Several weeks ago, I wrote about the U.S. Patriot Act, an organization called Campus Watch, and their impact on higher education. I am now in the position of reporting to you the perfect case in point, a situation currently taking place in Manhattan, at New York’s only Ivy League college – Columbia University – home of the late Edward Said, home of multitudinous protests and sit ins during the Vietnam War, and the university that prides itself on its anti-apartheid protests during the 1980s calling for divestiture of U.S. investments in South Africa.
In the hot seat
Joseph Massad, professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University, along with colleagues George Saliba, professor of Arab and Islamic Scienc;, Hamid Dabashi, chairman of the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures; Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Chair of Arab Studies; and Gil Anidjar, professor of Comparative Literature have been subjected to an ongoing “witch-hunt” of Arab and Jewish professors at Columbia University who are critical of Israel.
In a personal statement, Massad explained, “This witch-hunt aims to stifle pluralism, academic freedom, and the freedom of expression on university campuses in order to ensure that only one opinion is permitted, that of uncritical support for the State of Israel. Therefore, it is not anti-Semitism that offends pro-Israel groups; what offends them is anti-Israel criticism.”
Columbia Unbecoming
The current media circus surrounding Columbia University was triggered by a highly controversial video featuring a few students from Columbia University with grievances against the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures department (MEALAC). “Columbia Unbecoming” was financed by The David Project, a post-9/11 group based in Boston created to minimize the increasing criticism against Israel’s policies; the organization has made Zionist Jews and Israelis, especially in the United States, feel threatened. Just last week, an Israeli student who is currently in Professor Massad’s class, openly told me that The David Project is “an extremely paranoid and aggressive group.”
In the video, students accuse MEALAC and Joseph Massad, specifically, of being intolerant, intimidating and, you guessed it, “anti-Semitic.” According to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), while citing concern over the “disturbing and offensive nature of incidents described in the film,” Columbia University President Lee Bollinger has already announced plans to investigate accusations of anti-Semitism and intimidation at the university.
ADC has long expressed serious concerns about efforts to stifle free speech on U.S. campuses by labeling any criticism of Israel as “anti-Semitism.” These latest efforts by The David Project must be seen within the context of the organized national campaign to intimidate and silence supporters of Palestinian human rights. Leading the charge against any academic criticism of Israel is Daniel Pipes of the “Campus Watch” project.
Regarding the current allegations and the film itself, Professor Massad said, “I have intimidated no one. Not only have the students [who have never taken his class, with one exception] not used a single university venue to articulate their alleged grievances, they are now sponsored by a private political organization with huge funds that produced and funded a film about them, screened it to the major U.S. media and to the top brass of the Columbia administration. [T]he film was screened in Israel to a government minister and to participants at a conference on anti-Semitism. The film has still not been released to the public here and is used as a sort of secret evidence in a military trial. The film has also been used to trump up a national campaign with the aid of a New York Congressman [Representative Anthony Weiner] to get me fired.”
All this power of intimidation is being exercised not by a professor against students, but by political organizations who use students against a junior, non-tenured faculty member. According to the New York Sun, Columbia University has obtained the services of First Amendment lawyer, Floyd Abrams “to advise a special faculty committee that will look into charges of professors accused of intimidating Jewish and Israeli students.” Columbia’s decision follows an ultimatum last month from City Councilman Michael Nelson, who said he would call for an independent investigation if Columbia’s own internal investigation led by Provost Brinkley fails to turn up any wrongdoing.
The students
Last week, I attended an event at Columbia University entitled, “Censoring Campuses: Academic Freedom and Partisan Politics,” in which several professors from differing backgrounds presented and defended the right of all professors to academic freedom. At this event, I had the opportunity to meet several students, most of whom were against the current situation at Columbia University. The majority of these students were Jewish, Israeli or Palestinian – many were students who have taken classes with Massad and the other professors who are currently in the hot seat.
