Even more distressing than this shameful account of how Daniel Pipes was mistreated at UC Berkeley is the fact that this sort of reception greets him on other campuses as well. Daniel Pipes is a man of great courage speaking out against a great evil. From ChronWatch, with thanks to Nicolei:
Pipes had anticipated problems beforehand and had warned supporters that the Muslim Student Association was planning to make an appearance. They had posted an announcement about the lecture at the leftist website SFIndyMedia.org, raving that a ”Zionist” was coming to town, and exhorting members to show up. In fact, the lecture was moved to another site on campus to accomodate a larger audience, but the MSA students still managed to sniff it out. . . .
The tension in the air was thick, tempers were rising, and yet amidst it all, Pipes kept his cool. He managed to deliver his lecture, which covered the War on Terrorism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and Iraq, but he was forced to stop many times. Pipes spoke directly to the protesters on several occasions, pointing out the irony of their undemocratic behavior, as well as mentioning casually that it is only when he speaks at college campuses that he requires such heavy security. He even brought up the fact that members of the MSA are currently under investigation for possible ties to terrorism.
Their reaction to his speech was telling.
When Pipes brought up the need to support moderate Muslims over those who subscribe to militant Islam, they booed.
When he brought up the need to improve the status of women in Islamic countries, they booed.
When he warned that peace in the Middle East would never be achieved as long as the Palestinians continued to subscribe to a ”cult of death,” they booed.
When he mentioned Middle East Studies professors who have been arrested under terrorism charges, they booed.
When he discussed the need to combat Islamic terrorism, they booed.
When he referred to the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks as subscribers to militant Islam, they booed and shouted ”Zionism”–no doubt a reference to the myth that Jews were behind the attacks.
When Pipes brought up CampusWatch.org, the website he founded to provide a voice for students feeling oppressed by their leftist professors, they shouted out ”McCarthyism” and of course ”racist” yet again.
And when he mentioned Iraqis’ ”liberation” from Saddam Hussein’s tyranny, they booed even louder.
”I’m sure the Iraqis were much better off under Saddam Hussein,” Pipes responded sarcastically.
When it came time for the question and answer period, the group of MSA students all got up together and left, chanting ”racist” and ”Zionist” over and over again. However, a few stragglers were left in the audience and they eventually had to be escorted outside by the police because of their unruly behavior. One of them was the man who had been babbling outside about Gandhi. But this time he got down to basics, calling Pipes ”a racist Jew.” Sadly, it took several more of these epithets before he was forcibly removed.
After the lecture, many Jews in the audience were visibly shaken. For those who hadn’t yet encountered Muslim hostility up close and personal, it was an eye-opening experience. Perhaps not all of UC Berkeley’s Muslim students subscribe to the anti-Semitic views of the MSA, but if that’s the case, they certainly didn’t make their voices heard that evening.
The fact is, radical Muslim students and their leftist counterparts are the most domineering, destructive, and dangerous forces in higher education today. If we’re to win the War on Terrorism, we may have to start with our own college campuses.