[Peace-discuss] [Peace] Fwd: Does the "War on Terror" Still Exist. Controversial Speaker at 7pm TONIGHT in Follinger Auditorium!!! PLEASE ATTEND!!!
David Green
davegreen84 at yahoo.com
Wed Oct 13 14:32:02 CDT 2010
Respectfully,
I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from attending, out of curiosity, outrage,
or whatever. But what can this accomplish?
Here's how I feel. We have a quiescent campus in regard to Israel-Palestine,
anti-Long War, and other related issues. We have an addled right-wing economics
professor, Fred Gottheil, claiming to stand up for women and gays in the Muslim
world in order to silence criticism of Israel (for those who don't know, this
was reflected in an article and subsequent letters in the N-G; the DI has
refused to publish a letter I sent regarding this affair, and has covered it in
no other way).
So what does the Women's Resource Center, etc., have to say about all of this?
There has to be a better way than to simply react to the appearnce of Daniel
Pipes.
How about this? Let's document the violations to women's rights, gay rights,
etc. in the Muslim world that pertain to our wars (and Israel's) against them.
Put along side that, if you want, a concern with honor killings, suppression of
gays, etc. Put along side that a concern with the murder of women in this
country by their husbands. I mean, some context and perspective, if you want to
make this about women, gays, or whomever (not that plain old men don't matter).
Then let's think about a political analysis that makes some sense.
Then how about getting a panel organized to address the various issues raised by
Islamophobia, Zionism on campus, Gottheil, his targets, etc. Shouldn't be too
hard to attract an audience. But please, don't make an academic exercise out of
it. We might address the racism of the institutions supporting this event,
especially Hillel. Are you up for it? Can you handle being called an
anti-Semite? It carries a little more wallop than being called a radical
feminist.
For example, you might want to ask Matti Bunzl, the anthropologist (sic) who is
head of the Program for Jewish Culture and Society, to talk about being a gay
man and a Zionist, how that all works together in relation to human rights for
Palestinians, etc., not to mention academic piety. Lots to talk about,
hypocritically or otherwise.
Or, we could just sit and fume at Daniel Pipes, as if this just started
yesterday, when I've been talking about him for well over a decade, including
before he visited here in 2003.
David Green
________________________________
From: Rachel Storm <rstorm2 at illinois.edu>
To: Jason C. Romero <jasoncromero at gmail.com>; Teresa Ramos
<tramosuiuc at gmail.com>; Shantel Martinez <uiuc.martinez at gmail.com>; mister garza
<mistergarza at gmail.com>; iaah-discussion-list at googlegroups.com;
hardcore at iresist.org; peace at anti-war.net; Brian Dolinar <briandolinar at gmail.com>
Sent: Wed, October 13, 2010 1:41:18 PM
Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Does the "War on Terror" Still Exist. Controversial
Speaker at 7pm TONIGHT in Follinger Auditorium!!! PLEASE ATTEND!!!
See below. I don't know much about Daniel Pipes, but he's all over Youtube and
and well, Fox News digs him. Anyone want to attend?
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Campus Antiwar Network [U of I] <can.uiuc at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 1:23 PM
Subject: Does the "War on Terror" Still Exist. Controversial Speaker at 7pm
TONIGHT in Follinger Auditorium!!! PLEASE ATTEND!!!
To:
Hello all. I just was made aware of this event. Dr. Daniel Pipes is being
brought here to give a talk tonight at 7pm in Follinger. It is being
cosponsored by Hillel, the Åmerican-Israeli Coalition, and other Pro-Israel,
Islamophobic groups. Following is more information. Please join us in making
sure the hatred and Islamophobic sentiments that will be spread tonight is not
welcome on our campus!!!
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.
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.
--
University of Illinois Campus Antiwar Network
http://www.campusantiwar.net/
http://uiuccan.blogspot.com/
--
_____________________________________________Kind regards,
Rachel Storm
Program Coordinator, Illinois Women's Resources Center
The Women's Resources Center, University of Illinois
Student Affairs--Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations
703 S. Wright Street, Champaign, IL 61820
MC-302
(217) 333-3137 (office phone)
(217) 244-3167 (fax)
(630) 677-7219 (cell)
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark
to read." -Groucho Marx
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