Howler of the Month (archive)

"The flaw in the west's case [for Iran to abandon its nuclear program] is that it is hypocritical as long as the Israelis have some 400 nuclear warheads. Asking Iran to surrender even a virtual nuclear capacity when its rival has a real one makes for difficult strategic calculations. . . . Iran doesn't even have the nukes to give up, and probably cannot have them for a good ten years even if they decided they wanted them, which Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei emphatically says they do not."

Juan Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan, in "China Hopeful Iran Will Compromise with the UNSC"; Informed Comment, April 14, 2012. (link to source)

We Couldn't Have Said it Better (archive)

"Middle Eastern studies in this country is dominated by the Saidians. The situation is very bad. Saidianism has become an orthodoxy that is enforced with a rigor unknown in the Western world since the Middle Ages. If you buck the Saidian orthodoxy, you're making life very difficult for yourself."

Bernard Lewis, Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, lamenting the influence of the disciples of the late Edward Said, in an interview with the Chronicle of Higher Education, April 22, 2012. (link to source)

CAMPUS WATCH, a project of the Middle East Forum, reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students. Campus Watch fully respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on its own freedom to comment on their words and deeds.

The Latest on Campus

BBC Promotes Anti-Semitic 'Jewish Power' Libel [on Norman Finkelstein]
May 15, 2012 - Arutz Sheva

U.S. Academic Controversy Could Shed Light on Future of Anti-Semitism Studies
May 14, 2012 - Haaretz

Teacher, Students Would Like to See Broader Arabic Studies at Missouri University
May 14, 2012 - The Columbia Missourian

One State or Two? UCLA Student Group to Host a Two-Night Conversation [incl. James Gelvin]
May 14, 2012 - The Jewish Journal

FAME Charter School Faces Uncertain Future
May 13, 2012 - The San Jose Mercury News

Two William & Mary Undergrads Get State Department Scholarships
May 12, 2012 - The Virginia Gazette .

Texans Turn out to Support Berkeley's Zaytuna College [incl. Hatem Bazian]
May 11, 2012 - Patch.com (Berkeley Patch)

American Universities, Panhandling for Petrodollars
May 11, 2012 - The Corner (Blog of National Review Online)

Seminary Honors Professor Ingrid Mattson
May 10, 2012 - News of Hartford Seminary

So When Will We See Obama's College Transcripts? Or The Rashid Khalidi Tape?
May 10, 2012 - The American Spectator

Blog

MEF Special Report: Members of the 'Irvine 11' Speak at UCI's 'Palestine Liberation Week'

By Winfield Myers | Sat, 12 May 2012, 3:53 PM | Permalink

[Ed. note: the following report was submitted by Irvine resident and MEF correspondent Gary Fouse.]

On Thursday evening, the Muslim Student Union at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) wrapped up their week long anti-Israel extravaganza, "Palestine Liberation Week," with a panel featuring four former UCI students who were part of the so-called "Irvine 11." These and others repeatedly disrupted a speech by Israeli ambassador to America Michael Oren in 2010, for which they were convicted last year.

The four took turns describing their memories of the event, their arrest, and subsequent prosecution. Contrary to the claims of their supporters, these four young men have hardly been victims. They have continued with their studies at other institutions and enjoyed a celebrity status among their fellow activists. Case in point: Osama Shabaik, one of the "11" who spoke Thursday evening, is now a law student at Harvard and implied that his record was a plus in his acceptance.

All four are intelligent and articulate. Each spoke in a self-congratulatory manner, expressing no remorse for his actions and saying he would do it again. They claimed that shouting down an invited speaker was a legitimate form of protest, perfectly acceptable on an American college campus, and something that should not be criminalized. The audience of about fifty, mostly MSU members, applauded them as were heroes.

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MEF Special Report: Hatem Bazian at UCI's 'Palestine Liberation Week'

By Winfield Myers | Fri, 11 May 2012, 9:07 PM | Permalink

[Ed. note: the following report was submitted by Irvine resident and MEF correspondent Gary Fouse.]

