Academic dhimmitude: passing off propaganda as education, and making students accept highly politicized and controvertible material as fact -- notably, that Islam as a religion is peaceful and tolerant, just as the dhimmis of old had to sing the praises of Islam's peacefulness and tolerance or risk forfeiting their contract of "protection."
Anti-dhimmitude: calling things by their right names, and refusing to be cowed from legitimate criticism of Islam and jihad by cries of "bigotry" and "academic freedom." Alan Dershowitz here proves to be a capable anti-dhimmi. From the New York Sun, with thanks to EPG:
It's not often that a professor tells a packed crowd at Columbia University that Edward Said was a political extremist and that faculty members in the school's Middle East studies department encourage Islamic terrorism.The professor who made those statements yesterday isn't from Columbia but from Harvard. Law professor Alan Dershowitz showed up at the intellectual home of Said, a literature professor who was a fierce critic of Israel, to rebuke Columbia's faculty and administration for tolerating an atmosphere on campus that he said promotes the hatred of Israel.
"This is the most unbalanced university that I have come across when it comes to all sides of the Middle East conflict being presented," Mr. Dershowitz told hundreds of students and a smattering of Columbia faculty members.
"I have never seen a university with as much faculty silence," he said.
At a campus already divided by a controversy that has flared for months - one that pits a handful of Jewish students against some professors in the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures department - the appearance of Mr. Dershowitz was the latest indication that the most serious crisis of President Lee Bollinger's tenure is far from over.
Mr. Dershowitz's speech, which lasted about an hour, drew a few catcalls from some hostile members of the audience, who accused the lawyer of supporting torture. It also prompted frequent outbursts of applause from many in the audience, as he repeatedly expressed contempt for the Columbia scholars in the Middle East studies department who are the subject of an internal campus inquiry.
Geez, it's a great week be at Columbia!
Yesterday - Alan Dershowitz and today Bat Ye'or!
Tomorrow???
I hope this is the beginning of a movement toward freeing our universities from the stranglehold of communists and islamists.
Carolyn2,
While I empathize with your opinion, I do not believe a one-hour talk by Dershowitz is going to turn the tide. No, ordinary people who love Israel as the birthplace of Jesus Christ will have to make their mark. Voltaire, the great French infidel, said, "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong". This assault on ethics and legitimate academic freedom will only increase and spread. May God help us.
If Dershowitz is onto it, then there is still some hope that we can turn the tide:
How about taking the case to the supreme court, which should rule on the following:
Is Islam a religion or a criminal organisiation? Is the Qu'ran a 'holy book' or is it a guide to terrorism and murder? Is the network of mosques and madrassas institutions for racketeering, indoctrination and conspiring to topple the government or are they for 'peaceful' gatherings?
Are the uncounted passages in the Qu'ran that exhort muslims to kill infidels and Jews just empty words or are they taken seriously by muslims? How many people have been and are being murdered because of this 'religion'? Dersh could be the guy to make the case that every muslim is an agent of influence, that the Sharia contradicts everyhting that we believe in and that this ideology is totally incompatible with the laws of the USA.
It hasn't been done before, but the Chinese have done it with the 'Falun Gong' (claiming they are a danger to the government) and the Germans have done it with Ron Hubbards 'Church of Scientology'- claiming it leaves people brainwashed and destitude and is as such a dangerous cult.
It may have not been done in the Sates, but there is always a first time. What a victory that would be!
Geez, it's a great week be at Columbia!
Yesterday - Alan Dershowitz and today Bat Ye'or!
Tomorrow???
Posted by: justamomof4
Unfortunately, according to a FrontPageMag.com item posted on Feb. 9, a conference on a "one state solution" with Ilan Pappe and Mark Cohen as two of the proponents.
Dershowitz was a very liberal guy who seems to have woken up after 9/11. His book "Why Terrorism Works" is excellent.
Bollinger was a very liberal guy before 9/11 and aparently still is. He led The University of Michigan into the affirmative action debacle. I wouldn't expect much improvement at Colombia under his tenure unless there is a lot more truth being spread.
Good start Dershowitz. Good luck Colombia.