FYI. News worth sharing. I still remember when the Iraqi scholar was prevented
from entering the US to speak at a UW global health event. We should have had
an organized response against that as a university, students and faculty. We
should not let acts of such sort against educational efforts go unprotested, at
least. Just an idea! Hope such courage continues to inspire more courageous
stands for freedom, justice, solidarity, ...

Amineh


Hundreds of Canadian professors protest efforts to limit freedom of speech on
campuses in relation to Palestine

UNIVERSITY PROFS PROTEST THE SILENCING OF DEBATE ON CANADIAN CAMPUSES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 18, 2009

Hundreds of university professors across Canada are protesting deliberate
efforts to limit freedom of speech on campuses in relation to Palestine .

In an open letter released today they call on university presidents to respect
academic freedom and create a space for frank and open debate about the ongoing
conflict in the Middle East .


In a shocking article also released today, Lisa Schofield documents the
extraordinary efforts of the University of Toronto administration to shut down
Palestine solidarity activities on that campus in October 2008.


Through Freedom of Information, Schofield learned that in one week more than 250
pages of emails and other documents were generated for the purpose of stopping a
simple conference for students about Palestine solidarity organizing. The emails
were not only between U of T President David Naylor and other senior U of T
administrators, but also between U of T and McMaster administrators. "U of T
seems to have declared a full-fledged war against its Palestinian and
pro-Palestinian students," writes Schofield.


"The evidence uncovered by Schofield along with documented efforts at silencing
on other campuses amounts to an organized effort to shut down debate on one of
the most important issues of the day on many Canadian campuses, " said Alan
Sears, Professor of Sociology at Ryerson University and spokesperson for Faculty
4 Palestine, the sponsors of the letter.


The open letter by faculty is being released as student groups prepare for
campus events to mark the fifth annual Israeli Apartheid Week (March 1- March
8), which is intended to draw attention to the Israeli occupation of Palestine .
Efforts to mount events during this week have faced administrative obstacles on
a number of campuses in the past, including a failed attempt by McMaster
administration to ban the term "Israeli Apartheid" in February 2007. And this
past week, Carleton administration banned a poster promoting Israeli Apartheid
Week, and circulated* *a vaguely worded letter to the entire Carleton community
threatening indefinite expulsion for anyone contravening the university's equity
and human rights codes.


Faculty 4 Palestine finds this selective and ill-defined use of "equity" a
dangerous precedent, and is concerned that the administration is silencing
debate on controversial topics and singling out advocates of Palestinian rights
for unique discriminatory treatment


The open letter is issued by Faculty 4 Palestine, and signed by 325 professors
from over 40 universities and 10 colleges across Canada .

See following links for Open Letter and related articles:

http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/bullet187.html


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Margaret Cerullo <margaretcerullo@...>
Date: Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 7:41 PM
Subject: Re: Hampshire College divests from Israel--first college in the country
To: Amineh Ayyad <amineh.ayyad@...>


Dear Amineh,

Thank you so much for writing. We are certainly celebrating here. I am going to
attach two faculty statements, one simply a statement of pride and humility
before the impressive organizing of our students; the other, more important in
the face of the Administration's response--to deny that their divestment
decision had anything to do with the Occupation of Palestine. And, thanks for
re-connecting me to Darren Wade!


I look forward too to meeting you. I am a great admirer of Dr. Barghouthi who we
were fortunate enough to have here several years ago. (At that time, the college
refused to allow the posters advertising his visit to say that he was from
Ramallah, Palestine--"because Palestine is not a country." Courageous students
mounted a challenge then, and they continue to be fierce in their advocacy for
justice in Palestine.

Warmly,

Margaret