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NCA April, 2005 Monthly Bulletin<br><br>
In Support of Academic Freedom and Professor Joseph Massad<br>
A Statement from the Defense of Civil Rights in Academia (DCRA)
Project<br><br>
The following is a statement from the Defense of Civil Rights in Academia
<br>
(DCRA) Project in support of academic freedom and distinguished Columbia
<br>
University professor Joseph Massad. The statement was issued in
response to <br>
Columbia University Faculty Ad Hoc Grievance Committee Report about <br>
allegations against professor Massad and other faculty members. For
a <br>
significant period, professors at Columbia University who are critical of
<br>
Israeli practices and US foreign policy have been targeted by a
systematic <br>
ultra-right campaign of slander and defamation. Classes have been
<br>
videotaped and “visitors” have been monitoring lectures resulting in
<br>
blacklisting professors. <br><br>
The assault on academic freedom at Columbia University, which has placed
<br>
Arab American professors as its primary targets, has reached a new high.
It <br>
is being viewed by neo-cons as their test case for a national campaign of
<br>
intimidation.<br><br>
We urge you to send a letter of support of academic freedom and professor
<br>
Massad to Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger at: <br>
bollinger@columbia.edu.<br><br>
Additional information and links are found at the end of this statement.
To <br>
find out more about the DCRA, please visit: <br><br>
<a href="http://arab-american.net/Civil_Rights/Campus/campus.html" eudora="autourl">
http://arab-american.net/Civil_Rights/Campus/campus.html<br><br>
</a>Text of Statement:<br><br>
The Defense of Civil Rights in Academia (DCRA*) project stands in support
of <br>
professor Joseph Massad and professor George Saliba of Columbia
University. <br>
We are deeply concerned about the actions of Columbia University <br>
administration that have recently culminated in the report of its
appointed <br>
ad-hoc Grievance Committee. The ad-hoc committee was established
<br>
to “identify cases where there appear to be violations of the obligation
to <br>
create a civil and tolerant teaching environment in which opposing views
can <br>
be expressed.” <br><br>
DCRA members nationwide, including faculty, staff and students, have long
<br>
been outraged by the vicious and slanderous attacks on the work and <br>
character of professor Joseph Massad. These attacks have repeatedly
proven <br>
to be unfounded in the reality of work, research, publication and, most
<br>
importantly, teaching of professor Massad. These attacks are
clearly <br>
politically motivated targeting a professor’s distinguished teaching
history <br>
and academic contributions achievements that have earned him the <br>
tremendous support and admiration of his students, colleagues, and
scholars <br>
worldwide.<br><br>
The DCRA had anticipated that the administration of Columbia University
<br>
would take a strong stand against the systematic process of intimidation
of <br>
and slander against professor Massad and others that included planting
<br>
students to spy and the videotaping of professor Saliba’s lectures.
To our <br>
deepest regrets, however, the university administration has instead <br>
questionably adopted the construct of those intending to stifle discourse
<br>
and academic freedom.<br><br>
Needless to say, the attacks on Massad and Saliba are part of the larger
<br>
assault on Arab American faculty nationwide by an increasingly aggressive
<br>
neo-conservative trend. Similar attacks have recently targeted professor
<br>
Rashid Khalidi, also of Columbia University. These attacks are
consistent <br>
with the irresponsible campaign against the Arab and Muslim American
<br>
communities that have found a new high since September 11. Our
educators <br>
are increasingly placed under questionable scrutiny to further the goal
of <br>
limiting critical thinking. <br><br>
This censoring of personal and academic freedom threatens the very core
of <br>
academia and civil society - the very institutions that aim to create the
<br>
future citizens of this country. <br><br>
Particularly disturbing is the manner with which the administration at
<br>
Columbia including President Lee Bollinger, Provost Alan Brinkly, and
Vice <br>
President of Arts and Sciences Nicholas Dirks treated professor Massad in
<br>
the ensuing months. They have sadly failed to acknowledge the systemic
witch-<br>
hunt that has transpired. Instead of investigating hate mail
addressed to <br>
some of the leading scholars in their field and instead of protecting
<br>
campuses from so called ‘visitors’ that aim to spy on and curtail
critical <br>
thinking, they launched a charade of successive committees giving
credence <br>
to a politically motivated ultra-right fanatical campaign. Whereas
the <br>
university questioned the presumed motives of a distinguished professor
<br>
while teaching his classes, they failed to question motives of
politically <br>
charged students who filed alleged charges.<br><br>
Even though the committee did indicate that most of the matter before
them <br>
did not “constitute the basis for formal grievances,” there was no
apology <br>
given to professor Massad and there was no acknowledgement of the <br>
intimidation he went through leading him to cancel his course in
2004. <br>
Furthermore, there was no mention of the adverse and significant <br>
repercussions the permitted campaign of character assassination has on
his <br>
career. <br><br>
We, like professor Massad, believe that this was a coordinated campaign
from <br>
inside and outside the university targeting Massad’s person and career
based <br>
on his nationality and political views. The actions of the
administration <br>
at Columbia University - as they continue to target one professor after
<br>
another and as they allow intimidation and investigation of faculty - are
a <br>
disgrace to the academic institution and an attempt to push this society
<br>
back into a new era of McCarthyism.<br><br>
As a people who are today at the primary receiving end of the ravages of
<br>
war, racism and hate in their multiple forms, we declare our support to
<br>
superb intellectuals such as professors Massad and Saliba, whose academic
<br>
skill and caliber are beyond question. We stand with all those who
dare to <br>
speak and who aim to provide future generations the tools to engage the
<br>
world with courage and dignity. <br><br>
To download professor Joseph Massad’s statement to the University of
<br>
Columbia Ad-Hoc, click here: <br>
<a href="http://www.arab-american.net/pdffiles/Massad_Statement.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://www.arab-american.net/pdffiles/Massad_Statement.pdf<br><br>
</a>To read professor Joseph Massad’s article in Al-Ahram Weekly, click
here: <br>
<a href="http://arab-american.net/Civil_Rights/Campus/Massad/massad.html" eudora="autourl">
http://arab-american.net/Civil_Rights/Campus/Massad/massad.html<br><br>
</a>or visit Al-Ahram Weekly at:
<a href="http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/633/op2.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/633/op2.htm<br><br>
</a>*The national committee of the Defense of Civil Rights in Academia
(DCRA) is <br>
a project of the National Council of Arab Americans (NCA) that campaigns
to <br>
defend the academic freedom and constitutional rights of all people. To
find <br>
out more about the NCA, please visit:
<a href="http://www.arab-american.net/" eudora="autourl">
www.arab-american.net<br><br>
</a>List Subscription Information:<br>
To be removed from this list, please send a blank message to: <br>
unsubscribe@arab-american.net. To be added, please send a blank
message to <br>
subscribe@arab-american.net<br>
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