Motto of Anti-Israel Academics: "Free Speech For Me, But Not for Thee!"

Do anti-Israel professors "tremble in fear" when they criticize Israel at Harvard and other American universities? Not likely, if you have any sense of what's going on on college campuses today where Israel-bashing is rampant among hard left faculty and students. But a Harvard professor named J. Lorand Matory who teaches anthropology and Afro-American studies, whined to the Harvard faculty last week that he "tremble[s] in fear" whenever he criticizes Israel. Well, he must tremble an awful lot, since he spends so much of his time criticizing Israel, a country he has never even visited and a country that he recently told an interviewer he has never even read a book about. Matory submitted a motion stating that "this faculty commits itself to fostering civil dialogue in which people with a broad range of perspectives feel safe and are encouraged to express their reasoned and evidence-based ideas." Nothing wrong with encouraging free speech as long as speech is free to people representing different perspectives. But Matory's motion received support from other paragons of political correctness, who are well-known for their advocacy of censorship of the "offensive" speech of others, but who are now complaining that there's not enough free speech for them at Harvard.

At Columbia University, on the other hand, a group of professors -- who are generally in sync with their extremist colleagues at Harvard -- are complaining that Columbia's President, Lee C. Bollinger, has too much freedom of speech when it comes to the Middle East. A campaign is underway to rebuke Bollinger for expressing his personal views about the Iranian dictator, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Led by well-known radicals such as Eric Foner -- who complained that Bollinger's harsh description of Ahmadinejad was "completely inaccurate" -- these politically correct censors want to muzzle Bollinger. They also want to muzzle students, alumni, and other "outsiders," who have legitimate complaints about the Middle East Studies Department, which has become a wholly owned subsidiary of radical Islam.

It all seems so inconsistent unless you understand what the real agenda is, and then everything becomes completely clear and totally consistent. The agenda is Israel. If you're against Israel -- as Matory, Foner, and their ilk are -- then they want you to have complete freedom to speak against the Jewish state (as they certainly should and do). If, on the other hand, you're perceived as pro-Israel (or pro-American, for that matter), then suddenly you have no right to free speech. It is so transparently cynical that I'm amazed that any reasonable person actually falls for it.

The hypocrisy is rather easy to spot if you've been around long enough to remember when it was leaders of the radical left, led by MIT linguist Noam Chomsky, who were trying to intrude on the tenure process for political reasons. I recall vividly when Chomsky campaigned to prevent Columbia from granting a tenured position to Henry Kissinger. Chomsky spoke at a noisy rally against Kissinger's tenure. It was that same Chomsky who complained when I wrote a letter -- in response to a request from the former chairman of the political science department -- detailing misquotations, made-up facts, and other scholarly sins by anti-Israel extremist Norman Finkelstein and urging DePaul University to deny him tenure. I also remember when it was Professor Matory who tried to prevent former University President Lawrence H. Summers from exercising his freedom of speech with regard to Israel when he was president.

What I don't remember (because it didn't happen) are any complaints by these born-again freedom of speech phonies when Summers, as a mere professor, was prevented from making a speech to the University of California Board of Regents this September. Those political-correctniks who weren't actually demanding censorship of Summers were predictably silent because it wasn't one of theirs who was being censored. Nor do I remember (because it didn't happen) the hard left at Columbia protesting when the University provost defended an anti-Israel professor who was caught by a camera throwing a rock at an Israeli guardhouse. Nor do I remember (because it didn't happen) Professor Matory complaining when Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Barak was prevented from speaking at Concordia University by a hard-left anti-Israel crowd of violent censors. For that matter, where was Columbia's Eric Foner when the leader of the Minutemen was chased off the stage at Columbia by another group of freedom-suppressing hooligans?

I challenge Matory and his hard left political cronies to show a history of supporting the free speech rights of those they disagree with. Has Matory defended the right of Professor James D. Watson, whose despicable theories of racial inferiority resulted in the cancellation of his speech at Rockefeller University? I, and many other genuine civil libertarians, have long histories of defending the free speech rights of those we most despise. I supported the right of Nazis to march in Skokie, Ill. 40 years ago. I opposed the cancellation of a speech by Tom Paulin, who advocated the murder of Israelis. I defended, pro bono, a virulently anti-Israel Stanford professor who was fired for inciting violence. I opposed Harvard's attempt to prevent students from flying the Palestinian flag to commemorate the death of mass-murderer Yasser Arafat.

Don't expect the defense of those with whom they disagree from the Israel-bashers at Columbia, Harvard, and MIT. For them, it is "free speech for me, but not for thee!"

Freedom of speech to criticize Israel and the U.S. is alive and well at Harvard and most other universities. Matory need not "tremble in fear" of anything except his pernicious opinions being rebutted in the marketplace of ideas.

Freedom of speech to criticize Palestinian extremism is however in short supply at many American and European universities. Jewish students do actually "tremble in fear" of offending anti-Israel professors who have the power to downgrade and negatively recommend them. This is an issue that deserves serious attention in the real world of academia, rather than in Matory's ersatz world of topsy-turvy newspeak.

