This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/391
RIT students protest Dr. Pipes appearence but are silent about Ali Mazuri's lectures at center funded by Osama Bin Laden
January 21, 2005
Students slam pro-Israel speaker
But welcome professor with 'terror ties'
Posted: January 21, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
2005 WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42480
Students at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) have been protesting an upcoming lecture, mandatory for some seniors, by pro-Israel Middle East expert Daniel Pipes, while public concerns have not be voiced over another speech, part of the same series, by Ali Mazrui, a professor accused of ties to organizations supporting terrorism.
RIT is featuring the Caroline Gerner Gannett Lecture Series, a seminar for seniors open to all students on "Globalization, Human Rights and Citizenship," that brings to the campus over a dozen guest speakers as well as in-house professors to discuss topics ranging from regional conflict to the conservation of water.
Even though his speech is three months away, students have already written letters to lecture coordinators and the university president demanding Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, a think tank that defines and promotes American interests in the Middle East, be disinvited or appear with a counterpoising speaker, although other Gannett lecturers appear without opposing speakers. An antiwar group has plastered the RIT undergraduate campus with posters protesting Pipes' speech.
Pipes has in the past drawn some fire from Islamic groups for his support of Israel and for exposing several Islamic extremist organizations operating in the U.S.
In one letter to RIT president Dr. Albert Simone, a student writes Pipes is "an individual who makes broad stereotypical generalizations about people of the Muslim faith, such as '15% of Muslims are terrorists,' as well as supporting the concept that the only road to Middle East peace is 'Total Israeli victory' ... How can the Gannett Lecture Series purport to be promoting the academic principles of debate and discussion when it allows his ideas to go without criticism by his peers? If Daniel Pipes does not want to appear with another speaker, then as I see it he doesn't have to come and get paid."
Pipes, who once estimated 15% of Muslims are "Islamists" not "terrorists," has said he would not be interested in speaking with an opposing professor.
"My major purpose in going to universities like RIT is to offer a different point of view from what students usually hear. I dislike the idea of balance because it cuts into my time and it implies that my views need to be wrapped and controlled," said Pipes.
Dr. Paul Grebinger, professor of Anthropology and coordinator of the Gannett series, agreed.
"It is often valuable to hear from individuals whose ideas we may oppose and whom we may not even like. I expect that Pipes will draw representatives from the Islamic community here on campus and from Rochester. They will no doubt be asking very pointed questions. So, I don't expect any lack of debate."
Last week, a poster distributed throughout the campus sponsored by the RIT Antiwar Group headlined "Islam is not the problem" called Pipes a "racist" and declared, "The real problem is the occupation of Iraq and the U.S. support of oppressive regimes in the Middle East. Stop the scapegoating of Arabs and Muslims!"
The group justified their "racist" label by quoting an article in which Pipes wrote, "The outside world should focus not on showering money or other benefits on the Palestinian Arabs, but on pushing them relentlessly to accept Israel's existence."
One RIT professor who asked that his name be withheld for fear that he "may lose his job" called the posters "idiotic. There is nothing remotely close to being racist about that statement. Pipes is the only thing approaching a non-leftist perspective on this campus, it wouldn't kill these students to hear an opposing view. None of the liberal speakers need balancing counterparts."
Dr. A.J. Cashetta, a professor of language at RIT told WorldNetDaily "I have never heard anyone here complain before that a speaker needed a counterbalanced idea, and now suddenly we have Pipes and people are complaining?"
Meanwhile, another Gannett lecturer, Dr. Ali Mazrui, who has repeatedly made anti-Israel comments, spoke at an Islamic extremist institution and is accused of ties to groups supporting terrorism, has escaped student criticism.
Mazrui, director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University, is on the board of the Association of Muslim Social Services, whose sister organization, the International Institute of Islamic Thought, a Saudi-funded Islamic group, was raided by the FBI in 2003. The executive secretary for the AMSS, Kamran Bokhari, was the North American spokesman for Al-Muhajiroun, a UK-based fundamentalist organization that disbanded in October under intense pressure by the authorities because of the group's suspected ties to al-Qaida. Al-Muhajiroun members have become suicide bombers for Hamas, fought U.S. troops in Aghanistan, held rallies calling for the "death of America," and publicly supported the charge of Osama bin Laden.
Mazrui lectured last year at the International Center for the Propagation of Islam in Durban South Africa. According to Militant Islam Monitor, the Center is funded by the bin Laden family and organizations linked to al-Qaida, and its founder and director, Ahmed Deedat, has publicly boasted of meeting bin Laden personally several times.
Mazrui recently wrote a paper, "The State of Israel as Cause for Anti-Semitism," and presented a lecture at Binghamton that a student called "a 45-minute diatribe against Israel" equating Zionism with fascism, Israel with apartheid South Africa and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with Hitler. Mazrui also expressed support for Sami Al-Arian, a South Florida professor indicted for raising money for the Islamic Jihad terror group, calling him "a victim of prejudice and of popular ill will."
In an IslamOnline.com Question and Answer series, Mazrui implied Muslims are being isolated from American politics by pro-Israel Jews. "In the case of Hillary Clinton for example she was under pressure from pro-Israeli anti-Muslim New Yorkers. It was vital that American Muslims should not let those forces prevail and should keep on trying to enter the system ..." wrote Mazrui.
Beila Rabinowitz, director of Militant Islam Monitor, told WorldNetDaily, "It is a travesty of the war on terror that we are hearing calls for halting the lecture of Dr. Daniel Pipes, the distinguished Middle East expert, while no one is demanding that the RIT administration scrutinize the scheduled lecturer Ali Mazrui, who plays leading roles in radical Islamist organizations."
Mazrui, in an interview with WND, countered, "I'm not spying on the AMSS to find out who else is involved with them and whether they are kosher. Also, about the university in South Africa, I have to find out who funded it. But I don't agree with this guilt by association policy."
American universities hosting speakers connected to terrorism is nothing new. In December, WND exposed Nova Southeastern University was hosting a fundraising concert for the Islamic Relief, a charity connected to several organizations that support terrorism, is under investigation for accepting a contribution from a front group for al-Qaida, and was founded by the principle fundraiser for Muslim Aid, which according to Spanish police used funds to send mujahadeen to fight U.S. troops overseas and has held events at which speakers have boasted of supporting al-Qaida terror activities.
And in October, Duke University hosted a Palestinian solidarity conference cleared by the FBI and Homeland Security in which students were recruited to join the International Solidarity Movement, a terror-supporting group that has harbored terrorists in their Middle East offices and is outlawed in Israel.
David Horowitz, author and editor-in-chief of FrontPage Magazine, told WorldNetDaily the groups protesting Pipes and similar groups at universities throughout the country "are left-wing groups – often self-styled Marxist-Leninist vanguards – who regard the United States as the Great Satan, view the terrorists as 'liberators' and want us to lose the war on terror."
Aaron Klein is WorldNetDaily's special Middle East correspondent, whose past interview subjects have included Yasser Arafat, Ehud Barak, Shlomo Ben Ami and leaders of the Taliban.
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Age Old Conflict Arises Once Again http://www.reportermag.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/03/18/4235da079f8e0
March 18, 2005
Few political and social issues in the past decade have been argued as intensely as the Israeli-Arab conflict. Recently, though, a series of events sparked a heated debate from several student organizations on campus. RIT has invited two highly controversial figures to speak on their respective platforms for the Gannett Lecture Series. The first, lecturing next week on March 24 at Webb Auditorium from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., is Ali A. Mazrui, director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University and a board member of the Association of Muslim Social Services. The second, coming on April 14, same time, same place, is Daniel Pipes, a pro-Israel Middle East expert on the board of the United States Institute of Peace and director of the Middle East Forum.
