THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 52, February 24, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
NYU HOSTING THE LATEST "ACADEMIC FREEDOM" CONFERENCE
By Cinnamon Stillwell
THE CURRENT SORRY STATE OF DISCOURSE IN THE CORRIDORS OF ACADEMIA: WEEPING & WAILING OVER THE
FIRING OF PRO-ISLAMIST ACADEMICS -- ALLEGATIONS OF "ACADEMIC FREEDOM VIOLATIONS" AGAINST UNIVERSITIES
THAT DENY TENURE TO & TERMINATE THE EMPLOYMENT OF POLITICALLY BIASED, EXTREMIST PROFESSORS WHO
DISSEMINATE PROPAGANDA JUSTIFYING TERRORISM & DEFENDING AMERICA'S ISLAMIST ENEMIES -- "ACADEMIC
FREEDOM" CONFERENCES SEEKING TO GENERATE PUBLIC SYMPATHY FOR PROFESSORS WHO LOST THEIR POSITIONS AS A
RESULT OF THEIR OWN UNPROFESSIONAL & CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR -- IGNORING THE REAL THREAT TO ACADEMIC FREEDOM:
ATTEMPTS TO SILENCE & PENALIZE LOYAL AMERICAN ACADEMICS WHO RESIST THE PREVAILING LEFT-LEANING,
ANTI-WESTERN POLITICAL ORTHODOXY ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES
FULL STORY:
The proliferation of dubious conferences on "academic freedom" continues unabated. And, in each case, biased and
politicized Middle East Studies academics are a major component.
In October, 2007, the University of Chicago hosted, "In Defense of Academic Freedom," an event whose unifying theme
was "the notion that Jewish groups have degraded the quality and breadth of discussion in the media and in
Washington." Hardly the stuff of self-described progressives, but such is the state of discourse in the corridors of
academia today.
Then there was the "DePaul Academic Freedom Conference" earlier this month. It featured the usual suspects, all
alleging "academic freedom violations" against DePaul University because "Professors Mehrene Larudee and Norman
Finkelstein were denied tenure." Apparently, the granting of tenure is now a God-given right and any infringements
thereupon are considered grounds for martyrdom.
Next up, on February 23, 2008, the College of Arts and Science (CAS) Student Council of New York University will host
the "First National Teach-In on Freedoms at Risk in America." This time around, the gathering of the persecuted will
include, as described at the CAS website, "our nation's foremost academics and intellectuals, and students and faculty
from both within and outside of the NYU campus."
Among this supposedly stellar cast of characters is the aforesaid Norman Finkelstein, who was last seen on Lebanese
television expressing "solidarity" with the terrorist group Hezbollah, calling for the "defeat" of Israel, and encouraging
"military resistance" to America. Finkelstein fancies himself a sacrificial lamb to the cause of academic freedom, not only
for being denied tenure, but for losing his job at DePaul. Finkelstein's long record of extremist statements, unprofessional
behavior, and outright lunacy was more likely the real reason DePaul chose to part ways. But that hasn't stopped the
socalled academic freedom movement from transforming Finkelstein into its poster-child.
Speaking of unsavory heroes, radical Leftist attorney Lynne Stewart will also be addressing the NYC teach-in. Stewart,
you'll recall, was convicted in 2005 of conspiracy and providing and concealing material support of terrorism for sneaking
messages from her imprisoned client Omar Abdel-Rahman to members of the terrorist group Gama'a al-Islamiyya. The
teach-in announcement conveniently omits these details, describing Stewart simply as a lawyer who represents
"unpopular clients" and, of course, a victim of "recent political oppression." Apparently, those who plot the mass murder
of civilians are merely "unpopular" in the rhetoric of aggrieved academia, and legal consequences for aiding and abetting
terrorists is known as "political oppression." That Middle East Studies academics would align themselves (and not for the
first time) with someone like Stewart indicates just how low the bar has been set.
NYU Middle Eastern Studies and History Professor, Zachary Lockman, is another speaker at the teach-in. Lockman is the
President of the highly politicized Middle East Studies Association (MESA), an organization devoted, in large part, to
decrying the attention paid to the field by external critics in the wake of September 11, 2001. Such whining was a mainstay
at the 2007 MESA Annual Meeting in Montreal where, as noted by Campus Watch, Lockman and his cohorts played the
victim card to the hilt. Similarly, Lockman was quoted in a 2007 Nation article on "The New McCarthyism" as
follows:
"There certainly is a sense among faculty and grad students
that they're being watched, monitored. People are always
looking over their shoulder, feeling that whatever they say --
in accurate or, more likely, distorted form -- can end up on a
website. It definitely has a chilling effect."
If the ability of students, as well those outside academia, to observe, cite, and, if warranted, critique professors on a
professional basis has a "chilling effect," then Lockman and company had better develop thicker skins. In the age of new
media, no one is free from scrutiny, nor, above all, accountability.
The truth of the matter is that the only threat to academic freedom in the realm of Middle East Studies extends to those
that buck the prevailing Left-leaning, anti-Western orthodoxy. The case of Georgia Perimeter College History Professor
Tim Furnish, who, writing for Campus Watch, described being turned down for a job because he was seen as "more
Conservative than others in [his] field," as well as for sounding "like Daniel Pipes," comes to mind.
Meanwhile, the keepers of the post-colonialist flame remain firmly ensconced in their Ivory Towers. That they continue to
hold conferences alleging their persecution, circulating alarmist petitions, and railing against perceived "censorship" in a
variety of publications is a testament to the true situation at hand.
Nevertheless, expect to break out the violins this weekend.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Education & America's Schools
Political Correctness, Censorship, Thought Control:
Supression of Unacceptable Views & Opinions
The Fifth Column -- America's Internal Enemies:
Disloyalty, Subversion, Sedition, & Treason
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Cinnamon Stillwell is the Northern California Representative for Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum. She
can be reached at stillwell@meforum.org.
The foregoing article by Cinnamon Stillwell was originally published in Front Page Magazine, February 22, 2008, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/1858 )
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
February 24, 2008
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity