[Marxism] Fwd: Academic Freedom Under Attack at UCSB!

["Cesar \"El Che\" Rodriguez" <elche48@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

would you be able to post this message on your listserve? Professor  
Robinson is a Marxist who came out of the Sandinista Movement and now  
works in Critical Globalization Studies through a neo-marxist  
analysis. He has recently come under attack by the ADL for a heinous  
charge of Anti-Semitism, which comes in response to an email, an email  
that criticizes the Israeli state for its attacks on gaze, that he  
forwarded to his class.

We would most graciously appreciate your support in forwarding this to  
your list-serve.

Thank you for your time and consideration,


Cesar "El Che" Rodriguez
Graduate Student
Department of Sociology
Universidad de California en Santa Barbara

"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways;  
the point is to change it."
-Karl Marx

"I'm up for toe-taggin' Grand Dragons"
-Killer Mike

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Committee to Defend Academic Freedom at UCSB <CDAF.UCSB@xxxxxxxxx 
> >
> Date: April 19, 2009 11:24:02 PM PDT
> To: cdaf-ucsb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Academic Freedom Under Attack at UCSB!
> Reply-To: CDAF-UCSB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> 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@xxxxxxxxx 
> .
>
> Thank you for your time,
> Committee to Defend Academic Freedom at UC Santa Barbara
>
> ***
>
> Send an Email:
> The e-mail should be addressed to UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang and  
> cc’d to the following faculty and administrators involved in the  
> case. Please copy and paste the addresses.
>
> To: henry.yang@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> CC: mgscharl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, gene.lucas@xxxxxxxxxxxx, moliver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> , mazer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, joel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, joel.michaelsen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> , sarah@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, butler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> , hcallus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, gaulin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,  
> spieker@xxxxxxxxxxxx, stemmer@xxxxxxxxxxxx,  
> caselle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, goulias@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,  
> amar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Stephanie.smagala@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, 
> ettenberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> , hualee@xxxxxxxxxxxx, mithun@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, zok@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> , helen.henry@xxxxxxx, cdaf.ucsb@xxxxxxxxx
>
> 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 and 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]
>
>
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