Witch Hunt
Cazador
Bangkok Times on Tenure
Witch hunt
Orchestrated campaigns against American university professors who are
overly critical of Israeli government policies raise serious questions
about academic freedom of speech threat
05.27.2007 | Bangkok Post
By GEORGE E. S. MCLEOD
In 2006, the faculty of Chicago's DePaul University received an
unusual package before a routine tenure vote for political science
professor Norman Finkelstein. Sent by lawyer and pro-Israel pundit
Alan Dershowitz, the scathing letters and testimonials claimed that
DePaul had a "classic anti-semite" in their midst and demanded
Finkelstein's dismissal.
Dershowitz - the former OJ Simpson lawyer and strong defender of the
Israel lobby - warned that the university's credibility was at stake.
He followed with a blitz of articles calling Israel critic Finkelstein
a holocaust denier and a bigot. A number of pro-Israel groups and
right-wing websites listed Finkelstein on "America's 101 most
dangerous professors."
The Finkelstein affair is all too familiar for many professors that
have criticised Israel after the September 11 attacks. First they
receive complaints, then scathing articles appear on right wing
websites, followed by blacklisting by pro-Israel groups. Some endure
protracted smear campaigns and even death threats.
"Academics all over the country have been under attack by the Israel
lobby," said Alison Weir, who heads If Americans Knew - a group that
criticises the Israel lobby. Weir said she has personally received
death threats, and pro-Israel groups have lobbied to prevent her from
speaking at universities.
"The Israel lobby is especially concerned about universities, because
they are so critical in forming people's opinions," she says.
A controversial author and critic of Israeli policy, Finkelstein often
appears on talk shows and has delivered hundreds of speeches, but his
high profile may be his undoing. Some powerful pro-Israel groups have
joined the fight against Finkelstein, and DePaul is being inundated by
letters, phone calls and emails demanding the assistant professor's
dismissal. Right- wing websites buzz with articles denouncing
Finkelstein, and the conservative channel Fox News ran a story about
Finkelstein entitled "Tenure for Hate."
MIT University's Noam Chomsky - voted the 20th century's most
important thinker - called Dershowitz's campaign against Finkelstein a
"virtual jihad," and said that Finkelstein's experience is far from
unique.
Chomsky was also placed on the list "America's 101 most dangerous
professors," and has been targeted by Alan Dershowitz.
"All Middle East scholarship is under serious attack," he said by
email. "I am under constant attack for my writings and actions, and
have been ever since I put pen to paper on these matters."
"Anyone critical of US policies at more than a superficial level will
be routinely targeted for slander and defamation, and since 1967, when
the US-Israel alliance was firmed up, the same has been true of
critics of Israeli policy," wrote Chomsky. At some of his talks on
Israel, Chomsky said that he needed police protection.
"Discussion that would hardly be noticed in Israel elicits tantrums
and hysteria (in the US), along with slanderous denunciations and
lies, and often threats of violence... Finkelstein happens to be an
extremely scrupulous and dedicated scholar, who also writes without
euphemism and evasion, so he is under particular attack."
Chomsky suggests that the increasing vigilance of Alan Dershowitz and
other pro-Israel groups is because "they no longer dominate opinion."
The son of holocaust survivors, Finkelstein devotes much of his
writing to what he calls the misuse of the holocaust by Israel
supporters. His most recent book, Beyond Chutzpah, contains a
stinging, point-by-point critique of Dershowitz's bestseller The Case
for Israel, where he cites numerous errors and alleged falsifications
in Dershowitz's work. The book's criticisms of Israel draw heavily on
mainstream human rights reports, which he says offer an accurate
picture of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. Dershowitz is said
to have pressured both Finkelstein's publisher and California Governor
Schwarzenegger to stop the book's publication.
While Chomsky and Finkelstein may have been the subject of smear
campaigns and threats, they have fared better than some professors.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, a highly accredited geneticist who taught at Yale,
lost his job in 2004 after writings that were highly critical of
Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
The website Middle East Forum, which attacks what it calls an anti-
American bias among US academics, listed Qumsiyeh in the publication
Professors who Hate America, by Daniel Pipes."After that, the chair
(at Yale) received letters complaining about me, saying that I should
be fired. I was attacked by the Anti-Defamation League, the Israeli
Consulate and other (pro-Israel) federations," says Qumsiyeh.
Following months of pressure, Qumsiyeh was told that his contract
would not be renewed. He says he was not given a reason for the
dismissal, but that a high-ranking official at Yale recommended that
he "stick to writing about genetics, rather than human rights," says
Qumsiyeh, who argues that Finkelstein's case would be a critical test
of academic freedom. "Finkelstein has been singled out because he is a
Jewish son of a holocaust survivor...and because his writings are very
meticulous. If he is fired, it will be a massive blow to academia."
Alison Weir says that the Israel Lobby is largely responsible for what
she called a "witch hunt" against dissident academics. "The lobby is
very well organised, and very aggressive against anyone that is in a
position of power who criticises Israeli policy," says Weir. "The US
gives billions every year in foreign aid to Israel. Americans would
never agree to this if they knew what was happening in Palestine.
That's why the Israeli lobby is so concerned about keeping the public
in the dark."
One controversial group is Campus Watch, which pays students cash
rewards to report dissident professors. Campus Watch's website says
that it is responding to a protracted anti-American bias among Middle
Eastern Studies professors. It opposes "professors that seem to lack
any appreciation of their country's national interests and often use
their positions of authority to disparage these interests," says the
website.
The website also says that it "invites student complaints of abuse,
investigates their claims, and (when warranted) makes these known."
Campus Watch used to publish the home addresses of these professors,
but has since stopped the practice.
Campus Watch's David Horowitz authored the controversial publication
The Professors. The 101 most dangerous Academics in America, which was
denounced by some American civil liberties groups. The American
Association of University Professors wrote: "Contrary to defending
academic freedom, the project is inimical to it and, indeed, to the
very idea of liberal education."
Neither Campus Watch, the Anti-Defamation League nor Alan Dershowitz
would agree to be interviewed. Finkelstein says that he cannot speak
to the media at this time.
However, Marc Stern, assistant executive director of the American
Jewish Congress (AJC) addressed the issue of the Israel Lobby's
involvement in the Finkelstein affair head on.
"Although I have great concern over Mr. Finkelstein's works, I know of
no broader campaign to have him denied tenure," he says.
Mr. Stern said that he strongly disagrees with Finkelstein's position
on Israel, but that the AJC has not lobbied to have him denied
tenure.
"(Finkelstein's arguments) are idiosyncratic... Unlike Noam Chomsky,
who is tenured as a linguistics professor, Finkelstein is seeking
tenure on the basis of his political views, which are highly
contested, and I think that is a cause for concern," he says. A
decision on Finkelstein's case is expected in June.
DoD
"Cazador" <coaste...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1180584535.4...@q66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
Could be piss poor parenting?
Was Watsons family anti-Semites as well?
Ed
"DoD" <navy...@excite.com> wrote in message
news:135sms8...@corp.supernews.com...
It's because something is sorely lacking in Watson's life, to such a great
extent that he feels he needs to lash out at SOMEONE or SOMETHING, and since
he is incapable of self-evaluation or introspection of any sort, he blames
all his failures on Jews.
It's the modus operandi for ALL bigots.
Cazador
<deathtoterroristsandtheirsupport...@usaforever.com> wrote:
> "DoD" <navyd...@excite.com> wrote in message
>
> news:135sms8...@corp.supernews.com...
>
>
>
> > "Cazador" <coaster132...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> >news:1180584535.4...@q66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Could be piss poor parenting?
>
> > Was Watsons family anti-Semites as well?
>
> It's because something is sorely lacking in Watson's life, to such a great
> extent that he feels he needs to lash out at SOMEONE or SOMETHING, and since
> he is incapable of self-evaluation or introspection of any sort, he blames
> all his failures on Jews.
>
> It's the modus operandi for ALL bigots.
I run this board. You people think of nothing but me. I generate all
the ideas. You're being kicked around every day and I do it without
sinking to your level.
DoD
> On May 31, 4:20 pm, "Ed"
> <deathtoterroristsandtheirsupport...@usaforever.com> wrote:
>> "DoD" <navyd...@excite.com> wrote in message
>>
>> news:135sms8...@corp.supernews.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> > "Cazador" <coaster132...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> >news:1180584535.4...@q66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>>
>> > Could be piss poor parenting?
>>
>> > Was Watsons family anti-Semites as well?
>>
>> It's because something is sorely lacking in Watson's life, to such a
>> great
>> extent that he feels he needs to lash out at SOMEONE or SOMETHING, and
>> since
>> he is incapable of self-evaluation or introspection of any sort, he
>> blames
>> all his failures on Jews.
>>
>> It's the modus operandi for ALL bigots.
>
> I run this board.
You are an idiot.
dsha...@gmail.com
> > extent that he feels he needs to lash out at SOMEONE or SOMETHING, and since
> > he is incapable of self-evaluation or introspection of any sort, he blames
> > all his failures on Jews.
> > It's the modus operandi for ALL bigots.
On May 31, 10:55 pm, Cazador <coaster132...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I run this board. You people think of nothing but me. I generate all
> the ideas. You're being kicked around every day and I do it without
> sinking to your level.
Clearly, Caz the Spaz has been partaking of his fellow intellectual
Ben Zonah's magic mushrooms.
Deborah
hille...@yahoo.com
> I run this board.
Dear clown, this in not the circus.
> You people think of nothing but me.
Sweet dreams.
It seems like most bad kids you have a simple philosophy in life:
"Better negative attention than no attention".
> I generate all the ideas.
You have a diarrhea in your head. You generate
plenty of ideas, all of them are high grade bullshit.
> You're being kicked around every day
That was a kicking!?
I thought that it was a tickle to cause me to laugh.
> and I do it without sinking to your level.
Yup.
You do not read books.
Instead of reading about history you just make
new history from scratch.
Cazador
> You do not read books.
> Instead of reading about history you just make
> new history from scratch.
One doesn't have to do that even if inclined to dishonesty as are you
and Deborah/Elizabeth Buckwalter. The new historiography of Israel is
there for all of us. I think it would be a good idea, for example, for
you to learn something about Ben-Gurion's realism and pragmatism. I
just posted a few paragraphs from Shlaim to help you out. BTW, Deborah/
Elizabeth Buckwalter has the Pappe book now. She's keeping quiet about
it. Not hard to predict, eh?
flores...@hotmail.com
> Bangkok Times on Tenure
>
> Witch hunt
>
> Orchestrated campaigns against American university professors who are
> overly critical of Israeli government policies raise serious questions
> about academic freedom of speech threat
>
> 05.27.2007 | Bangkok Post
> By GEORGE E. S. MCLEOD
>
> In 2006, the faculty of Chicago's DePaul University received an
> unusual package before a routine tenure vote for political science
> professor Norman Finkelstein. Sent by lawyer and pro-Israel pundit
> Alan Dershowitz, the scathing letters and testimonials claimed that
> DePaul had a "classic anti-semite"
Silly howling ZioPig fascists. Even my garbage man knows that
Norman Finkelstein is Jewish. Any decent, honest and intelligent
Jew is "classic anti-Semite" to those psychos.
> Dershowitz - the former OJ Simpson lawyer and strong defender of the
> Israel lobby - warned that the university's credibility was at stake.
> He followed with a blitz of articles calling Israel critic Finkelstein
> a holocaust denier and a bigot. A number of pro-Israel groups and
> right-wing websites listed Finkelstein on "America's 101 most
> dangerous professors."
ZioPig fascists and their LISTS. How far will sleepy Americans let
this carnival of hate, control and fascism go on?
> The Finkelstein affair is all too familiar for many professors that
> have criticised Israel after the September 11 attacks. First they
> receive complaints, then scathing articles appear on right wing
> websites, followed by blacklisting by pro-Israel groups. Some endure
> protracted smear campaigns and even death threats.
>
> "Academics all over the country have been under attack by the Israel
> lobby," said Alison Weir, who heads If Americans Knew - a group that
> criticises the Israel lobby. Weir said she has personally received
> death threats, and pro-Israel groups have lobbied to prevent her from
> speaking at universities.
>
> "The Israel lobby is especially concerned about universities, because
> they are so critical in forming people's opinions," she says.
The ZioPig fascists of course love having complete control of
educational
institutions, along with all the other instruments of mind control,
attitude
seeding, etc..... When that becomes threatened, they howl like the
rabid
mangy dogs they are.
> A controversial author and critic of Israeli policy, Finkelstein often
> appears on talk shows and has delivered hundreds of speeches, but his
> high profile may be his undoing. Some powerful pro-Israel groups have
> joined the fight against Finkelstein, and DePaul is being inundated by
> letters, phone calls and emails demanding the assistant professor's
> dismissal. Right- wing websites buzz with articles denouncing
> Finkelstein, and the conservative channel Fox News ran a story about
> Finkelstein entitled "Tenure for Hate."
Hey ZioPig Jews don't have any control or power in America! What a
silly thought!
>
> MIT University's Noam Chomsky - voted the 20th century's most
> important thinker - called Dershowitz's campaign against Finkelstein a
> "virtual jihad," and said that Finkelstein's experience is far from
> unique.
>
> Chomsky was also placed on the list "America's 101 most dangerous
> professors," and has been targeted by Alan Dershowitz.
If Chomsky and Finkelstein weren't Jews themselves, they'd have been
history
long ago.
>
> "All Middle East scholarship is under serious attack," he said by
> email. "I am under constant attack for my writings and actions, and
> have been ever since I put pen to paper on these matters."
>
> "Anyone critical of US policies at more than a superficial level will
> be routinely targeted for slander and defamation, and since 1967, when
> the US-Israel alliance was firmed up, the same has been true of
> critics of Israeli policy," wrote Chomsky. At some of his talks on
> Israel, Chomsky said that he needed police protection.
>
> "Discussion that would hardly be noticed in Israel elicits tantrums
> and hysteria (in the US), along with slanderous denunciations and
> lies, and often threats of violence... Finkelstein happens to be an
> extremely scrupulous and dedicated scholar, who also writes without
> euphemism and evasion, so he is under particular attack."
>
> Chomsky suggests that the increasing vigilance of Alan Dershowitz and
> other pro-Israel groups is because "they no longer dominate opinion."
Damn good news. "bout time. Let's watch the ZioPigs dry up like
camel shit in the desert.
> The son of holocaust survivors, Finkelstein devotes much of his
> writing to what he calls the misuse of the holocaust by Israel
> supporters. His most recent book, Beyond Chutzpah, contains a
> stinging, point-by-point critique of Dershowitz's bestseller The Case
> for Israel, where he cites numerous errors and alleged falsifications
> in Dershowitz's work. The book's criticisms of Israel draw heavily on
> mainstream human rights reports, which he says offer an accurate
> picture of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. Dershowitz is said
> to have pressured both Finkelstein's publisher and California Governor
> Schwarzenegger to stop the book's publication.
>
> While Chomsky and Finkelstein may have been the subject of smear
> campaigns and threats, they have fared better than some professors.
> Mazin Qumsiyeh, a highly accredited geneticist who taught at Yale,
> lost his job in 2004 after writings that were highly critical of
> Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
>
> The website Middle East Forum, which attacks what it calls an anti-
> American bias among US academics,
Translation: ZioPig web site attempting to silence anyone with a
substantial influence from stating facts concerning the hijacking of
America by ZioPigs.
>listed Qumsiyeh in the publication
> Professors who Hate America, by Daniel Pipes."After that, the chair
> (at Yale) received letters complaining about me, saying that I should
> be fired. I was attacked by the Anti-Defamation League, the Israeli
> Consulate and other (pro-Israel) federations," says Qumsiyeh.
>
> Following months of pressure, Qumsiyeh was told that his contract
> would not be renewed. He says he was not given a reason for the
> dismissal, but that a high-ranking official at Yale recommended that
> he "stick to writing about genetics, rather than human rights," says
> Qumsiyeh,
Nah, ZioPigs have no influence or power in America...what a silly
thought.
who argues that Finkelstein's case would be a critical test
> of academic freedom. "Finkelstein has been singled out because he is a
> Jewish son of a holocaust survivor...and because his writings are very
> meticulous. If he is fired, it will be a massive blow to academia."
>
> Alison Weir says that the Israel Lobby is largely responsible for what
> she called a "witch hunt" against dissident academics. "The lobby is
> very well organised, and very aggressive against anyone that is in a
> position of power who criticises Israeli policy," says Weir. "The US
> gives billions every year in foreign aid to Israel. Americans would
> never agree to this if they knew what was happening in Palestine.
> That's why the Israeli lobby is so concerned about keeping the public
> in the dark."
>
> One controversial group is Campus Watch, which pays students cash
> rewards to report dissident professors. Campus Watch's website says
> that it is responding to a protracted anti-American bias among Middle
> Eastern Studies professors. It opposes "professors that seem to lack
> any appreciation of their country's national interests and often use
> their positions of authority to disparage these interests," says the
> website.
Translation: Silence anyone with potential influence from stating the
obvious takeover of America by ZioNazis. Yawn.
>
> The website also says that it "invites student complaints of abuse,
> investigates their claims, and (when warranted) makes these known."
> Campus Watch used to publish the home addresses of these professors,
> but has since stopped the practice.
>
> Campus Watch's David Horowitz authored the controversial publication
> The Professors. The 101 most dangerous Academics in America, which was
> denounced by some American civil liberties groups. The American
> Association of University Professors wrote: "Contrary to defending
> academic freedom, the project is inimical to it and, indeed, to the
> very idea of liberal education."
>
> Neither Campus Watch, the Anti-Defamation League nor Alan Dershowitz
> would agree to be interviewed. Finkelstein says that he cannot speak
> to the media at this time.
>
> However, Marc Stern, assistant executive director of the American
> Jewish Congress (AJC) addressed the issue of the Israel Lobby's
> involvement in the Finkelstein affair head on.
>
> "Although I have great concern over Mr. Finkelstein's works, I know of
> no broader campaign to have him denied tenure," he says.
>
> Mr. Stern said that he strongly disagrees with Finkelstein's position
> on Israel,
Oh now, there's a surprise.
flores...@hotmail.com
> "Cazador" <coaster132...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1180584535.4...@q66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>
> Could be piss poor parenting?
What do you know about parents you numb nuts dumbass?
Your parents were dumpster divers, Doodoo.
> Was Watsons family anti-Semites as well?
You don't know the meaning of the term, shit-for-brains.
hille...@yahoo.com
> > Instead of reading about history you just make
> > new history from scratch.
On Jun 1, 11:21 am, Cazador <coaster132...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The new historiography of Israel is there for all of us.
Some take them seriously, some ask "what new primary
sources do you have?" Arguing about what was in Ben-Gurion's
mind, with a new "historian" that can't even get Ben-
Gurion's job description right, is a waste of time.
> for you to learn something about Ben-Gurion's
> realism and pragmatism.
I learned about that from those who remember his
visits in the Valley, including Paula shopping list,
the talks with Ethan and the car. Your new
"historians" could interview those who are still
around and remember 1948 and get some clues.
They did not.
> I just posted a few paragraphs from
> Shlaim to help you out.
Who needs his spin?
Give me the data.
Give me the documents.
Give citations from primary sources.
That's how real history is written.
Also, for real history of a conflict you have to
follow primary sources on *both* sides. The
new "historians" refuse to do so because the
Arab primary sources just prove the
main-stream Israeli historians claims.
dsha...@gmail.com
> > > I run this board.
>hillelg...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > You do not read books.
> > Instead of reading about history you just make
> > new history from scratch.
Not even that; Caz the Spaz just pastes whatever strikes his fuzzy
little brain as grossly antisemitic. He's too stupid to make up much.
Cazador <coaster132...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> One doesn't have to do that even if inclined to dishonesty as are you
> and Deborah/Elizabeth Buckwalter.
"Inclined to dishonesty", here, means "posting facts Hunter Watson
would give his left nut to understand." If he had a left nut. He
hasn't even got a right one.
And his posting the stupid Jew hater's "Deborah/Elizabeth
Buckwalter"is on a par with posting "Hunter Watson of Laurium, Michgan
= pedophile and registered sex offender."
>The new historiography of Israel is there for all of us. I think it would
>be a good idea, for example, for you to learn something about Ben-Gurion's
> realism and pragmatism.
It would be better if Hunter Watson of Laurium, MI got his head out of
his ass and opened a few history books instead.
>I just posted a few paragraphs from Shlaim to help you out.
Which he found on the net, of course.
>BTW, Deborah/ Elizabeth Buckwalter has the Pappe book now.
According to whom?
>She's keeping quiet about it. Not hard to predict, eh?
As easy as predicting that soon after nightfall, Hunter Watson will be
jerking off to his favorite internet kiddy porn sites.
Deborah
Ed
> On May 31, 4:20 pm, "Ed"
>
>
>
>
>
> <deathtoterroristsandtheirsupport...@usaforever.com> wrote:
> > "DoD" <navyd...@excite.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:135sms8...@corp.supernews.com...
>
> > > "Cazador" <coaster132...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> > >news:1180584535.4...@q66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>
> > > Could be piss poor parenting?
>
> > > Was Watsons family anti-Semites as well?
>
> > It's because something is sorely lacking in Watson's life, to such a great
> > extent that he feels he needs to lash out at SOMEONE or SOMETHING, and since
> > he is incapable of self-evaluation or introspection of any sort, he blames
> > all his failures on Jews.
>
> > It's the modus operandi for ALL bigots.
>
> I run this board.
The only thing about you that runs is your nose. Better get your
mommy to wipe it.
You people think of nothing but me.
Correction: We people think you're nothing.
I generate all
> the ideas.
All the flushable ones, yes.
You're being kicked around every day and I do it without
> sinking to your level.
Looks like Caz has hit the sauce again.
- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -