Campus Watch reports the following from November 25 – December 1, 2019:
We Couldn’t Have Said it Better
“If misinformation is both a cause and a consequence of political passion, then good teaching is the antidote. Good teaching, in turn, requires the presence on campus of scholars who exemplify both academic excellence and nonpartisan professionalism. And it requires students that are unwilling to permit their political passions to get in the way of a good education.”
Ron Hassner, Helen Diller Family Chair in Israel Studies at UC Berkeley, on the results of his survey of 230 UC Berkeley undergraduates, which showed that the most passionate students about the “Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories” were the most uninformed about the subject and overconfident; The Times of Israel, November 25, 2019.
Link: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/passion-ignorance-and-teaching-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/
Campus Watch in the Media
U. of Pennsylvania prof Ian Lustick on the Duke/UNC/DoE controversy; claims Campus Watch and the Middle East Forum are among groups “known for intimidation and smear campaigns against scholars and students whose views they oppose": https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59992/the-trump-administration-is-using-accusations
Middle East Studies in the News
Legal Insurrection’s Samantha Mandeles (formerly of MEF) on getting thrown out of an American Muslims for Palestine conference in Chicago (incl. UC Berkeley’s Hatem Bazian, Temple U’s Marc Lamont Hill): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/60007/fearing-negative-coverage-american-muslims-for
On CSU San Bernardino’s Center for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (CIMES) hosting a screening of the anti-Israel film “The Tower” (incl. CIMES director Ahlam Muhtaseb): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/60002/bringing-a-palestinian-refugee-camp-reality-to
IDF veteran and Columbia U. student Marc Cohen on Rutgers prof Noura Erakat’s speech at Columbia Law School: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59991/noura-erakat-reinterpretation-of-the-israeli
Wisconsin Muslim Journal review of Duke prof Omid Safi’s book, Progressive Muslims on Justice, Gender and Pluralism [incl. U. of Notre Dame’s Ebrahim Moosa, UCLA’s Khaled Abou El Fadl): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59993/irc-book-review-progressive-muslims-on-justice
In response to Columbia U. Islamic studies M.A. applicants to have a dual program in the field of Islamic studies, a collaboration between the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London is established: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59976/university-senate-addresses-lack-of-housing-for
On the alleged similarity of Jared Kushner’s “Peace to Prosperity” Middle East peace plan to the late Martin Luther King Jr’s “vision for co-existence” (quotes Randolph-Macon College prof Michael Fischbach): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59975/kushner-peace-plan-reflects-martin-luther-king
On Ron Hassner, Helen Diller Family Chair in Israel Studies at UC Berkeley, surveying Berkeley undergraduates and finding that the most passionate students about the Arab-Israeli conflict were the most uninformed and overconfident:
The Times of Israel (Hassner’s op-ed on the results): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59986/passion-ignorance-and-teaching-the-israeli
The Algemeiner: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59985/in-survey-uc-berkeley-prof-finds-most-students
Israellycool Blog: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/60008/berkeley-professor-survey-findings-confirm
Fousesquawk (blog of Gary Fouse): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/60011/berkeley-survey-proves-what-weve-known-all-along
The Jewish Press: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/60009/uc-berkeley-students-who-support-palestine-have
One News Now: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/60010/most-pro-bds-uc-berkeley-students-cant-find
On UNC agreeing to a resolution with the Dept of Education over an anti-Semitism complaint filed by the ZOA and concerning a March Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle Eastern Studies-sponsored conference on Gaza:
The Jerusalem Post (Mort Klein): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/60000/what-zoa-legal-victory-at-unc-means-for-jewish
The College Fix: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59998/unc-pledges-to-crack-down-on-anti-semitism-to-end
The Hill: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/60001/education-dept-orders-unc-to-adjust-policies
National Review: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59996/education-department-orders-university-of-north
AP: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59995/unc-to-update-policies-following-complaint
Chapelboro WCHL (Chapel Hill, NC): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59994/department-of-education-resolves-complaint
JNS: https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59978/in-resolution-with-federal-education-department
The Daily Tar Heel (University of North Carolina): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59997/agreement-between-unc-and-education-department
ABC11 WTVD (North Carolina): https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59997/agreement-between-unc-and-education-department