Hatem Bazian

On May 9, Hatem Bazian, a senior lecturer in Near Eastern and ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley and anti-Israel activist, brought his power point presentation back to UCI. If you read my posting about Omar Shakir's presentation earlier in the week, you know what Bazian's presentation was all about: yet another recitation of Israel's "oppression" of the Palestinians. Bazian stood at the podium with his laptop and the slides appeared on the screen with all the stats. It was all there: the number of Palestinians killed by the Israelis; the number of arrests; the check points; the settlements; the wall.

Of course, no data was given on the number of suicide attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, which have been drastically reduced in recent years by the wall that Bazian and other anti-Israel activists demonize. Similarly, he mentioned neither the massacre of the Fogel family in the settlement of Itimar in 2011, nor the number of rockets lobbed into southern Israel from Gaza.

Predictably, Bazian (as is his wont) took a couple of slaps at Congress and George W Bush. (Bazian doesn't like Republicans).

During the Q & A, I asked him if he presented his students with similar information in the classroom. Bazian replied that when he was giving the Palestinian narrative, he gives the Palestinian narrative. When he gives the Israeli narrative, he invites the Israeli consul to deliver it. I told him that, if this is how he teaches, his students receive a one-sided view.

The last "question" was from local activist Shaheel Syed, who apparently arrived with Bazian and asked him to comment on the amount of American aid given to the "Zionist Apartheid state of Israel." Bazian obviously knew the question was coming because he had his answer prepared in the form of a six-point response.

Hatem Bazian is a propagandist who takes his personal politics onto the UC Berkeley classrooms. He and his supporters cannot abide that America supports Israel.

MEF Special Report: Amir Abdel Malik Ali Speaks at UCI's 'Palestine Liberation Week'

By Winfield Myers | Wed, 9 May 2012, 7:05 PM | Permalink

Amir Abdel Malik Ali

[Ed. note: the following report was submitted by Irvine resident and MEF corresondent Gary Fouse.]

On Tuesday, May 8, Amir Abdel Malik Ali returned to the UC Irvine campus, courtesy of the Muslim Student Association, to spew his message of hate. On his previous visit in 2010, he acknowledged that he was a supporter of Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. He then closed by telling the Jewish audience members, "You Jews. Y'all the new Nazis!"

This day, Ali delivered a rambling, invective-filled speech. Although Ali is a dynamic and fiery speaker, his lectures are unstructured, with no introduction, body, or conclusion. He also accepts countless conspiracy theories.

Today, he tried to cover all the world's ills in forty minutes. Early on he referred to University of California president Mark Yudof as a "Zionist Jew," as he railed against Yudof for a recent letter he made public on a series of racially and religiously tainted incidents on UC campuses. Yudof"s sin was that he didn't mention any Islamophobic incidents. (Here's a secret; there weren't any.)

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MEF Special Report: Day One of the University of California, Irvine's, "Palestine Liberation Week"

By Winfield Myers | Tue, 8 May 2012, 7:22 PM | Permalink

UCI "Palestine Liberation Week" Wall

[Ed. note: the following report was submitted by Irvine resident and MEF correspondent Gary Fouse.]

On March 7, the UC Irvine Muslim Student Union kicked off its week-long "Palestine Liberation Week." The first speaker was British freelance journalist Ben White, author of two books condemning Israel for its "maltreatment " of Palestinians (both received rave reviews from Iran's Press TV).

A small crowd of about fifty people were on hand. Even White's supporters in the audience looked bored. He spoke again Monday evening--double punishment for the MSU members who feel obligated to come out and support the event.

White delivered an off-the-shelf speech about the "injustices" Israel commits against the Palestinians. He complained of the controls on the movement of Palestinians but did not, of course, dwell on the possible reasons for such restrictions: Palestinian terrorism, suicide bombers, rockets lobbed into Southern Israel from Gaza. Rather, he attacked Israel's control of goods allowed into Gaza and complained of the "illegal settlements" in the West Bank, but never mentioned the murders of Israeli settlers by Palestinians, including the slaughter of the Fogel family in 2011.

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