University of Michigan rescinds invitation of Alice Walker over her anti-Israel position

[alp227]

From Inside Higher Ed:

Why did the University of Michigan withdraw an invitation to Alice Walker?

Walker is an author best known for The Color Purple, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1983. That work and others by her are widely taught at many colleges. Walker is also a political activist and her criticism of Israel has been condemned by many groups supportive of Israel. She supports the boycott of Israel and the Anti-Defamation League said her book published this year, The Cushion in the Road, contained an "80-page screed against Israel and Jews" in which she repeatedly compared Israel and Nazi Germany.

The University of Michigan apparently invited Walker because of her literary reputation, but she says she was disinvited because her politics offended donors.

She had been invited to speak at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the university's Center for the Education of Women. On her blog, Walker posted an e-mail from her agent telling her that the university had rescinded the invitation.

The agent's e-mail said: "I’m saddened to write this because I’m a proponent of free speech and have been brought up to allow everyone to have their say. But I also realize that there are other considerations that institutions are faced with. This afternoon I was contacted by the University of Michigan instructing me to withdraw their invitation due to the removal of funding from the donors, because of their interpretation of Ms. Walker’s comments regarding Israel. They are not willing to fund this program and the university/Women’s center do not have the resources to finance this on their own."

[HardTimes99]

1. In the introduction to her seminal "Eichmann in Jerusalem", Hannah Arendt compared the policies of

Israel in the Occupied Territories to Nazi Germany (the twin policies of collective punishment and settlements, IIRC) . . . and not favorably to Israel either.

I guess the University of Michigan is now taking a strong stance against free speech and critical inquiry. Way to go.

[atreides1]

2. As Citizens United has shown us

Free speech is now measured by the amount of money given out!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. I think the University of Michigan is now taking a strong stance ...

... to impress donors.

Big Rule for universities: don't annoy the donors.

[Blue_Tires]

7. +1

[kelliekat44]

12. And please ask the donors to never complain about obstructing anyone's free speech. nt

[Blue_Tires]

10. Not to mention Gunter Grass' shitstorm a couple years back....

[Isoldeblue]

3. Free speech is no longer "free"

It carries a cost now with the rampant right-redneck-evangelicalism bullies control.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

4. Read "Cushion in the Road"

If you read that and DON'T come to the conclusion that Alice Walker has devolved into a batshit crazy anti-semite, then there's something seriously wrong with you.

I'm sorry to say this, because I've always admired Walker's writing, but she's gone off the deep end.

[alp227]

6. But free speech is for bigots, too?

And was Walker going to talk about Israel?

[branford]

11. Walker does not have a constitutional right to speak at the university.

If the administration believed that it was not in its interest to have her speak, so be it.

If students or other members of the public wish to hear her, they are free to invite her to speak off-campus.

Yes, bigots have free speech, but so does the university.

[Blue_Tires]

8. Still...Potentially controversial/inflammatory/polarizing guest speakers appear almost daily

at any given university in the nation...It's all part of university life...

[Fumesucker]

9. Interesting set of reviews on Amazon

All but one of the 18 reviews are almost evenly split between five stars and one star, you don't see that very often.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Cushion-Road-Meditation-Wandering/dp/1595588728

[Eddie Haskell]

13. Bat shit crazy?

Examples please.

[cali]

15. What? Are you denying the gas chambers and

execution squads by the Einsatzgruppen? Really?

Between 5 million and 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust and up to 5 million others. There is a huge body of evidence supporting those figures. In his seminal work "The Destruction of European Jewry" Raul Hilberg put the number of Jews killed at 5.1 million.

Your claim that the "six million dead is a fictitious number based upon biblical prophesy" is utter bullshit.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. I have seen that argument before

Where Nazi apologists distinguish between those who died of disease in the concentration camps and those who were killed. It's a distinction without a difference. When you detain and imprison someone you become responsible for their health and general well being; especially if the imprisonment was done without any cause.

[cali]

17. Nope. Not going to let this go. It's SOP for holocaust deniers

to say look at the Red Cross report. I don't like Holocaust deniers. They're disgusting bigots.

The fact is that the Red Cross visited only one concentration camp and that was Theresienstadt. That occurred in June of 1944 after months of pressure from the Danish King and the Red Cross. The camp was dressed up for the visit. Theresienstadt was not a death camp but thousands died there.

<snip>

In 1944 during a Red Cross visit and by a propaganda film, the Germans presented Theresienstadt to outsiders as a model Jewish settlement, but it was a concentration camp. More than 33,000 inmates died as a result of malnutrition, disease, or the sadistic treatment by their captors.[10] Whereas some survivors claimed that the prison population reached 75,000 at one time, according to official records, the highest figure reached (on September 18, 1942) was 58,491. They were crowded into barracks designed to accommodate 7,000 combat troops.[11]

In the fall of 1944, the Nazis began the liquidation of the ghetto, deporting more prisoners to Auschwitz and Treblinka; in one month, they deported 24,000 victims.[12]

<snip>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresienstadt_concentration_camp

[East Coast Pirate]

18. AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service

At Sat Aug 17, 2013, 09:18 AM an alert was sent on the following post:

Read the Red Cross report
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3476207

REASON FOR ALERT:

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)

ALERTER'S COMMENTS:

Holocaust denial.

JURY RESULTS

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sat Aug 17, 2013, 09:34 AM, and the Jury voted 5-1 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT and said: hooboy
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Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[cali]

16. she's right that this is probably all about donors

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. She traffics in anti-semitic canards

I would have a problem with anybody who traffics in racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and bigoted remarks, et cetera speaking at a public university. That being said I would let even the most outrageous person speak as "sunlight is the best disinfectant."

[cali]

21. It was almost inevitable that we'd get a holocaust denier in this thread

disgraceful that anyone who does that isn't immediately kicked off of DU.