Eric Posner, a second-year MEALAC major and a former Israeli army medic enthusiastically greeted me. Posner, a staunch supporter of Professor Massad, impressively took it upon himself to forward dozens of testimonies from various students to Columbia University President Bollinger and Provost Brinkley in support of Professor Massad and the MEALAC department. Posner’s efforts are just one more to add to massive campaign efforts being carried out by different groups, including students, professors and the ADC. Upon review of these student testimonies, I found that most of Massad’s and MEALAC’s supporters were either Jewish or Israeli students who in some cases, admitted to having extremely conservative political views – yet, this is what some of them had to say:
On Professor Massad’s class – “Palestinian-Israeli Politics &Society”
“Several individuals who audited this class regularly attempted to disturb the progress of the class. During these disturbances, the auditors often attempted to dominate the class discussion with personal statements unrelated or extremely loosely related to the course material. They were regularly unprepared for the classroom discussion, not having completed the required reading, and for the most part were largely ignorant of the class’ subject matter. It was fairly obvious that these individuals had registered for the course for the sole purpose of disrupting the progress of the class. To my amazement, [Massad] allowed each and every student in the class an opportunity to speak, regardless of their familiarity with the class subject matter and required course material.” John Taplett
“I am Jewish. I am not a Zionist. Joseph Massad is a man who understands the distinction and does not attempt to conflate the two around a vague connection with Israel. Knowing that he is being accused of anti-Semitism is not only a slap in HIS face, it is a slap in the face of every Jew who understands a legacy of oppression and chooses not to become an oppressor.” Maura Finkelstein
“On the question of religion, he was openly critical of all religions including Islam – his anti-Israeli opinions could not reasonably have been construed as anti-Semitic. Similarly, while being critical of Israeli policy, he did not hesitate to offer critical opinions of Yasser Arafat. In general, he maintained a tone of critical scholarly inquiry.” Hitesh Manglani
“As for academic discrimination, I am a Jew who wrote a term paper criticizing Palestinian nationalism for its foundation in support for violence, and despite Massad’s supposed bias, he gave me an A.” Benjamin Wheeler
Regarding the MEALAC department
“As a Jewish Israeli fourth year student who has taken several classes in the MEALAC department, I have never experienced or witnessed intimidation or racism of any sort from university professors.” Leeam Azulay-Yagev
“I am a Jew, an Israeli, a Jerusalemite, and an American. Unlike the interviewees in the film, “Columbia Unbecoming,” I am a MEALAC major. Every week, there is a rush for [Massad’s] office hours; two dozen students fight tooth and nail to get five minutes of his time each. Are all these students so intimidated that they feel obligated to spend extra-curricular time with Massad? As an Israeli, I was approached last year by Ariel Beery who wanted to hear my opinion about MEALAC and Massad, whose class I was enrolled in at the time. When I expressed my profound appreciation for Massad’s critical approach and the multiplicity of perspectives that he offers in his classroom, Beery told me that he wouldn’t be calling me back for a taped interview.” Eric Posner
I asked Eric what motivated him in leading this campaign. He responded by telling me, “I’m scared. These people [pointing to extremists, including Ariel Beery who was sitting behind us] scare me. I don’t want to be labeled. If you’re a Jew, you’re a Zionist. If you’re Israeli, you’re a Zionist. There’s no choice.”
Ariel Beery: Stealth Bomb
Ariel, one of the students featured in the video, is a seemingly thoughtful, well-spoken student who appears both calm and rational. He is not only student body president, but also one of the leaders of Columbia University’s pro-Israel, Zionist student organization, widely portrayed in the media, and is affiliated with the infamous Campus Watch organization. When I interviewed Ariel, this is how he explained his involvement in the recent crisis at Columbia University:
“Through my work as a reporter for the Columbia Spectator, I became the confidant of a number of students and faculty who did not have anywhere else to go. Even Provost Brinkley and President Bollinger admitted that the grievance procedure had failed. We, the students in the documentary, are united around one issue: the right of a student to not be censored or abused by their professor for having different political views or an unpopular national affiliation. I hope to work together with the [university] administration to solve this problem as soon as possible. We realize that a number of students have had positive relationships with their professors, but one incident of abuse is one too many.” Ariel did express to me concern that the ad hoc committee [convened to deal with this controversy] might not be neutral.
The professors
In a recent interview, Toufiq Ben Amor, Egyptian professor of Arabic and Literature, said to me, “If something illegal transpired, then it should have been handled through the appropriate channels. Instead, Columbia University chose to ‘give in’ [to political pressure]. The entire situation has clearly become a politically motivated project.”
At the Columbia event, Khaled Fahmy, Egyptian professor of Middle Eastern Studies at New York University told of how he used to tease his Egyptian colleagues regarding their lack of academic freedom back home; now, he said, he finds he is no longer in the more enviable position. He laments that particularly in this post-9/11 world, what makes U.S. universities the best in the world is their commitment to academic freedom, and that the situation at Columbia clearly threatened that [independence]. According to him, the students in question have not made the distinction between “brave, insightful critique” and “hate speech,” when they claimed that Professor Massad was being anti-Semitic when he said that Zionist Israelis have engaged in the largest ethnic cleansing post WWII.
Gauri Viswanathan, South Asian Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia, explained that the government – through Title VI funding – already carefully monitors “hot-potato” departments enough [Middle Eastern Studies departments being the hottest of them all!], but that the academic community will not be coerced into returning to the Orientalist, pre-Edward Said days. She said, “We have to talk about the modern world,” and urged students to remember that universities are not home. Her advice: “Leave whatever you learned at home at the door and prepare to hear things that you don’t like.”
Bruce Robbins, a Jewish Professor of English and Comparative Literature, who has been heavily criticized by his own community admits to holding unpopular, left-wing opinions, while believing that in order to be accepted as a professional in this field, one must engage in the issue of Israel and accept that ethnic cleansing [of Arabs] is a part of Israel’s history.
Elliott Colla, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at New York University and Brown University pointed out that the real motivation behind groups like The David Project, Campus Watch and the students themselves is to stop all talk about Palestine. In other words, professors are being personally attacked for teaching facts about Israel and Palestine, which are generally accepted by mainstream scholarship.
Brinkley Messick, Professor of Anthropology, asked, “What have universities become? Are we corporations? Are we political organizations? Is our biggest fear hearing those infamous words, ‘You’re fired’? What happened to ‘fair and balanced’?” He pointed out that against legal guidelines, universities have thrown themselves at the feet of powerful individuals, donors and corporate sponsors who have their own agendas and expect that universities will assist them in carrying out these agendas. Regarding the Columbia question, he says, academic freedom has been put on the line for the sake of power and money.
Andrew Nathan, a 33-year veteran Professor of Politics, who took the role of moderator in Hamid Dabashi’s absence and started the evening by saying that the Columbia situation has put a “chill” to academic freedom. He explained that academic freedom is primarily the right of professors to have, write and teach their views on the issues – and that professors are not obligated to teach all sides of an issue. Since it’s humanly impossible to be forced to think outside of the box at all times, professors should also be allowed some flexibility to be human. In other words, not every slip or word that a student disagrees with should be investigated and be the subject of a media circus.
After the panel discussion was over, many students rose and voiced their opinions. A MEALAC major exclaimed rather passionately that, “The students in the video and the groups that support them have tried to convince everyone that Jews, Israelis and Zionists are oppressed and victimized by anti-Semitism. But if you look around in today’s world, it’s not difficult to see who the real victims are – Arabs and Muslims.”
No doubt there have been victims on both sides, with the scale being tipped a bit heavier on the Arab side. However, Professor Toufiq Ben Amor advises that the Arab community should avoid giving in to the stereotype and the hype – of being “angry and Arab.” Although, it’s true that much like African-Americans, Latinos and women, Arabs are increasingly an oppressed people, he believes that when we’re constantly “angry” and wait until something happens to voice our anger, we lose credibility. He encourages the Arab community to instead, educate and share with others about our truth and our diversity, to express our opinions on a continual basis and stop reacting.
Fortunately, for those of us in academia, universities are still places of open dialogue and debate. Just as Eric Posner does not want to be labeled a Zionist because he’s Israeli, Arabs do not want to be labeled anti-Semitic because they have opinions. When conflicts do arise, students with concerns should address their grievances through the multitude of channels available, rather than run to the Daily News or Campus Watch crying “anti-Semitic” whenever they hear something they don’t like. A good place to start is by learning what “anti-Semitic” means.
