Center Field: How to demand fair play for Israel on campus

Recently, a student alerted me about her instructor's biased behavior in a course on the Middle East. The student - who requested anonymity for obvious reasons - offered a subtle, detailed report demonstrating the systemic bias students endure in so many Middle East courses. As another school year begins, those of us concerned with combating educational malpractice should learn from this student about abuses occurring on so many campuses, especially - but not solely - when teaching about Israel.

The student was no radical. She did not exaggerate. She acknowledged some balance in the reading list and recalled the instructor's invitation to hear "a variety of views." Still, the student perceived the readings on contemporary issues as biased, which students can detect more easily and which usually are more controversial. Not surprisingly, the course sanitized Palestinian violence. For example, the only article regarding terrorism dismissed "terrorism" as a politicized label to delegitimize a strategy the powerless feel compelled to use as a last resort. The article ignored the moral issues involved in targeting civilians. I replied that with limited student attention spans, a professor can justify assigning one article that challenges the conventional wisdom as long as the class discussion is balanced.

In class, the student tried broadening the conversation, acknowledging "that terrorism can be seen as a warfare technique, sometimes the only ones available to non-state actors such as the Palestinians [this is what was taught in the lesson]." She nevertheless identified "a huge moral difference between:  kidnapping Israeli soldiers (i.e. who are located on the borders of hostile territory such as Lebanon) and blowing up a school bus full of children." The instructor responded with "a joke," saying "that it wasn't like Palestinians were going to target a hospital full of disabled people." The student felt her teacher had mocked her comments, squelching a valuable line of inquiry.

During the final lecture, a playwright whose work supposedly lamented the dehumanization of both Palestinians and Israelis concentrated only on the Palestinians' "plight." A different student asked how terrorism affected Israelis' quality of life. My student source reports: "When the guest speaker was about to reply,  the instructor cut him off, and declared that perhaps it be better to move onto someone's else's question." Sadly, predictably, the student added in an email:  "My fear on this is that my final grade will be affected by my criticisms."

Humanists are not mathematicians: we cannot balance every interaction. But when students question, professors should respond with particular deference. We need to foster a supportive, freewheeling, open classroom environment. Most young egos are fragile. In most schools, I regret to say, it takes courage for students to stand up and risk standing out. The instructor committed educational malpractice by mocking serious attempts to broaden the discussion. The instructor failed by leaving at least two students feeling that their perspectives were disrespected.

Unfortunately, this kind of intimidation occurs far too frequently when discussing academic sacred cows such as the Palestinians. Most students do not even try to buck the trend, fearing humiliation in class and penalties on their transcripts. They end up feeling squelched while other students end up deprived of a valuable corrective, in this case to the amoral conventional wisdom that Third Worlders calling themselves "freedom fighters" are free of ethical constraints.

Students in these situations should remember my 4 Cs: confront, complain, catalog and corroborate, protesting educational malpractice in the classroom rather than perceived bias in the content. Questions of bias invite scholarly defenses of academic freedom. Allegations of teachers failing to do their jobs, of ignoring students, of mocking dissenters, are more powerful, non-partisan and serious.

If such abuses occur, students first should confront the instructor, gently, substantively, respectfully but firmly, publicly and privately. Raising issues in class and during office hours is a student's right and responsibility. Sitting silently acquiesces in the abuse, making education a one-way transfer rather than a two-way dialogue. Besides, standing up encourages other students while challenging the professor. Even if the professor seems unmoved, academics' egos are as fragile as their students. Without acknowledging, they may adjust during the semester or in the future.

Students who remain unhappy should complain. As a professor, I believe that the first complaint should go directly to the professor involved. I always tell my students, "If you have a problem with me, please come to me first." Our blogosphere culture has encouraged anonymous character assassination. Too many academic institutions go straight to formal grievances before first insisting on direct, respectful, substantive face-to-face discussion. You can always go formal and go public in the complaints; it is unfair to rush ahead without giving the professor a right of response and an opportunity to improve.

Students should catalog the abuses, giving detailed, specific, substantive examples as the student who approached me did. Vague complaints appear lazy, spoiled and political. Specific protests are mature and more easily addressed.

Finally, students should remember to corroborate their complaints. And, I am sorry to say, Jewish students have more credibility on this issue if non-Jewish students support them. One student complaining can be dismissed as a crank, or a partisan. A few students, or one student backed by other, seemingly less partisan colleagues, can get results.

I cannot believe how powerless so many students feel. They forget that professors prefer arguing about content to quibbling about grades. I, for one, have frequently rewarded my most skeptical, questioning students with higher grades. Moreover, students forget that academics and universities fear conflict.

Professors in Middle East Studies should not feel they are being scrutinized by McCarthyite hacks ready to pounce. But all teachers benefit from students who are active, thoughtful, and sometimes critical partners in the educational process, rather than passive receptacles or silent, hostile, monitors.

Gil Troy is Professor of History at McGill University. The author of Why I Am a Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today, his latest book is Leading from the Center: Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents.