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In the interest of airing both sides of this matter, Campus Watch has agreed to post both letters. Robert Lieber's letter is immediately below; Romirowsky's letter appears at bottom. Asaf Romirowsky's article points to a real problem which is part of a wider pattern of anti-Israel bias in Middle East studies departments, but he has used too broad a brush in naming universities. In doing so he fosters a misleading impression that Georgetown University is one of those institutions that hires Israeli or Jewish scholars in order to appear balanced but that instead is simply adding to the ranks of virulent critics and polemicists. If Mr. Romirowsky had done his homework, he would not have included Georgetown in this list. In fact, our Program for Jewish Civilization, created five years ago within the School of Foreign Service, as well as – for the past three decades – the Department of Government, have hosted an impressive array of Israeli scholars and others with distinguished records of scholarship and teaching about Israel, not one of whom can be characterized as biased against Israel. The names speak for themselves. The PJC's roster now includes the eminent Israeli historian Michael Oren, diplomat and author Dennis Ross, Professor Yossi Shain, Dr. Avi Beker (former executive director of the World Jewish Congress and Goldman Professor 2007-09), and our Director, Professor Jacques Berlinerblau. Few, if any, American academic institutions can offer anything like this concentration of scholarly and experiential based knowledge concerning the relationship between U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East and the State of Israel. In addition, the Government Department is home to the endowed Goldman Visiting Israeli Professorship. Among the outstanding scholars and teachers who have held this position over the past 28 years are such figures as Aharon Klieman, Eytan Gilboa, Moshe Ma'oz, Avner Yaniv, Dan Horowitz, Haggai Erlich, Amnon Sella, Yaacov Roi, Ehud Sprinzak, Efraim Inbar, Raymond Cohen, Martin Kramer, Avi Ben-Zvi, Rivka Yadlin, Yossi Kostiner, Amatzia Baram, Arie Kacowicz, Azar Gat, and Yossi Nevo. Previous inquiries, for example Martin Kramer's IVORY TOWERS ON SAND, have delineated problems in Arab and Middle East Studies at Georgetown, but to carelessly assume that these characterize the Israeli scholars here is inexcusable. We urge Mr. Romirowsky and the readers of Campus Watch to get to know the Program for Jewish Civilization. They will be hearing a great deal about it in the coming years. In the meantime, your readers and these scholars deserve a correction and an apology. Asaf Romirowsky's reply of August 6: Dear Professor Lieber, Thank you for your note and comments relating to my recent piece in the Washington Times, "In Academia, hiring Token Jews" at http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/5433. I am very much aware of your commendable efforts in bringing to Georgetown such pro-Israel Middle East Scholars as Michael Oren and Avi Beker, both of whom who I know and admire on a personal and professional level. That said, nowhere in my piece do I accuse Georgetown of hiring Israeli scholars for cynical political gain. I only mention Georgetown in the last paragraph as an example to illustrate a larger trend in Middle East Studies: In Middle East studies, politicized writing and teaching have displaced scholarship, and academic freedom has been redefined as the liberty to dispense with academic standards. Hence, Middle East departments at Columbia, University of Michigan, Georgetown, and elsewhere are populated or even run by individuals like Rashid Khalidi, Juan Cole, and John Esposito. Hiring token Israeli Jews who share their views eliminates debate while providing the illusion of balance. This simply states that Georgetown, like Columbia and Michigan, has a Middle East Studies department that is "populated or even run by" the men listed, including Esposito. My point is clearly to illustrate that Middle East Studies in North America is a highly politicized, tendentious field. Furthermore, although the steps taken by you and others in the Program for Jewish Civilization are certainly praiseworthy, the subject of my article is Middle East studies and not PJC. And Georgetown's Middle East studies program does indeed have serious problems: the amount of Saudi money that has gone to fund the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Service has given Esposito, John Voll, and others effective megaphones from which to broadcast their apologias for Islamism and the Saudis. Moreover, the highly politicized scholarship of the individuals associated with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at http://views.georgetown.edu/?ViewID=623&CFID=4903721&CFTOKEN=16556710 (which I didn't mention) only strengthens my argument. My article by no means diminishes what you have already accomplished; I hope you will be able to do much more. I would be more than happy to discuss the above in greater detail and even meet face-to-face when I am next in Washington. Sincerely, Asaf Romirowsky By Winfield Myers \| Fri, 8 Aug 2008 at 4:56 PM \| Permalink ‘Popular Palestinian Conference' Peddles Propaganda My latest Campus Watch column - posted today at Frontpage Magazine - makes some predictions about a conference taking place this weekend featuring several Middle East studies academics. Among them are UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian, Wayne State University anthropologist Thomas Abowd, and associate director of the Middle East studies program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Jennifer Loewenstein. As usual, a skewed and inaccurate take on the Arab-Israeli conflict looks likely to come with the territory: This weekend, the "Popular Palestinian Conference 2008" will be held in Chicago, and if past is prologue, a slew of anti-Israel propaganda will be part of the repertoire. The organizers make no effort to conceal their nefarious intentions, titling one of the workshops [emphasis added], "Inserting Palestine into High School Curricula in the US & Empowering Students to Challenge Dominant Narratives" and subtitling the conference, "Palestinians in the US: Reclaiming Our Voice, Asserting Our Narrative." Unfortunately, this "narrative" is a false one in which Israel is the oppressor, the Palestinians its perpetual victims, and the United States an accomplice in crime. Various Middle East studies academics will be on hand to help propagate this fictitious narrative.... Continue reading "'Popular Palestinian Conference' Peddles Propaganda" By Cinnamon Stillwell \| Fri, 8 Aug 2008 at 12:14 PM \| Permalink In Academia, Hiring Token Jews In today's Washington Times, Campus Watch adjunct scholar Asaf Romirowsky exams the practice of some Middle East studies departments of hiring Israeli scholars who are anti-Israel in a cynical attempt to dodge charges that they are...anti-Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict long ago spilled over into America's departments of Middle East studies. In an attempt to appear balanced in the face of charges of anti-Israel biases, some departments or programs of Middle East studies have added Israeli scholars to their ranks—a move that at first glance appears welcome. Yet many of these Israeli academics have built their reputation on scholarship that is harshly critical not only of Israeli policy, but of Israel's very existence. Anti-Israel scholars who hail from Israel are cited favorably by the entire range of Israel's critics, from pro-Palestinian groups like PSM, the Committee to Stop Demolition of Houses in Palestine, the Committee to Stop Torture, and Breaking the Silence to Jewish anti-Zionist groups like the American Council for Judaism, from neo-Nazis to Islamists. To read the rest, please click here. By Winfield Myers \| Mon, 4 Aug 2008 at 8:13 AM \| Permalink Campus Watch Seeks Part-time Researcher Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum that critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them, seeks a part-time researcher to telecommute. The researcher's principal duty will be to monitor online news and information sources by visiting web sites and using news alerts. The goal is to locate articles, op-eds, essays, and other materials concerning the academic field of Middle East studies in the United States and Canada (as opposed to materials dealing with the Middle East itself). Salary negotiable. The position requires: · Availability of 20 hours per week, · An interest in the academic field of Middle East studies, · Familiarity with the issues, · A commitment to the mission of Campus Watch, and · High-speed Internet access. Interested parties should send a cover letter and resume to Ms Thelma Prosser at personnel@meforum.org by Friday, August 