "DESTROYED" or something like that.] University College London
731. Mohammad A. Mohammad "May Allah bless the soul of academic freedom!!" University of Texas at Austin
726. Mark Dankof "What has the Israeli Lobby worried is that fair-minded people on both the American Left and Right have concluded that America's support of the Zionist enterprise is an unmitigated disaster---morally, politically, economically, and militarily. The actions against Professors Nadia Abu El-Haj and Norman Finkelstein reveal the desperation of the Zionist lobby, and its wholesale assault on the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States." Republic Broadcasting Network [They support Ron Paul]
721. Sarah Krasny "As a member of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Pennsylvania, we too have experienced similar attempts to silence free speech in the academic arena. We have had difficulty bringing certain people to speak on campus and have experienced more hate commentary than any group should have to endure." Penn Students for Justice in Palestine, Penn Arab Student Society [SfJP has a well known reputation for extremist rhetoric and acts.]
717. Dahlia Wasfi "No justice, no peace." [Dr.(!) Wafsi must be a Quaker] www.liberatethis.com
617. Joan Gero "Nadia Abu El-Haj's work is of enormous importance to my students and to me. It is excellent work that sets a model for understanding the relationship between archaeology and politics" [Avoid Gero's classes at all costs.] American University
605. George Saliba "When Columbia's president is engaged in witch hunting, no wonder the poison spreads" [Saliba doesn't follow things carefully. Bollinger is a deer in the headlights on this. Columbia University -- [Aside:
539. Bea Dewing "Recognizing the reality of occupation should be a requirement, not a disqualification, for tenure." [Well, at least her supporters aren't politically motivated!]
352. Karin Friedemann "Nadia is OK" [Our Karin! All the best racists support Nadia.] Green Rainbow Party Boston Chapter
326. Professor David Seddon "I am opposed to the unscrupulous campaign opposing the granting of tenure to Dr Nadia Abu El Haj for what are blatantly political, not scholarly, reasons. Such assaults on academic freedom are particularly nauseous given the failure of Israeli academics generally to speak out on behalf of their Palestinian colleagues whose academic freedoms are being constantly[...blah blah, McCarthyism, etc...too long, didn't read. David Seddon supports a boycott of Israeli academics, as I'm sure do many other hypocrites who has signed this petition.] School of Development Studies University of East Anglia, Norwich UK (BA in archaeology & anthropology) Phd in social anthropology)
313. Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD "the new racist Zionist McCarthyism must be defeated" [Mazin!] Previously of Yale and Duke Universities [Let go for letting his anti-Semitism hang out.]
294. james petras "zionist witch hunts threaten our freedoms" ['Klingon bastards killed my son!' - James T. Kirk] bartle professor emeritus binghamton university
70. Joachim Martillo Take a stand against ethnic Ashkenazi racism, extremism, fanaticism and genocidalism to save America! [Another familiar face!] Harvard University
I actually derive some comfort from this list. Not one lucid, logical, cool-headed defense of el-Haj's bizarre conjectures.
Let me share with you something I posted in my blog by way of illustration:
"A Jew, on the other hand, in keeping with the business circles and the past of his people, is least of all used to being believed. Consider Jewish scholars in this light: All of them have a high regard for logic, that is for compelling agreement by force of reason; they know, with that they are bound to win even where they encounter race and class prejudices and when one does not like to believe them. For nothing is more democratic than logic; it is no respecter of persons and makes no distinction between crooked and straight noses"
(Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 348)
Anti-Semites are everywhere, INCLUDING in Academia.....
BHG
Hey BHG - I would say "ESPECIALLY" Academia.
On the other hand, I think Sol reviews these types of petitions and organizational memberships for the same reason I do, and that is to identify who the opponents are. I would rather know who hates me, than have to guess about the closet Islamists, radicals, potential Jihadis and their enablers. Take a look at the leadership and membership of groups like ANSWER, and you will get my drift.
The importance of this is being missed.
These are the people who "educate" the young generations. They probably were, in turn, educated by academics just like them. The universities have been taken over by these quasi-academics, which are indoctrinating gullible youth.
If you wanna know why knowledge and reason have fallen in the west and why anti-semitism has raised its ugly head again, they are the reason why. And it's becoming uglier and uglier.
oao
http://fallofknowledgeandreason.blogspot.com/
Very good points (as always), Tom. Academia these days is a haven for Israel-bashers.
BHG
597. Keith W. Whitelam University of Sheffield, UK
Whitelam is the author of "The Invention of Ancient Israel," a propaganda book very much like "Facts on the Ground."
Sheffiled is a hotbed of scholarly anti-Semitism.