So let us all support complete free speech for every perspective relating to the Middle East, not just for perspectives supported by the hard left.

Comments

[LewsTherin]

EXCELLENT ARTICLE, MR. DERSHOWITZ

HIGHLIGHT FROM YOUR ARTICLE FOR THE ANTISEMITES:

I, and many other genuine civil libertarians, have long histories of defending the free speech rights of those we most despise.

I supported the right of Nazis to march in Skokie, Ill. 40 years ago.

I opposed the cancellation of a speech by Tom Paulin, who advocated the murder of Israelis.

I defended, pro bono, a virulently anti-Israel Stanford professor who was fired for inciting violence.

I opposed Harvard's attempt to prevent students from flying the Palestinian flag to commemorate the death of mass-murderer Yasser Arafat.

[Stirner]

The contemptible and disgraceful manner in which Dershowitz pulled every rotten string he could pull to insure that the honorable Professor Norman Finkelstein was denied tenure at DePaul is simply unforgivable. It is an example of what these arrogant American-Zionists are capable of doing to anyone, Jewish or not, who questions their Theocratic agenda.

[jhNY]

The word "whined" used here to describe Matory's complaint to the Harvard faculty, is unfortunately and irredeemably tasteless, and reminds me of accounts in certain German newspapers from bygone days purporting to describe the obnoxious complaints of an oppressed minority within the Fatherland, at least until such time as they were transported out by train. You'd think a scholar of anti-Semitism would have seen the parallel and edited himself with a bit more care.

[ptarantino]

There is no other country in the world that has it's own word (anti-semite) if it is criticized..

[ajax2]

"... when they criticize Israel at Harvard and other American universities? ... what's going on on college campuses today where Israel-bashing is rampant among hard left faculty and students."

Why is criticizing Israel 'Israel-bashing'?
I criticize all the time to improve people and things, myself.
Why do you call faculty and students who criticize Israel 'hard left'?
Why wouldn't people throughout the political spectrum partake in political criticism?
Could you define 'hard left' in more right wing terms for us? Don't hold back.

[sonofloud]

Israel knows all about denying free speech.....just ask the Palestinians!

[bethinCary]

Sorry Mr Dershowitz-but you are just as guilty.
You try to paint this as an anti-semite/semite black/white story.Theres' more to it-and you know it.
You are being very dishonest by not ackknowledging the neocons and our foreign policy in the Mideast concerning Israel-not to mention how much foreign aid $$ Israel gets from us as SERIOUSLY FLAWED.
Most of Americans (70%) are against this war-yet they are being ignored for the neocon agenda.
If you want to blame anyone for the anti-Israel speech-you need to look at the war-mongering neocon stance (or roughly 1% of the population)---when the rest of the 99% of Americans are not representative of this neocon viewpoint and are not being recognized policy-wise,media-wise,...
We have freedom of religion in this country-and we respect the rights of muslims to practice that here. Americans are sick of having Mideast politics playout in this country-when we have our own very serious own problems which very much need addressing.

[gulopartisan]

Orwell would love the favorite tactic of neocon demagogues: accusing people of precisely their own sins. I have not read a word about any academic denied tenure, suspended, or fired for his pro-Israel positions. The list of violations of academic freedom to assault professors of Muslim topics -- regardless of their politics -- in the name of intellectual ethnic cleansing in our universities, is growing. And saying the attack is led by Muslim-hating Jews can only be called "anti-Semite" if one has a great sense of irony.

Dershowitz is playing the wornout, however authentic, persecution card. In this case, the result is another stupid, self-serving fantasy, like the dominance of "the liberal media" and the "intellectual elite" in their "liberal limos." Dershowitz himself has violated academic courtesy in order to persecute and silence critics of Israel, so of course the best defense is to claim the opposite is the case.

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

Dershowitz said:
" But a Harvard professor named J. Lorand Matory who teaches anthropology and Afro-American studies, whined to the Harvard faculty last week that he "tremble[s] in fear" whenever he criticizes Israel.

If it is your opinion he is a "whiner", then one must see you as a "sniveler" IN COMPARISON.

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

NO AID TO ISRAEL.
KEEP OUT OF ENTANGLING ALLIANCES.

We have no National interest with Israel...
Anyone who says different is confused or misled.
This democracy is nothing like ours.
Our founding fathers warned of these relationships.

Mr. Dershowitz should not be considered before our own founding fathers.

You have the right to be heard, Mr. D..
But a man like Noam Chomsky, you will never, EVER, be.

His name should not even be placed in the same sentence with your words.
Send all the money you have to Israel, but do not expect the American taxpayer to do the same.
Do not expect support, because you will not find it.
Ours is a support of our own, for our own, to help our own.
Israel has received enough.

You have proven yourself ignorant to the feelings of the American population.
This has been your demise.

Noam Chomsky has debunked all your claims and rendered you irrelevant.

[FogBelter]

Mr. Dershowitz, with all do respect, I must be honest with you. All my life I have heard about the plight of Israel, and then I heard of the plight of the Palestinians ... and back and forth and forth and back ... and crimes on this side and crimes on that side ... and then I thought.

The people in Central America had it pretty bad, and the people of South America as well. The people of Burma and North Korea, and Cambodia and Vietnam have had it bad. The native Americans, the Filipinos, the Mexicans have had it bad. The people of the Soviet Union have had it bad, The Chinese have had it bad ... and I can't think of a time when the people of sub-saharan Africa HAVEN'T had it bad.

Mr. Dershowitz ... misery is the baseline for most human beings. There is nothing special about the strife endured by the Israelies or the Palestinians.

Nothing special at all. Except for the fact, like a never ending white noise ... I have to hear one side or the other complain how miserably they are being treated.

Frankly, I don't care about either side, or the miserable sliver of dirt they both claim because it is featured prominently in the pages of some archaic fantasy ... I just don't care.

Too much valuable time has been has been wasted on this tedious issue ... lets devote our time to the problems of the United States and the rest of the World first, and come back to the Israel/Palestine issue when the people living there stop acting like petulant children.

But I do promise you this, Mr Dershowitz, next time someone breaks into an Anti-Israel tirade I will look them in the eye and tell them directly:

"Whether you are right or wrong ... I could care less."

[Advocate123]

In Undergrad, I was once what could only be considered a Liberal.

Much of it had to do with the fact that I NEVER once heard opposing viewpoints, or if I did, they were represented in such a poor light that no thoughtful person could support the Right's ideology.

Deep down, however, I always knew I was missing something.

After I graduated, my real studies began.

I became significantly more self-educated, well-read, and learned much more than I ever could at my top-ranked University.

Consequently, my political views swung almost in the other direction.

The amount of anger I feel now knowing that my Professors were taking advantage of me at a time when I did not have the tools to debate them intellectually is immense.

Sadly, many great minds are being brainwashed as we speak without consideration for what a real education brings: An honest debate of both sides of every issue.

Advocate123
http://copiousdissent.blogspot.com

[DontSpin]

I don't appreciate the term "anti-Israel" as you have used used in your title just as I don't like the term "pro-Israel." They are both absolutist terms that imply that you either unequivocally support or oppose Israel. Such terminology blurs the line and distorts the position of those who are critical of only certain policies of Israel, but certainly do not oppose its right to exist. But seeing this term come from you, Mr. Dershowitz, I know the pro-everything-Israel-does types like you use this term knowingly and precisely to dumb down an issue that is a whole lot more complicated than anything that could be described with a "pro" or "anti."

[OTOH]

Alan Dershowitz mixes apples and oranges (which is what a good litigation lawyer is trained to do, of course). The cases he objects to (Bollinger at Columbia, Summers at Harvard, and even Kissinger at Columbia) are not about free speech. Bollinger was addressing the Iranian visitor as the university's president -- and, therefore, as representing the university. He was not just speaking his mind as just an individual professor. This is what Foner objected to -- Columbia's representation by Bollinger, which Foner claimed did not represent the true sense of the university. The same applied to Summers as president of Harvard -- though he, if I am not mistaken, was criticized for trying to suppress free speech by professors, which is worse. Prof. Dewrshowitz shows that he understands the distinction of president vs. academic when he complains that Summers was not allowed to speak at Berkeley even "as a mere professor" -- but he ignores it where it counts.

As many have pointed out, free speech does not necessarily mean automatic access to a pulpit. Members of an organization have, and often exercise, a right to try to control the pulpit that their organization offers. (Talk to Tony Judt about this, too -- though that would be inconvenient for Prof. D's case). Trying to keep specific speakers away from certain events (something all political sides do) is not the same as suppressing free speech.

So Prof. Dershowitz has presented here a misleading depiction of the cases he discusses -- like the good lawyer that he is.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Well, Alan, I by no means consider myself to
be a middle east scholar, but at the same time
I have kind of been reading along in the papers
here and there for the last couple of decades,
more closely these last 5 years, and I have
this to say: Free speech doesn't necessarily
produce a given desired result. Sometimes,
as in Ted Kennedy's case, free speech not only
ISN'T free, I understand he's doing speaking
gigs for money, now, that's compensated speech,
there, anyway, Teddy's oratories are also
an as-yet unexploited source of alternative
energy. Hot air rises, and stuff, so if
you like, put one of those windmill things
over him, you could probably power a major
american city. Timing would be important,
so you'd have to keep several stacks of
speeches nearby in order to enable him
to maintain a steady airflow of uniform
temperature, but he's not the only hot
air artist out there, we've heard speeches
and speeches and more speeches, well, I'll
use a little of mine and ask a question:
When are you guys finally going to fix your
borders? I think the sooner they all decide
where their border things are, the sooner
everyone will go back to doing something else.
Another idea I'm a big fan of is us, the US,
really going whole-hog into the green-tech.
The sun shines 12 hours or so per day, if
we can learn to make better use of that,
then likely we'll burn less coal and oil
and stuff. Heck, a solar-illuminated/heated
home and a Honda Civic with a 5-speed, and
you're most of the way to being able to
kiss off foreign oil altogether. Especially
if it's got that motor with the E85 capability.
That stuff just ROCKS. Make your own booze,
blend your own fuel at home, NO imports
necessary! Woohoo!