8. By Winfield Myers \| Tue, 29 Jul 2008 at 3:40 PM \| Permalink PARC's Anti-Israel Polemics, or Your Tax Dollars at Work Campus Watch adjunct scholar Jonathan Schanzer, writing at National Review Online, exposes the use of taxpayer dollars to support polemical "Palestinian studies" in "PARC's Anti-Israel Polemics." PARC is the Palestinian American Research Center. For more than a decade, the allocation of hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. funded doctoral and post-doctoral grants on Palestinian issues has been decided by a group of Middle Eastern-studies professors that includes some of the most polarizing and radical figures in the field. The Bethesda, Maryland–based Palestinian American Research Center (PARC), a registered nonprofit, receives controversial Title VI funding from the U.S. State Department and Department of Education for "Palestinian studies." Yet, the organization perpetuates the failures of Middle Eastern studies in America — namely, the admixture of polemics and academia. The list of PARC members includes Stanford's Joel Beinin, who denounces American "imperialism" on al-Jazeera television; Columbia's Rashid Khalidi, reportedly a former Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) spokesman; NYU's Zachary Lockman, supporter of a proposed academic boycott of Israel; Penn's Ian Lustick, who blames the U.S. for the war on terror, rather than those who carry out violence in the name of Islam; and Boston University's Augustus Norton, an apologist for the Lebanese terrorist organization, Hezbollah. To read the rest, please click here. By Winfield Myers \| Fri, 11 Jul 2008 at 10:46 AM \| Permalink Juan Cole's Jihad Against Israel The reaction to last week's horrendous bulldozer terrorist attack in Jerusalem has been telling. When emanating from those who refuse to see Israelis as victims, hollow condemnations have been the order of the day. Furthermore, many of these condemnations have been accompanied by barely stifled sympathy for the Palestinian perpetrator. And as usual, Israel has been made out to be the culprit. Much of the mainstream media coverage has gone in that direction and so too has at least one Middle East studies professor, the University of Michigan's Juan Cole. In my latest Campus Watch article, which is posted today at Frontpage Magazine, I examine Cole's tortured, and often fact-challenged, logic: One can always count on University of Michigan history professor Juan Cole to excuse violence and hatred directed at Israel. At his blog, Informed Comment (which, judging by the references to the mythical Jenin "massacre" and the USS Liberty canard in the comments section, is read avidly by anti-Israel conspiracy theorists), Cole takes pains to explain away last week's horrific bulldozer attack in Jerusalem. Cole apparently sees no contradiction between his perfunctory admission that "Violence against innocent civilians is always condemnable and deplored by IC," and his claim to add "context" to the attack by trying to justify the alleged motivations of the perpetrator, Palestinian construction worker Husam Taysir Dwayat. Continue reading "Juan Cole's Jihad Against Israel" By Cinnamon Stillwell \| Wed, 9 Jul 2008 at 1:01 PM \| Permalink Campus Watch Interviews ASMEA In light of Campus Watch's efforts to bring objective scholarship and intellectual diversity back to the field of Middle East studies, the emergence of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) is cause for optimism. I interviewed ASMEA public affairs director Patrick Creamer to find out more about the organization's founding, its inaugural conference in April, 2008, and its future. The interview is posted today at Frontpage Magazine and it begins like so: While the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) has long dominated the field, its highly politicized leadership's inability to withstand criticism, inattention to radical Islam, and apologetic approach towards the West's foes has left many Middle East studies scholars feeling unwelcome by their umbrella professional organization. Enter the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA). Founded last year by Professors Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami, ASMEA offers an alternative to MESA's post-colonialist biases and a venue for studying those elements of Islam and the Middle East that MESA's leaders ignore or downplay. To read the entire interview, click here. By Cinnamon Stillwell \| Wed, 2 Jul 2008 at 12:14 PM \| Permalink Photos from the "How Free is the University?" Conference Democracy Broadcasting News offers up a brief report and a number of photos from the "How Free is the University?" conference that took place in Los Angeles last weekend. Photos of the Middle East studies panel that included Middle East Forum director Daniel Pipes and myself (speaking on behalf of Campus Watch) can be seen by clicking here, here, and here. For an earlier post on the subject, click here. By Cinnamon Stillwell \| Sat, 21 Jun 2008 at 10:09 PM \| Permalink KVIE Segment Features Campus Watch, Prof. Al-Qazzaz KVIE, a Sacramento public television affiliate, aired a segment last month as part of its ViewFinder series titled, "Songs of Hope." The title refers to a Sacramento Philharmonic performance of the same name that featured three musicians of Egyptian/Muslim, Arab-Israeli/Christian, and Israeli/Jewish persuasion, respectively. In the process, the show's producers sought to answer the question: "How does someone outside the Muslim faith get an accurate glimpse of Islamic faith when those leading the effort to educate (Middle East studies professors and the lobbying group, CAIR, Council on American Islamic Relations), have come under constant criticism?" In a laudable effort to include a variety of viewpoints, "Songs of Hope" features interviews with CAIR-Sacramento executive director Basim Elkarra, founder of CAIR Watch and Chairman of Americans Against Hate, Joe Kaufman, California State University, Sacramento sociology professor Ayad Al-Qazzaz, and me (Campus Watch Northern California Representative Cinnamon Stillwell). Professor Al-Qazzaz, it may be remembered, was the subject of a Campus Watch article about his role in approving the biased and controversial textbook, History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond, for use in California public schools. Although the segment it not available in its entirety at the KVIE website, the transcript has been posted at Campus Watch and several unedited videos, including my own, can be viewed here. By Cinnamon Stillwell \| Sat, 21 Jun 2008 at 4:37 PM \| Permalink Campus Watch Update: Setting the Record Straight In December 2007, we alerted readers to a new website feature: Setting the Record Straight. It was set up to correct the numerous smears and false allegations directed at Campus Watch. Since that initial announcement, the following entries (appearing in chronological order and with original titles) have been added: Neo-Con Conference Pushes for War on Iran Globalresearch.ca June 1, 2008 Anti-Racist Blog Shuts Itself Down Paul Abowd's Blog May 30, 2008 One State for Palestinians and Jews in Palestine Washington Report on Middle East Affairs May/June, 2008 Campus Watch, SPME vs. Alterman The Nation May 14, 2008 Israel's 60th Anniversary: Why are Some People Partying Like it's 1948? The American Muslim May 11, 2008 Bigotry and Academic Freedom Gulf News May 9, 2008 Motzira-Making on the Right The Nation May 5, 2008 Truth or Neo-Consequences Middle East Online May 1, 2008 Islam in the Age of Extremism Global Politician April 8, 2008 Acting in Ignorance The Guardian (U.K.) March 27, 2008 Planting Conservatism on Campuses Forward America Weblog March 4, 2008 Campus Watch–the New McCarthyism Denounces Academic Freedom Conferences on Campuses Such as N.Y.U. Peter N. Kirstein's Weblog February 23, 2008 Israel's New Settlements: US schools are becoming a major focal point for the Zionist movement Al-Ahram Weekly (Cairo) February 21--27, 2008 Overcoming Zionism Washington Report on Middle East Affairs January-February, 2008 Klein Avoids the C-Word Again, Ignores Other Side of Story ConWebBlog January 22, 2008 McCarthyism Comes to Europe and the Levant: The Zionist Targeting of Dr. Ibrahim Mousawi Atlantic Free Press January 20, 2008 Declaring Forever War The American Conservative January 14, 2008 Vote for Change? Atrocity-Linked U.S. Officials Advising Democratic, GOP Presidential Frontrunners [interview] Democracy Now! January 3, 2008 Calls by U.S. Right Wingers to Boycott Sari Nusseibeh Should Be Treated with Contempt Engage December 28, 2007 Speech Impediment Newsweek October 1, 2007 To read previous entries, click here By Cinnamon Stillwell \| Fri, 13 Jun 2008 at 6:24 PM \| Permalink *Campus Watch Blog Archive*
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