Campus Watch reports the following from November 16 - 23, 2019:
Howler of the Month
“She [Sarah Ihmoud] has maintained an academically fair and balanced view of Israeli-Palestinian issues. I applaud the WGS [Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program] for hiring a highly intelligent and capable young professor who fits the diversity profile advocated by our Provost at Boston University.”
Shahla Haeri, a Boston University (BU) professor, on BU postdoctoral associate Sarah Ihmoud, whom the WGS Program is considering for a position based on writings in which Ihmoud falsely accuses Israel of the “rape and killing of Palestinian women” and “systematic massacres,” and Jewish women of experiencing “sexualized pleasure” while watching the IDF bomb Palestinian civilians; The Daily Free Press, November 15, 2019.
Middle East Studies in the News
Petra Marquardt-Bigman on U. of Pennsylvania prof Ian Lustick’s new book and the concept of “Holocaustia": https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59960/the-unpacking-of-holocaustia-on-ian-lustick
Retired Boston U. prof and Chair of the Council of Scholars at SPME, Richard Landes, sends an open letter to BU President Robert Brown warning against hiring anti-Israel postdoc Sarah Ihmoud (incl. the late Augustus Richard Norton): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59928/open-letter-to-president-robert-a-brown-of-boston
UC Berkeley Democrat student group hosts event “to counter” Ann Coulter’s campus speech (incl. Hatem Bazian): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59966/cal-berkeley-democrats-host-speakers-open-space
Anti-Israel students protest a Middle Eastern Studies Department-co-sponsored lecture by Ishmael Khaldi, Israel’s first Bedouin diplomat, at Middlebury College: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59962/students-protest-human-rights-abuses-in-palestine
UNC agrees to a resolution with the Dept of Education over an anti-Semitism complaint concerning a March Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle Eastern Studies-sponsored conference on Gaza: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59927/university-of-north-carolina-expresses
Clark U. prof Taner Akcam’s acceptance speech upon being honored with the Armenian National Committee of America-Eastern Region’s Freedom Award: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59950/dr-akcam-genocide-recognition-is-necessary-for
Southern Methodist U. adjunct Omar Suleiman speaks at the 10th John Hope Franklin Center Dinner of Reconciliation in Oklahoma: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59954/tulsa-demonstrates-inclusiveness-as-it-seeks-true
On studying Arabic at Yale U. and beyond amid the “militarization of language study” (references the DoE investigation into the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59951/critical-language-incl-christopher-stone
On Yale prof Tauhid Zaman’s research into using “machine learning” to predict which Twitter users are likely to become jihadists (incl. Brandeis U. prof Jytte Klausen): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59961/how-machine-learning-can-find-extremists-on
Articles on American U. prof Akbar Ahmed:
The Express Tribune (Pakistan): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59964/journey-into-america-re-release-on-akbar-ahmed
Daily Times (Pakistan): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59942/dialogue-over-difference-incl-akbar-ahmed
Moonlighters
Melissa Landa on the “campus war against the Jews” (incl. Rutgers’ Jasbir Puar, Temple U’s Marc Lamont Hill, Swarthmore College’s Sa’ed Atshan): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59968/the-campus-war-against-the-jews-incl-jasbir-puar
Indiana University Bloomington won’t fire a professor for offensive tweets due to the First Amendment (incl. Steven Salaita): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59965/our-professor-views-are-vile-university-says-but
On a scheduled talk on Kashmiri Pandits at Rutgers U. by Indian filmmaker and author Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri that was postponed due to opposition (incl. Sylvia Chan Malik):
The American Bazaar: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59967/indian-author-vivek-agnihotri-talk-on-kashmiri
OpIndia: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59956/islamists-and-leftists-outraged-as-rutgers
On UC Riverside prof Reza Aslan’s podcast with actor Rainn Wilson, “Metaphysical Milkshake":
Forbes: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59955/interview-rainn-wilson-and-reza-aslan-talk
Pittsburgh City Paper: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59963/metaphysical-milkshake-is-an-opportunity-to-go
Articles on anti-Zionist speakers at Oberlin College, including Norman Finkelstein:
JNS (incl. Rutgers prof Noura Erakat): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59943/oberlin-cementing-its-reputation-as-a-school-gone
The Algemeiner: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59944/at-oberlin-and-elsewhere-anti-zionism-is-not
Also incl. Norman Finkelstein:
The Varsity (University of Toronto) on the state of free speech on campuses: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59937/ford-government-releases-annual-report-on-freedom
Articles that include U. of Detroit-Mercy prof Amer Zahr:
The Detroit News: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59952/whitmer-trip-to-israel-draws-criticism-as-gov
JNS: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59959/doubt-lingers-about-adl-ability-to-fight-anti
