When civil liberties are limited by the federal government, academia often is an early target. So it is logical to ask on this campus: from what does “academic freedom” have to be protected? The threats never have been more pronounced than today, according to a recent Associated Press article. The article suggested higher education is facing a simultaneous effort by a loose coalition of attackers — politically conservative extremists, Christian fundamentalists and Israeli lobbyists.
Many of us safe in the shelter of Oregon mistakenly identify such critics as “cranks.” They supposedly are all “out there somewhere,” as in the case of discredited New York Post columnist Daniel Pipes. He wrongly accused University instructor Doug Card of teaching anti-Semitism in his sociology classes.
Some of us are awakening to the unhappy reality that Pipes clones are alive and flourishing in our midst. I faced it when an out-of-control University professor screamed at me during a public reception, “You dirty anti-Semite!” There was something about me she did not know: I twice have published commentaries in defense of exploited Jews.
The anti-Semitism issue at the
University serves as a microcosm of the broader threat. Pipes exploited propaganda value by getting Card to publicly condemn anti-Semitism, as if the professor harbored secret views to the contrary. He also got him to condemn professors who use their classrooms to promote anti-Semitism, as if that were some common cancer on the campus.
This allowed Pipes to mislead the public about alleged anti-Semitism by college teachers. That fits in with what I’ve observed of Pipes’ efforts to create a culture of suspicion in society, stemming from instructions given nationwide for letters-to-the-editor to be written to label anyone who criticizes policies of Israel as anti-Semitic.
A related controversy now involves the Pacifica Forum on the University campus. A year ago, one of our guests went to our sponsor, the Wesley Foundation, accusing Pacifica of having anti-Semitic programs. We were asked by the Foundation to find another location. Pacifica was given no opportunity to confront its accuser. Whether or not the charge was unfounded, the sponsor wished to risk no “complications,” and Pacifica had to leave.
It returned to campus to meet on Fridays in the Erb Memorial Union, a privilege given because the Survival Center generously gave nominal sponsorship to Pacifica. Within weeks, the accuser confronted the student board of the Center with the same groundless charges. The Center reacted without exploring with Pacifica the validity of the complaint. When Pacifica was granted a brief meeting with the board, the students said their decision was based on a Pacifica exhibit pamphlet which suggested some Jews were guilty of self-victimization.
Did Pacifica endorse that claim? Or was it in the exhibit to illustrate demonizing of Jews, which Pacifica opposes? The Center will never know, because it did not ask. It was reacting to intimidation. The facts made no difference. There was no smallness on the part of the sponsors in evicting Pacifica Forum. There was fear — fear of further pressure from a tiny minority who allege discrimination even in the absence of provocation.
The strategy is to reject dialogue, a means fine-tuned by the propaganda of Pipes and his fellows who seek to insulate Israel from criticism coming from any source. Professor Card and the Pacifica Forum are among local victims of that panic-mongering. The true victim is freedom of expression made voiceless when attacked with the weapon of fear by those with self-serving motives.
George Beres lives in Eugene
