[Peace-discuss] Fw: Daniel Pipes to talk this Wednesday at Foellinger - "That was then, this is now" department

Tue Oct 12 09:08:24 CDT 2010

  Eminent sense in 2003, and today.

On 10/12/10 9:01 AM, David Green wrote:
> The event is on the Hillel calendar, and also has a Facebook page, on which it 
> says this:
> "Does the "War on Terror" still exist? Dr. Daniel Pipes, Middle East scholar, 
> author, and lecturer, will address this question, and shed light on a 
> tumultuous struggle which extends from distant deserts to academic halls, from 
> the sheep farm to the metropolis. You won't want to miss this amazing 
> opportunity to hear Dr. Pipes' message, and ask him your questions directly!
>
> Dr. Pipes studies, writes, and lectures nationwide on the ...conflict between 
> radical Islam and the West. He knows Arabic, and has his doctorate in medieval 
> Islamic history; his studies have led him to conclude that "It's a mistake to 
> blame Islam, a religion 14 centuries old, for the evil that should be ascribed 
> to militant Islam, a totalitarian ideology less than a century old. Militant 
> Islam is the problem, but moderate Islam is the solution." He has taught world 
> history at the University of Chicago, history at Harvard, and policy strategy 
> at the Naval War College, in addition to directing the Foreign Policy Research 
> Institute serving at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Today he directs the 
> thinktank he founded, the Middle East Forum, and oversees Campus Watch, a 
> project that critiques academic literature published by North American Middle 
> East departments. His personal website is at www.DanielPipes.org 
> <http://www.danielpipes.org/>.
>
> This event is cosponsored by Stand With Us, the David Project, the Jewish 
> Community Relations Council, the Hillel Foundation at the University of 
> Illinois, the Chabad Jewish Center at the University of Illinois & 
> Champaign-Urbana, the American-Israeli Student Coalition, Great News Radio 
> (WGNN/WGNJ), the Orange and Blue Observer, and the Illini Conservative Union."
>
> Certainly, speakers and organizations like this are promoting hate and 
> Islamophobia. Hillel should be taken to task for this, let's make that clear. 
> Nevertheless, I'm not at all sure what response is merited to what will most 
> likely--in this era--be a poorly attended event.
>
> DG
>
>
> ________________________
> I wrote this in 2003:
>
> The December 3^rd visit of the wretched Daniel Pipes to the U of I is 
> sponsored by IlliniPac, a student group sprouted from the Israel Lobby to 
> convey Zionist propaganda. Pipes’ message of anti-Islamic racism and 
> rationalized hatred provokes the following observations:
>
> First, Pipes right to speak should be protected from disruption or 
> interruption. This would be unlike the treatment of Palestinian Hanan Ashrawi, 
> whose invitation and visit to Colorado College last September were met with 
> furor and disruption by Zionist activists. Pipes, brought in to counter 
> Ashrawi’s message, called her appearance “a grievous error,” accusing her of 
> being “on the side of America’s enemies.”
>
> Second, Pipes’ McCarthyite “campus watch” website smears scholars in Middle 
> Eastern Studies programs, identifying over 150 as “apologists for suicide 
> bombings and militant Islam.” Since the “dossiers” of Pipes’ targets were 
> posted to this website, most have been victims of “spoofing,” with identities 
> stolen and thousands of e-mail messages sent in their names. Related to this 
> campaign of intimidation is a frightening bill--HR 3077--recently passed by 
> the House of Representatives, that punishes academics who do not support U.S. 
> foreign policy, and demands that university departments produce graduates who 
> will serve state/military interests.
>
> Third, Richard Hofstadter’s classic description of the “paranoid style” should 
> be recalled, as it applies perfectly to Pipes: “The paranoid spokesman sees 
> the fate of conspiracy in apocalyptic terms—he traffics in the birth and death 
> of whole worlds, whole systems of human values. He is always manning the 
> barricades of civilization.”
>
> Fourth, Pipes slanderously accuses American Muslims of pervasive disloyalty: 
> “At huge conventions closed to the press and public . . . nearly every Muslim 
> organization in the U.S. spews forth a blatant and vicious anti-Semitism, a 
> barrage of bias, calumny, and conspiracy-mongering of a sort that has 
> otherwise all but disappeared from American discourse.” Except, ironically, 
> from Pipes’ discourse—as he offers no evidence to support his claim. For good 
> racist measure, Pipes has written that the D.C. sniper “fits into a 
> well-established tradition of American blacks who convert to Islam turning 
> against their country.”
>
> Finally, Pipes’ website is maintained by an Israeli settler who denies the 
> existence of the Palestinian people. Pipes’ contempt is well documented: “The 
> Palestinians are a miserable people . . . and they deserve to be.” Gamla, an 
> extremist Israeli settler group that advocates a detailed plan for the 
> expulsion of Palestinians from both the occupied territories and Israel, 
> regularly features Pipes’ writing on its website.
>
> Along with many others who espouse racism and hatred, Pipes is also a crybaby 
> who likes nothing more than to claim he is being victimized by those who 
> challenge him. A calm, thoughtful, and practical response to his visit will 
> give neither him nor his followers this opportunity.
>
> David Green
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com>
> *To:* Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> *Sent:* Mon, October 11, 2010 5:46:43 PM
> *Subject:* [Peace-discuss] Fw: Daniel Pipes to talk this Wednesday at 
> Foellinger - "That was then, this is now" department
>
> Y'all know about this??
>  --Jenifer
>
> --- On *Mon, 10/11/10, David L. Noreen *wrote:
>
>
>
>     Date: Monday, October 11, 2010, 2:02 PM
>
>     That was then:  12-4-2003
>
>     Article: Controversial speaker draws crowd at U. Illinois
>     Article date:  December 4, 2003
>     Author:  Kali Bhandari
>
>     (Daily Illini) (U-WIRE) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- About 1,000 people went through
>     150 chanting and sign-waving protesters, metal detectors, back pack
>     searches and University of Illinois police to see one speaker Wednesday
>     evening.
>
>     Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum and a member of the
>     presidentially-appointed board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, was brought
>     to Foellinger Auditorium by the Illinois-Israel Public Affairs Committee,
>     as well as other groups, to speak on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
>
>     His organization specifically requested the heavy security presence, said
>     Monika Pandya, Foellinger Auditorium manager. …
>
>     --------------------------------------------------------------
>     Versus
>     "This is now"  10-13-2010
>
>     Dr. Daniel Pipes, Middle East scholar, author, and lecturer will be
>     speaking at Foellinger Auditorium Wednesday, October 13 at 7 p.m. Dr.
>     Pipes lecture will address the question: “Does the ‘War on Terror’ Still
>     Exist?” The public is welcome to attend and take part in the Q/A session
>     to follow the lecture.
>
>     ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>          So he's now a "Middle East scholar, author, and lecturer," according
>     to the Daily Illini...
>
>          Is AWARE aware of Wednesday's visit?
>
>
>
>
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