A University professor has resolved a long process to clear his name of bias charges. Adjunct sociology professor Douglas Card recently settled a libel lawsuit against New York Post columnists Daniel Pipes and Jonathan Schanzer. Card said the terms of the settlement
are confidential.
Card said he feels like, “I got the weight of the world off my shoulders.”
Card filed the lawsuit in 2003, after Pipes and Schanzer published an article in June, 2002 titled “Extremists on Campus,” that claimed Card had made anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli statements in his “Social Inequality” class. Pipes has written extensively on the Middle East and is the director of the Middle East
Forum and a President Bush appointee to the U.S. Institute of Peace. Schanzer is a Middle East scholar, currently at The Washington Institute specializing in radical Islamic movements.
According to the columnists’ article, a student claimed Card would “bash Israel and Jews at every opportunity.” Card also reportedly called Israel “a terrorist state” and Israelis “baby-killers” during the class, and said Israel “stole land” in the class’ final exam.
As part of the settlement, Pipes and Schanzer wrote a joint statement stating that they now believe that Card “does not condone extremism in the classroom.” The columnists’ conclusion is based on their assessment of Card’s final exam, his condemnation of anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and “professors who use their classrooms to promote anti-Semitic and anti-Israel beliefs,” and Card’s recognition of “the danger of espousing such views — particularly on university campuses,” according to the statement. Card said
he had “hated anti-Semitism
all my life,” in a Sept. 29, 2003
Emerald article.
Card gave Pipes and Schanzer the exam in question and “they have found that the exam does not state that Israel stole land,” according to the statement.
The joint statement is linked to the article on Pipes’ Web site, www.danielpipes.org.
“If Mr. Pipes and I can reach a compromise, there may really be hope for Israel and Palestinians to reach a just settlement,” Card said in a press release.
Card said he tried to get the columnists to retract their statements before he filed the suit. Several members of the campus and the local Jewish communities also spoke out in Card’s support.
But Pipes and Schanzer initially stood by their statements, stating in a 2002 letter to the Jewish Review, a Portland newsletter, that Card had not fulfilled their requests to warrant a retraction. One of the requests was providing them with a copy of the contentious final exam.
After the suit was filed in a Lane County Circuit Court, Pipes and Schanzer had it moved to the U.S. District Court in Eugene where they sought to dismiss it on procedural grounds, according to the release. The motion was granted, leading Card to appeal the decision in the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, before the case was settled.
Card said the charges troubled him especially when he was accused of forcing students to agree with him.
“That’s really frightful,” he said. “They don’t have to agree with anything I say.”
He said even when facts are presented in controversial issues, people may disagree on the details. However, professors must try to obtain objectivity at all times in
the classroom.
“The key thing is to stick to the facts and show both sides,” he said.
In the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is vital to examine both groups’ position fairly, he said.
In his classes, Card said he goes so far as to bring in guest speakers to present different views.
“We are professors, and a professor’s job is to be objective,” he said.
Card also stressed the need for academic freedom, saying faculty should not feel intimidated about speaking on controversial issues.
“I think that the issue of academic freedom during this time of political crises is extremely important,” he said.

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