I don’t pretend to have made any sort of breakthrough statement in the title of this post. Indeed, we know all too well the lengths to which Israel’s supporters have gone to stifle academic debate and discussion. Time and time again, those who dare to speak out against the state of Israel are labelled ‘anti-Semitic’ (a misleading term of which there is no equivalent to address other forms of prejudice), and their careers suffer. Those who condemn Israel are depicted as Jew-haters and dismissed as hardline bigots, even when they speak in the voice of reason. No matter how often people try to reinforce the notion that Zionism and Judaism are separate, the message does not seem to get through. Openly criticizing the state of Israel leaves one vulnerable to the type of vilification that is not only a detriment to academia but the the rest of us as well.
A perfect example of this was recently brought to my attention by someone close to me who is studying for her PhD at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I could try to explain it all to you, but she does just fine. Please take a look.
UCSB has become the latest front in the war against Academic Freedom. Professor William I. Robinson, a Sociology and Global Studies professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been attacked by the Anti-Defamation League and two of his former students. In January of this year, he forwarded an email condemning the Israeli attacks on Gaza. The email contained an editorial by a Jewish journalist condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza as well as juxtaposed images of Nazi atrocities with congruent images of Israeli atrocities against Palestinians. The email was an optional read for students, intended to spark conversation by relating contemporary events to conceptual ideas discussed in class.
One week later, the ADL wrote him a letter charging him with anti-Semitism and sundry violations of the Faculty Code of Conduct (none of which were coherent claims). Another week passed, and the Academic Senate Charges Officer then notified him that two of the students in the class to which he circulated the email had filed complaints against him.
The complaints are that 1) critique of Israel is evidence of anti-Semitism and 2) the Israeli-Palestinian issue should not be discussed in a class on Globalization. This case has already escalated way too far. Throughout the process, the Charges Officer violated several elements of the charges procedure, shirked his responsibilities, and ultimately acted as a co-complainant by fabricating charges that were not raised by the students. The charges have reached the Committee on Committees, which is now in the process of convening an ad hoc Charges Committee to assess the complaints against Professor Robinson.
Based on patently absurd and malicious claims, the charges should have been dismissed out of hand from the beginning. Further consideration of the charges by the Academic Senate serves only to sanction politically-motivated attacks on academic freedom. The longer this case is pursued, the worse its chilling effect; it will spread fear among those who wish to present controversial and critical subjects. Even though the original complaint is regarding Israel/Palestine, the rights at stake extend beyond this specific topic. Academic freedom is a right that enables scholars to express diverse perspectives over contentious topics, free from the intimidation of political repression campaigns. If the case against Professor Robinson continues to go forward, it will lead down a slippery slope that may expose academics to repression tactics for addressing controversial issues such as stem cell research, evolution, feminism, LGBT rights, etc. It is incumbent upon members of the UCSB campus and the broader academy to roundly oppose this silencing campaign.
This is an obvious attack on Professor Robinson’s academic freedom, one that ominously recalls similar campaigns against other critics of Israel across the nation. This is part of a broader campaign to automatically vilify and attack any and all critiques of Israel’s policies and practices through unfounded use of the term “anti-Semitic.” A critique of the Israeli state, its policies, and the leaders responsible is not and should not be considered an affront to Jewish people as a collective, the Jewish religion, or Jewish heritage. In fact, conflating the state of Israel with the Jewish people essentializes the assorted political opinions of a diverse religious group by reducing them to the set of policies espoused by the prevailing regime.
We need your help! Please scroll below and follow the instructions to 1) email the UCSB Chancellor and responsible authorities on campus to express your outrage and register your protest, and 2) sign the petition.
Please visit our website for more information on the case, including continuing updates, at: http://sb4af.wordpress.com.
If you wish to contact the student campaign, please email: cdaf.ucsb@gmail.com.
Thank you for your time,
Committee to Defend Academic Freedom at UC Santa Barbara
Send an Email:
It should be addressed to UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang and cc’d to the faculty and administrators involved in the case. Please copy and paste the following addresses:
To: henry.yang@chancellor.ucsb.edu
CC: mgscharl@math.ucsb.edu, gene.lucas@evc.ucsb.edu, moliver@ltsc.ucsb.edu,
mazer@lifesci.ucsb.edu, joel@geog.ucsb.edu, joel.michaelsen@senate.ucsb.edu,
sarah@isber.ucsb.edu, butler@chem.ucsb.edu, scott@theaterdance.ucsb.edu,
hcallus@music.ucsb.edu, gaulin@anth.ucsb.edu, spieker@gss.ucsb.edu,
stemmer@mrl.ucsb.edu, caselle@lifesci.ucsb.edu, goulias@geog.ucsb.edu,
amar@lawso.ucsb.edu, Stephanie.smagala@senate.ucsb.edu, ettenberg@psych.ucsb.edu,
hualee@ece.ucsb.edu, mithun@linguistics.ucsb.edu, zok@engineering.ucsb.edu,
helen.henry@ucr.edu, cdaf.ucsb@gmail.com
To Whom It May Concern,
I am a dismayed [undergraduate/graduate/alumna/faculty member] at [your university] writing you to express support for Sociology and Global Studies Professor William I. Robinson. As you may know, Professor Robinson and academic freedom have come under recent attack on the UCSB campus. Toward the end of February 2009, Professor Robinson received notice from the Academic Senate’s Charges Committee that two of his students had filed charges against him. The students alleged that an email forward he’d circulated to his class, criticizing Israel’s then-ongoing siege on Gaza, comprised anti-Semitism. These charges are patently absurd and should be dismissed out of hand before further damage is done to the university’s purpose and reputation.
I demand the immediate dismissal of all of the charges against Professor Robinson as frivolous, unfounded, and malicious. Any further consideration of these baseless attacks is unacceptable. I join other students an
d faculty in pledging that we will not accept any resolution of this matter that is unfavorable to Professor Robinson and academic freedom.
I also insist that the attack on Professor Robinson’s academic freedom, one that ominously recalls similar campaigns against other critical academics across the nation, be publicly condemned. This condemnation is essential to preserve full and fair discussion within the most important of the U.S.’s civic institutions. Any genuine consideration of these absurd attacks will have a severe chilling effect on the production and dissemination of scholarly research in all disciplines. Further, the attacks must be condemned to protect faculty and students from wasting valuable time and energy defending themselves against frivolous allegations and political repression.
In fact, a critique of the Israeli state, its policies, and the leaders responsible is not and should not be considered an affront to Jewish people as a collective, the Jewish religion, or Jewish heritage. Conflating the state of Israel with the Jewish people essentializes the assorted political opinions of a diverse religious group by reducing them to the set of policies espoused by the prevailing regime. The charge of anti-Semitism is made in bad faith; its real purpose is to automatically vilify and stifle any honest critiques of the state of Israel’s policies and practices.
[Insert personal message]
Sincerely,
[your name and contact information]
Related posts:
- Short Documentary on Academic Freedom
- Guest Post: A Pick ‘N’ Choose Freedom of Speech
- On Academic Boycotts — Papers from the Cancelled Conference
- Good Rhetorical Question on Israeli Impunity. Edward Said Strikes Again.
- Israeli Apartheid Week
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