By Ron David
On a global scale, it makes sense to focus
on the Israel Lobby’s impact on U.S. foreign
policy. When it comes to the everyday lives
and freedoms of Americans, however, the
Lobby’s greatest threat is its ravaging of
our domestic institutions. Three almost
simultaneous assaults on academic
freedom—at DePaul University, St.
Thomas University and the University of
Michigan—make that point inescapably clear.
Indeed, having so menacingly insinuated its
agenda, the Lobby need not even announce
its presence. Its very existence caused one
university (St. Thomas) to succumb before
it was even threatened!
Overcoming Zionism at
the University of Michigan
In its August newsletter, the Michigan chapter
of the pro-Israel organization StandWithUs
invited Islamaphobe CampusWatch founder
Daniel Pipes to speak on Michigan campuses;
attacked the book Overcoming Zionism
(available from the AET Book Club); and
urged its members to send letters and e-
mails demanding that the University of
Michigan Press (UMPress) stop distributing
the book, published in the UK by Pluto Press.
UMPress, it should be noted, has distributed
the independent publisher’s 400 titles for the
past four years, generating no complaints.
In typical fashion, StandWithUs described
Overcoming Zionism as “anti-Jewish,”
“Israel-hating” and “unscholarly,” and hurled
a dozen other obfuscating insults. What it
really hated, however, was (Jewish) author
Joel Kovel’s elegantly reasoned contention
that Zionism has created an apartheid-like
racist state in Israel and that the only solution
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a single,
secular, democratic state.
To the astonishment of everyone who respected
the university, UMPress announced it would
immediately suspend distribution not only of
Overcoming Zionism, but of all Pluto Press
books. In the words of Pluto Press chairman
Roger van Zwanenberg, “We are a small and
vulnerable publishing company in a world of
well-financed organizations, many of which are
determined to silence our authors.
“Many presses in the United States are frightened
of the pressures the Lobby can place on them,” he
pointed out. “We get authors from the United States
precisely because they can’t obtain adequate
representation elsewhere, and we have a good
reputation for scholarly work on the subject of
Israel and Palestine. We probably have the best
collections of any university press in that area.”
In September, the university came to its
senses and released a statement un-banning the
book and the publisher. Finally, on Oct. 22, UM
Press issued a statement saying its executive board
had “unanimously agreed to continue the distribution
contract between the University of Michigan
Press and Pluto Press under existing contract
terms.”
One week later, on Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy
Now,” host Amy Goodman interviewed Kovel, who
explained that he wrote Overcoming Zionism to
open up the discussion on the idea of a single
democratic state in Israel/Palestine.
Acknowledging that the idea currently has
“very small support,” Kovel described it as
a “strategic goal.”
Toward that end, Kovel announced the
formation of the Committee for Open
Discussion of Zionism (<www.codz.org>),
and said a “high-profile” conference is being
planned for early next year in New York.
In Defense of
Academic Freedom
In the aftermath of Prof. Norman Finkelstein’s
denial of tenure by and subsequent settlement
with DePaul University, top intellectuals met
Oct. 12 in Chicago to discuss the assault on
academic freedom by organizations mobilized
to suppress criticism of Israel’s policies. The
one-day symposium featured scholars who
had been pressured by their universities or
by the publishing industry. Participating were
Tariq Ali (Verso Books), Akeel Bilgrami
(Columbia University), Noam Chomsky
(MIT), Tony Judt (Remarque Institute,
NYU), John Mearsheimer (University of
Chicago), Neve Gordon (Ben Gurion
University), Finkelstein, and Mehrene
Larudee (DePaul University).
American academics are unprotected because
they don’t have a union and they lack
cohesiveness, Judt and Gordon pointed
out. Unfortunately, nobody on the panel
suggested that they act as a unified group
to protect each other—despite the fact that
Larudee is still on suspension because she
had publicly supported Finkelstein.
Zionist-Induced
Self-Censorship
The Justice and Peace Studies Program at
St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota
was forced to cancel an appearance by
Archbishop Desmond Tutu after university
president Father Dennis Dease decided against
allowing the Nobel Peace Laureate to speak on
campus. The administrator made his decision
after consulting with a single representative
from the local Jewish Community Relations
Council and several rabbis affiliated with the
university.
In another instance of coming to one’s senses,
Father Dease subsequently reversed and
apologized for his initial decision and re-invited
Archbishop Tutu. However, he failed to rescind
his firing of Prof. Cris Toffolo, chair of the Justice
and Peace Studies Program.
Speaking Oct. 27 at a Boston conference on
“The Apartheid Paradigm in Palestine-Israel”
sponsored by Friends of Sabeel-North America,
the South African cleric said he accepted Father
Dease’s “warm apology” but would not appear at
the university until Toffolo is reinstated and her
record cleared.
Dershowitz Counts
to Four
Finally (so far), an Oct. 30 Oxford Union debate
was held as scheduled—but without any of the
speakers present. Speech-stifler and Harvard
Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, along with
Peace Now UK co-chair Paul Usiskin, protested
when Norman Finkelstein was asked to join the
three supporters of the motion “This House
believes that one state is the only solution to
the Israel-Palestinian conflict.” Along with
Northern Irish politician Lord Trimble,
Dershowitz and Usiskin were scheduled to
debate Israelis Avi Shlaim and Ilan Pappé
and Palestinian writer Ghada Karmi. But
when Dershowitz’s nemesis Finkelstein was
added to the debators, Big Al picked up his
marbles and went home in a huff.
Ron David is the author of Arabs and Israel
for Beginners, available from the AET Book Club.
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