Followup -- WSU: Thought Control in Michigan
by Joachim Martillo (ThorsProvoni@aol.com)
Connections and Dots
[I misread a blog entry. SAFE is pro-Palestinian group with no connection to Jonathan Schwartz.]
In response to the attack on Wayne State Professor Thomas Abowd (WSU: Thought Control in Michigan, Fight Zionist Thought Control), Karin Friedemann wrote the following open letter to Wayne State University with regard to Amy Stirling.
In response to the attack on Wayne State Professor Thomas Abowd (WSU: Thought Control in Michigan, Fight Zionist Thought Control), Karin Friedemann wrote the following open letter to Wayne State University with regard to Amy Stirling.
To Whom it May Concern at Wayne State University:
Ms. Amy Stirling, the director of the Office of Equal Opportunity has *ironically* been caught acting as an agent of the racist hate organization, CAMPUS WATCH, in the harassment of Professor Aboud. I would strongly recommend that WSU conduct an official investigation into Ms. Stirling's affiliation with racist right-wing Zionist groups connected with Daniel Pipes. Daniel Pipes is a professional anti-Arab, anti-African racist spokesperson who strongly advocates denying Arab-Americans and African-Americans their Constitutional liberties. For Ms Stirling to be associating with Daniel Pipes as an employee of the university's Equal Opportunity office is as outrageous as if she were inviting the KKK to campus to organize Nazi skinheads to harass African American professors. Ms. Stirling should be forced to resign, but not before her emails and phone calls are thoroughly discovered, so that her links to professional hate-mongerers can be exposed and prosecuted.
Karin Friedemann, WSU Alumna
Friedemann also noted the following interesting information:
There is an Alan J. Kaufman who is an honorary director of MSU Hillel [and] who lives in Farmington Hills.
Alan J. (Jay) Kaufman is president and chairman of Kaufman Financial Group as well as of the law firm of Kaufman, Payton & Chapa, whence emails harassing Thomas Abowd's brother Paul have originated. Kaufman's wife Sue Singer Kaufman seems to handle day to day management of the law firm. The Kaufmans are large contributors to Jewish education in the Detroit area as well as directly to the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Detroit. Robert Cohen heads the Detroit JCRC and often makes racist and defamatory attack on Imam Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom. (See Jewish Racist Bullies Imam Elahi.)
Amy Stirling and Sue Singer Kaufman both received their law degrees from University of Detroit Mercy, but their ages differ by about 18 years, and there is no evidence as of yet that they know each other through some sort of alumni network.
The wealth of Kaufman Financial Group is based in insurance, and Alan Jay Kaufman has heavily pushed terrorism insurance since the attack on the World Trade Center.
The attack on Thomas Abowd is probably part of a broader criminal conspiracy against rights in violation of 18 USC 241.
The Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC),
- which is intimately associated with the International Hillel Society (IHS) and
- which generally coordinates with regional Israeli Consulates,
worked with StandWithUs and Wayne State Students for Israel to thwart the employment of Wadie Said by WSU. Wadie Said is the son of Edward Said. Christian Zionist Jonathan Harris heads the Michigan Chapter of StandWithUs and may have attended the same school as Amy Stirling at a pre-college level, but I have not been able to verify any overlap.
Jonathan Schwartz,
- who created http://antiracist.blogspot.com,
- who was a WSU law student, and
- who lives in Farmington Hills,
decided to aid the effort against Wadie Said and to fight anti-Zionism at WSU. Daniel Pipes and his CAMPUS-WATCH organization seem to have provided some assistance to StandWithUs.
After attacking Said, StandWithUs, CAMERA, and the Michigan ADL headed by Betsy Kellman tried to suppress the distribution of Joel Kovel's book entitled Overcoming Zionism by the University of Michigan Press. (See Dissident Veteran for Peace: Against Zionist Censorship, Zionist attack on Pluto Press, Kovel Pulls No Punches.)
While continuing the effort against Overcoming Zionism, the group moved onto other efforts, and StandWithUs brought Daniel Pipes to speak at WSU and at University of Michigan Ann Arbor. The WSU presentation was disrupted, and in retaliation WSU Students for Israel, CAMPUS-WATCH, and StandWithUs began to target Abowd. (National Review commentator Candace de Russey also became involved to craft the coverage of WSU in the national media. She played a similar role in the attempt to deny Nadia Abu el-Haj tenure at Columbia University.)
The visit of Walt and Mearsheimer to the two campuses seems to have especially angered Betsy Kellman of the ADL, and she complained to both universities about increasing anti-Semitism on campus. Abowd was used as an example at WSU, In response to such complaints, Amy Stirling interrogated Abowd inappropriately.
In the Boston area, the ADL is generally considered a hate group because of Armenian genocide denial. (There is a large and important Armenian community in Watertown, MA.)
