Thursday Aug 28, 2008

Inside the Middle East: Intimidation at Georgetown

Posted by Martin Kramer
Comments: 8
Decrease text sizeDecrease text size
Increase text sizeIncrease text size

Back in the spring, some students at Georgetown University took umbrage at a celebration of Israel's sixtieth anniversary, organized by a pro-Israel student group. Their protest took the form of sitting on the lawn next to the revelers, mouths taped shut. The student newspaper The Hoya covered the demonstration, and described it thus:

About 30 demonstrators, many of whom were graduate students, wore black shirts, tape over their mouths and, in many cases, neck scarves. They did not speak but handed out quarter sheets with a cartoon and short message; one held a poster-sized version of the quarter sheet which began, "Our presence is a gesture toward the many for whom the passing of these 60 years is not marked by celebration."

There is nothing unusual about this scene at Georgetown or any campus. Student demonstrations for and against political causes are a staple of campus life.

But I was taken aback to see this demonstration highlighted in the newsletter of an academic unit of the university. I refer to an article in the June issue of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies' CCAS News, under the headline "MAAS Students Demonstrate Against 'Israel: Still Sexy at Sixty' Celebration." Some of the students in question, it turns out, were masters' degree students at the Center. (The CCAS degree program is called MAAS, Master of Arts in Arab Studies.) CCAS News ran this story over two pages, with two photographs of the protesting students, taking care (unlike The Hoya) to identify them as "MAAS students" (and to point out that the "neck scarves" were kaffiyehs).

Presumably this demonstration was not a CCAS activity, and not done at its initiative or under its sponsorship. So I wonder why it is highlighted under "Center News" in this thrice-annual survey of the Center's academic activities. Am I to understand that CCAS officially takes pride in its students' activism for this political cause? After all, the newsletter is comprised exclusively of news about the admirable achievements and doings of the Center and its faculty, students, guests, and supporters.

The public wink of approval offered by CCAS to this anti-Israel demonstration is a troubling example of the total confusion of the academic and the political. It is also a form of subtle intimidation. It sends a signal to those Georgetown and CCAS students who do not share the views on display in the demonstration, or who might even have participated in the pro-Israel celebration. What are they to conclude? That they are not welcome, or less welcome, to take a masters' degree or a course in this program? That their lack of activism, or their activism for Israel, will put them at a disadvantage? They might well conclude just that. (Coincidentally, the same newsletter reports that the student who organized the demonstration received a US government summer study grant via the Center. Almost 100 students applied; only five received grants.)

I urge the director of CCAS and the Georgetown administration to express their regret at the unfortunate inclusion of this article in CCAS News, and to reassure all Georgetown students that CCAS does not explicitly or implicitly endorse the extracurricular political activities of any of its faculty, staff, or students. The US Department of Education, which subsidizes CCAS to the tune of about $1.5 million a year (under Title VI), should actively seek such reassurance.

BOOKMARK or SHARE: technorati digg del.icio.us reddit newsvine facebook What's this?
Print
Comments: Post your own comment
1  |  Adina Kutnicki, Thursday Aug 28, 2008
There has long ceased to be ANY 'separation' between the academic and the political. Under the guise of 'academics' many profs have illegitimately hijacked their student body.My son's first year at MIT in 2003 proved this when a school play ! revealed its antiZionist bent.Many have become unwitting captives of their left wing profs, others are willing participants, both leftists and Muslim students agitating NON STOP. Within this toxic brew one finds the administration. ALL parents of college age students ,especially over the past decade, must be blind not to see the boot camp atmosphere.
2  |  Joe H America, Thursday Aug 28, 2008
What troubles me is the seemingly lack of people on campus to "combat " these anti semites an dthats all they are. Where is the ADL Jewish congrees and the Weiensthal group? Beware the Jew haters are still out there after 4000 yrs.
3  |  Ben Eugene, Friday Aug 29, 2008
This also happened at the University of Oregon campus, but the ASA protested all week alongside our Israel @ 60 week. What is funny is the difference in perception placed on Israel. You would hear students talking about it. It would go to the tune of "There was some crazy palestinian thing" and it would be echoed by "Yah but did you know it is Israel's 60th Birthday?!" These people aren't Jew haters, they just don't have the non-political/religious relationship to Israel that Jews have. These people protested, and it is well within their right to do so. as a school function however, maybe not.
4  |  Joe H USA, Saturday Aug 30, 2008
Ben..# 3.".these people" that protest Israel ARE Jew Haters. Yes they have the right to protest..maybe they should protest against Muslims killing fellow Muslims. Witness Iraq, Gaza and Lebonon. All over the globe ...now Pakistan is going to b e under the "radical Islamic " rage.! Some putz in Pakistan says its ok to execute women and call it "Honor Killing"! Nice Guys!
5  |  amarilyspons, Saturday Aug 30, 2008
SFSU and UC Berkeley are real snake-pits of anti-Jewish hatred. People in the administration, and various professors, are active collaboraters with the Muslim and Palestinian student organizations and with off-campus hate groups and mosques. MANY OF THE STUDENTS INVOLVED IN HATE DEMONSTRATIONS ARE FOREIGN STUDENTS ON VISAS and many more are BORN OUTSIDE OF THE USA AND NATURALIZED. What can be done to deport scum like this ? They are fomenting pro terrorist activity and creating terrorists. Any US born individual involved in this should be prosecuted, foreigners should be deported.
6  |  MHL, Sunday Aug 31, 2008
Hillel, which should be combating these campus Jihadists and anti-Semites, has mostly joined the enemy. At Tufts (see Commentary) Hillel joined Arab students to protest Daniel Pipes speaking on campus. Hillel has also hosted IDF soldiers who have been disciplined for having refused to fight terrorism in Judea and Samaria. If Jews and Jewish organization are supporting anti-Zionists and Jihadists, then you can not expect much from non-Jews.
7  |  fred lienhard Columbia Pa USA, Sunday Aug 31, 2008
I would just like to say that all the foreigners (like my immigrant father) who come here for a better life should just leave all their old prejudices and hatreds behind. Don't bring your wars here. If you can't do that then get out. Go back home and fight til ya die.
8  |  Tim, Washington DC, Tuesday Sep 16, 2008
I don't think I'll bother responding to the patent bigotry in many of the above comments, as reasoning with people whose logic parallels the KKK is likely a lost cause. I would like to address the ongoing illusion among many that one who protests Israel is thus necessarily anti-semitic. The lead organizer of the protest discussed by Kramer here, Harald, is in fact himself Jewish and had recently returned from a Birthright Israel trip. Of course some of you will just dismiss him as "self-hating" because it's inconceivable to you that one could legitimately differ with your opinions.
Add your comment remaining characters
Name and Location *

NOTE: Comments are moderated and will not appear on this blog, until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.

For more information, please see our
Readers' Submission Policy.

E-mail * (will NOT be published)
--------------------------------
* All fields are required

About this blog

Inside the Middle East Shalem Center's Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies' scholar of Islam and the Arab world Martin Kramer on this turbulent region.

Search this blog

Archives
Combined feed for all JPost.com blogs

Most Popular

  1. A moral army
    Posted in Army Life by A.J.
    Monday Nov 17, 2008
  2. Ben Hur loves Zion
    Posted in Ten Tribes Challenge - India by Amir Mizroch
    Wednesday Nov 19, 2008
  3. Yes we can (stop talking about Obama)
    Posted in Majoring in Aliyah by Lahav Harkov
    Wednesday Nov 19, 2008
  4. Expectations from Sderot
    Posted in Living with Rockets by Anav Silverman
    Wednesday Nov 19, 2008
  5. An unfortunate drop of discrimination
    Posted in Israel Stories by Jeremy Cardash
    Thursday Nov 20, 2008

Top Rated Posts

Recent Comments

christine brown,ms: whats going on with the new yorker their just pro obama....
Daniel-Atlanta: I still don't understand why John McCain, as chair of a Republican action committee, would agree to give Khalidi $500,000 for spreading around in the West Bank. McCain apparently concurred in the decision to give Khalidi half a million bucks and raised no objections afterwards. I guess John McCain is a "kindred spirit AND financial backer" of Mr. Khalidi by your way of linking associations. Funny, you didn't mention that McCain involvement in your article, professor! Perhaps the article is a half truth?
wendy great falls: Hold on to your hats. Obama was just elected as president! I just hope he doesnt turn his back on Israel. History will repeat itself, those that has turnd on Israel have fallen. They are a chosen people not to be messed with. Watch and pray!!!!!