[Peace-discuss] Holocaust scholar cancels prestigious Illinois lecture over Steven Salaita firing

[Robert Naiman]

That's kind of like a fundamental idea in American history, isn't it? The
idea that the Declaration of Independence is a promissory note that can be
redeemed at any lunch counter.



Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
(202) 448-2898 x1

On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 1:33 PM, Carl G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu>
wrote:

> It's been remarked that sometimes the most radical thing to do is insist
> liberals live up to their principles.
>
>
> > On Apr 15, 2015, at 12:59 PM, David Green via Peace-discuss <
> peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> >
> > Although I would add that there's no reason to even imply that it is at
> all debatable that Salaita is anti-Semitic, or that his scholarship or
> teaching  (i.e., job qualifications) are of dubious merit in the context of
> his field. This should not be framed as a matter of protecting "despised"
> speech, although that is the standard. Nor is there any reason to downplay
> the substantive nature of the BOT's actions in terms of the I/P conflict
> and profitable relationships with Israel, and perhaps in the larger context
> of the relations of academia with USFP and the military-industrial complex.
> Once the academic freedom/civil liberties issue is addressed, those issues
> will remain and should also be addressed. As long as academia is part and
> parcel of all of these wealth/power relationships, then the primary context
> of these outrages will remain. I appreciate liberal ethics when applied
> consistently, but that should be the absolute minimum to expect.
> >
> > DG
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wednesday, April 15, 2015 12:44 PM, Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss <
> peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> > I have to say that I have been impressed and even surprised by the
> principled reaction of many, many Jewish liberals in academia to the
> Salaita case. Cary Nelson is an outlier. Most Jewish liberals in the
> academy who have spoken out seem to see it as a clear-cut free speech and
> academic freedom case. Which, of course, it is.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Robert Naiman
> > Policy Director
> > Just Foreign Policy
> > www.justforeignpolicy.org
> > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
> > (202) 448-2898 x1
> >
> > On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 12:08 PM, Stuart Levy <stuartnlevy at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > What a beautiful letter.   Congratulations to Prof. Presner.   And
> thanks Robert for passing it along to us.
> >
> >
> >
> > On 4/15/15 12:01 PM, Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss wrote:
> >>
> http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/holocaust-scholar-cancels-prestigious-illinois-lecture-over-steven-salaita-firing
> >> ------------------------------snip
> >> A prominent Holocaust scholar has canceled a prestigious lecture at the
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in protest over the
> firing of Professor Steven Salaita.
> >> Professor Todd Samuel Presner, the director of Jewish studies at the
> University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), wrote to UIUC Chancellor
> Phyllis Wise to tell her he would not visit the campus as long as she was
> in charge.
> >> His letter, dated 28 March and addressed to Wise and UIUC trustees, was
> publicly released today (full text and a PDF copy are below).
> >> Presner had been scheduled to deliver the 2014-15 Rosenthal Lecture,
> titled “A Message in a Bottle: Holocaust Testimony and the Jewish Future,”
> on 27 April.
> >> He said a workshop also planned during his visit would not be canceled,
> but would be moved off campus and he would not accept any funding or
> payment from UIUC.
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
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