The ADL has been involved in spying (http://www.counterpunch.org/adlspying2.html),
The ADL lost a defamation suite brought by the Quigleys of Colorado in response to false accusations of anti-Semitism and was forced to pay $10.5 million in compensatory damages.
Because Amy Stirling apparently is ill-informed about the unsavory nature of the ADL and its apparently numerous civil and criminal violations of the rights of US citizens, she was enmeshed in yet another conspiracy against rights by Israel advocacy groups. As an agent of WSU, she involved the University in the conspiracy. She should be dismissed forthwith, and the University should apologize to Professor Abowd.
In any case the collective assault put together by the web of Israel advocacy organizations provides support for my analysis in Updating "The AJC attacks".
2 comments:
Catherine Wilkerson may also have been a victim of the same conspiracy against rights. See In lecture on Mideast conflict, visiting prof limits controversy.
Did you and Karin have any thing to do with this?
I bet you did :)
Regards
Begin forwarded message:
From: "justice4arabs@yahoo.com" <justice4arabs@yahoo.com>
Date: March 26, 2008 9:31:17 AM GMT-04:00
To: justice4arabs@yahoo.com
Subject: [solidaritywithpalestine] Victory at WSU!
Dear everyone,
The activists of Anti-Racist Action have been resisting intimidation from so-called Anti-Racist Blog over the last couple of years and finally won (see below). Because ARB's author has completely removed all content, we're guessing he's (finally) facing legal action from one of the many parties he's smeared. ARB's author has shown up at Palestine events; taken photographs and videos of protesters; and written hateful reports that would've made Daniel Pipes proud (he actually did defend Pipes' visit from ARA's protests when he visited Wayne State in October 2007). The blog was formed initially in response to ARA and then expended to cover "anti-semitism on American campuses".
Congratulations, Anti-Racist Action, and congratulations to all justice activists everywhere!
In solidarity,
Saja
http://antiracistblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/final-farewell_22.html
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Final Farewell
In less than a year Anti-Racist Blog (ARB) has made quite a splash. Its mission from the beginning was to expose anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on American college campuses, and it did just that. ARB also tackled global anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism as part of the ETR Project, a global initiative to Expose, Track, and Reduce anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in higher education.
Unfortunately, there was a need to create this blog in the first place. There are many on campuses worldwide - whether professors, students, student groups, alumni, and activists- who have no problem practicing, promoting, imposing, and enforcing their anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist beliefs. One would think that the supposedly enlightened academic world would be free from such ignorance, but the reality is that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism have taken root there and have flourished for some time.
As with all attempts to confront hatred and racism, there are those people and groups who will push back, and lash out. Anti-Racist Blog was aware of this, but underestimated the venom and hostility that it would be confronted with. It is a given that Middle East studies, and the discussion surrounding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in particular can get very heated, and there are lots of emotions involved, but often times the reaction has been beyond the pale.
Admittedly, Anti-Racist Blog is not blameless either. On some occasions Anti-Racist Blog initiated or responded with anger, and hostility, whether in blog posts, or personal e-mails. This was not helpful or constructive. To those people who feel that they have been mistreated by Anti-Racist Blog, or anyone associated with it, please accept this apology.
Nonetheless, Anti-Racist Blog has made a concerted effort to be accurate, check sources, and present the true situation on the ground. The reality of the situation on campus, the entrenched hatred and acceptance of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, and the growing persistence of these problems are much more shocking and revolting than this blog could have imagined at the outset.
Despite the almost impossible odds, Anti-Racist Blog has tried to fight the good fight for what it believes in. However, sometimes there is only so much a blog, or a person can do at one time, especially when the backlash is so large. There is a point where fighting does no good, and you have to step back.
After experiencing numerous threatening e-mails, phone calls, and messages, threats of legal action, headaches, and harassment, Anti-Racist Blog has decided enough is enough. The burden and risks have become too great, and what used to be so important doesn't seem worth it anymore.
Therefore, Anti-Racist Blog has decided to effectively shut down. More specifically, all past blog posts have been removed, and no new content will be added to this site. This post will be a lasting reminder to what once was, but is no longer, Anti-Racist Blog.
There will not be any comments allowed under this post. If you have something to say, send it to antiracistblog@yahoo.com.
To loyal readers and friends, Anti-Racist Blog says THANK YOU. Your support and inspiration has meant a lot. Please do not stop standing up for the right of Jews, Israelis, and Americans to live in peace. You are not alone, and never will be, even when it may seem that way.
To everyone reading this, including enemies and ideological foes, I wish you the best in life. I continue to pray for peace in the Middle East, even though it seems farther away than ever, and I hope you do the same. May G-d bless you all.
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