The announcement of Pipes' upcoming lecture caused an immediate uproar from campus groups such as RIT Anti-War and the Muslim Students Association (MSA). RIT Anti-War put up posters on campus protesting Pipes' speech and challenged the faculty's lecturer choices on "Ask Al Simone," an area of the Office of the President website where students are encouraged to bring complaints and questions. An anonymous student wrote on December 21, "Daniel Pipes is an individual who makes broad stereotypical generalizations about people of the Muslim faith, such as '15% of Muslims are terrorists,' as well as supporting the concept that the only road to Middle East peace is 'Total Israeli victory'... How can the Gannett Lecture Series purport to be promoting the academic principles of debate and discussion when it allows his ideas to go without criticism by his peers?"
For an answer to this question, Simone turned to Professor Paul Grebinger, a Gannett Lecturer and Coordinator of Senior Seminar. "It is often valuable to hear from individuals whose ideas we may oppose and whom we may not even like," responded Grebinger. "I expect that Pipes will draw representatives from the Islamic community here on campus and from Rochester. They will no doubt be asking very pointed questions."
"My major purpose in going to universities like RIT is to offer a different point of view from what students usually hear. I dislike the idea of balance because it cuts into my time and it implies that my views need to be wrapped and controlled," said Pipes in the January 21 issue of WorldNetDaily, responding to requests for an opposing speaker.
To determine the reason for RIT Anti-War's agitation, longtime member Josh Karpoff was contacted. Animated and highly talkative, he wore a black RIT cap and a small red pin bearing the symbol of the International Socialists Organization. "Pipes has an agenda," said Karpoff, "he's pretty much part of building the ideology behind what the Bush administration does." However, when confronted with Mazrui's controversial past and the question of RIT Antiwar's lack of response to it, Karpoff skirted the issue, deferring instead to the fact that Pipes blatantly refused to speak on the same platform with Mazrui.
Grebinger had also addressed this issue on the "Ask Dr. Simone" site. "Pipes is willing to answer questions from the audience, which I believe will generate fruitful discussion," he said. He pointed out that the traditional basis of the series was to bring in one individual to lecture and take questions from the audience.
Andrew (A.J.) Siegel is the President of RIT Hillel, a organization of Jewish students. "I think it's interesting to hear two different sides and what's going on," he said. "Mazrui is also speaking on his own... The purpose of the Gannett Lecture Series isn't a discussion between two speakers; it's a discussion between speaker and audience."
Ammar Abbas Naqvi, President of the MSA, counters, "They're talking about different topics... We don't see how that balances the two viewpoints." Naqvi is planning an informative session about Pipes on the evening of March 23, which happens to be the day before Mazrui's lecture.
Mazrui has, in the past, been a subject of fierce controversy himself. In addition to his other positions, he has a joint professorship at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton and Cornell University. A March 23 Cornell Daily Sun article from last year cites that Mazrui was invited to guest-lecture in fellow Professor Robert Ostergard's "Terrorism and War" class of nearly 500. The lecture, entitled "Islam between Zionism and Pax Americana," was ill received by many students, who raised complaints that its content was too extreme and bordered on anti-Semitism. One student even called it a "45-minute diatribe against Israel" and had Ostergard and Mazrui placed on the Campus Watch website list of politically extreme professors. Campus Watch, according to the site, is "a project of the Middle East Forum [that] reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them." Interestingly enough, Campus Watch was founded by none other than David Pipes.
WorldNetDaily also included in the same article a comment by David Horowitz, author and editor-in-chief of FrontPage Magazine, that the groups protesting Pipes and similar groups at universities throughout the country are left-wing groups in the Socialist tradition who feel sympathy for terrorists and want the United States to lose the war on terror. Karpoff responded to this statement, saying that only some are socialist and that situations such as the illegal invasion of Iraq "would lead people to attack the United States." Karpoff, while far from supporting acts of terrorism, believes that the United States is doing nothing to help the situation. "All acts of terrorism are horrible, but before we go and start lashing out we need to look at what caused this what brought us to this point and stop and think and look at it," he said.
Siegel spoke of how closely ISO and RIT Anti-War work together on issues such as these. "I feel like this campus is PCU (a Politically Correct University) and RIT Anti-War and ISO are the 'cause heads.' Every week there's a new cause," said Siegel. Another interesting dynamic between campus groups is the one between the MSA and Hillel. Naqvi claims that the MSA has cosponsored events with Hillel, while being more politically allied with RIT Anti-War. Hillel leader Siegel, however, says that he has frequently attempted to start collaboration efforts with the MSA only to be met with an unwelcoming response each time.
Karpoff and Siegel do agree on just one thing: the lack of enthusiasm from the rest of the campus. "By and large both active sides in this debate [on campus] are minority groups," said Karpoff. "There's a vast middle ground of people on the fence who are apathetic and would rather just sit in front of their computers." Siegel has the same idea stating, "If you go up to someone at Ben and Jerry's or on the Quarter Mile and ask them about the Gannett issue, most of them will have no idea what you are talking about."
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April 6, 2005
Controversial Middle East, Islam scholar to talk at RIT
Matthew Daneman
Staff writer
HENRIETTA — One of the nation's most controversial commentators on Islam will give a talk at Rochester Institute of Technology on April 14.
To his supporters, Daniel Pipes is a pre-eminent and prescient thinker on the Middle East.
To his detractors, Pipes is a racist demagogue. And some RIT students have begun protesting his appearance.
Last month, the Muslim Students Association and RIT Anti War organized a conference, "Academic Freedom Under Siege," as a counterpoint. And a variety of student groups from schools such as the State University Colleges at Geneseo and Oswego are gathering tonight at RIT to find a way to challenge Pipes.
"Daniel Pipes is a supporter of Japanese internment camps, segregation and racial profiling," said Ammar Naqvi, a Long Island junior and president of the Muslim Students Association. "We should learn from the mistakes of the past and not allow the freedoms that the founders of this nation fought so hard for to be trampled over and dissipated in the mud of racist rhetoric."
Pipes has written close to a dozen books about Islam and the Middle East. He is founder of the Middle East Forum, which describes itself as a think tank working to define and promote American interests in the Middle East. He formerly taught at the Naval War College, Harvard University and the University of Chicago.
He has commented extensively in media on what he calls the "Islamist," or fundamentalist Muslim, threat to the West.
He did not return a call seeking comment.
RIT had tried to organize Pipes' talk to be a debate with Ali Mazrui, director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton.
Instead, Mazrui spoke solo in March, discussing the notion of a clash of civilizations.
On his Web site, www.danielpipes.org, Pipes wrote that he declined to appear with Mazrui because it would cut into his time.
Pipes is coming as part of RIT's Gannett Lecture Series. Those talks cover globalization and international affairs. Anthropology professor Paul Grebinger, organizer of the series, said Pipes was invited as a counterpoint to Mazrui at the suggestion of a faculty member who uses one of Pipes' books in a class.
"It has of course been a problem for the Islamic students," Grebinger said. "But I think they understand it'd be a good idea to hear what he has to say.
"I'm just trying to explore a world of ideas — that's what we're supposed to be doing here."
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http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050415/NEWS01/504150399/1002/NEWS
Pipes: War on radicals needed
Analyst says U.S. must redirect its position in the 'war on terror' Matthew Daneman
Staff writer
(April 15, 2005) — HENRIETTA — The "war on terror" is an overly polite and inept concept for the direction America really needs to be heading, which is a war on radical Islam.
That was the focus of a talk Thursday night at Rochester Institute of Technology by one of the nation's most controversial commentators on Islam and the Middle East.
Daniel Pipes is a well-known analyst and founder of the Middle East Forum. His talk, "Militant Islam and the War on Terror," was to an overflow crowd filled with supporters and often-vocal
Daniel Pipes is a well-known analyst and founder of the Middle East Forum. His talk, "Militant Islam and the War on Terror," was to an overflow crowd filled with supporters and often-vocal demonstrators.
It may take a massive terrorist event dwarfing the size of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks before Americans start taking seriously the notion of a war on the 15 percent of the world's 1 billion Muslims who want to impose a totalitarian ideology with an Islamic foundation on the rest of the world, Pipes said.
And while Pipes is confident the West could win that war the way it beat fascism in the 1940s and communism in the Cold War, he also said that victory will take longer and be bloodier than it should be as long as the United States refuses to acknowledge its true enemy.
In his talk, he laid out in broad brushstrokes his idea of how to defeat radical Islam, which involves the West and Muslim nations isolating the radical element and simultaneously supporting moderate, modern Muslim thought.
Pipes is often a lightning rod of controversy, with his harshest critics accusing him of racist demagoguery. Before Thursday's talk, a group of as many as five dozen protesters led a march across campus and chanted loudly outside the auditorium.
"He's always trying to prove Islam is a religion of terror," said RIT freshman Mahmudul Bhuiyan, 18, of New York City and a practicing Muslim.
"We are not terrorists," Bhuiyan said as he carried a large protest sign reading "Islam is not the problem."
Pipes' appearance was held under notably tight security for an academic guest lecture, with security guards checking bags and standing at points around the stage.
His talk and subsequent question-and-answer session covered ground as wide as Pipes' controversial support of the interring of Japanese American potential fifth columnists during World War II to the role the Palestinian/Israeli conflict plays in Arab anger at the United States.
Pipes perhaps didn't win many converts, as many audience members came with their minds already made up, said RIT junior Justin Thorp.
The College Republicans member from Michigan said the student group hopes to organize talks or discussions in coming weeks around Pipes' points. "I think he made an excellent case," Thorp said.
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http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050415/NEWS01/504150399/1002/NEWS
Rochester Institute of Technology's College of Liberal Arts has organized a panel discussion at 7 p.m. next Thursday in the Student Alumni Union's Allen Chapel, which will include a Muslim imam and a Jewish rabbi as a continuation of Daniel Pipes' address.
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MIM: Note that every Muslim student at RITS automatically becomes part of the Wahhabist /Saudi funded MSA .
Every Muslim student currently enrolled in RIT is the general member of Muslim
Students Association. Show Section 1b - Associate Member ...
www.rit.edu/~msawww/Constitution.php3 - 33k - Cached
Fight the Right: "Academic Freedom Under Siege"
Wednesday, 23 March 2005
8:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Organizer: The Muslim Students Association, RIT Anti War, International Stu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Ammar A Naqvi
Phone: 631-241-5155
http://www.rit.edu/~msawww
aan3854 rit.edu
The Muslim Students Association, RIT Anti War, International Students Association and various other groups present,
Fight the Right: "Academic Freedom Under Siege"
Speakers include Ahmed
Younis and Kathleen Kern.
Individuals such as Daniel Pipes are demonizing democracy and using their political clout to silence voices, narrow opinions and propagate racism. This seems to be reminiscent of communists Russia, and revives memoirs of McCarthyism of the 1950s. We should learn form the mistakes of the past and not allow the freedoms that the founders of this nation fought so hard for to be trampled over and dissipated in the mud of racist rhetoric.
Daniel Pipes is a supporter of Japanese interment camps, segregation and racial profiling. He has been invited to come speak at Rochester Institute of Technology. However, the students and other groups of the Rochester and Western New York have created a venue to promote protection of academic freedom.
Academic Freedom Under Siege will be occurring on Wednesday, March 23 at 8:00 PM in Building 6, room A205 at RIT. Speakers include Ahmed Younis and Kathleen Kern.
Ahmed Younis, the national director of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, is a graduate of Washington & Lee School of Law in Lexington Virginia. Ahmed is the author of a book entitled American Muslims: Voir Dire (Speak the Truth), a post-September 11 look into
the reality of debate surrounding American Muslims and their country. He has worked with the United Nations, and was assigned to the Office of the Special Advisor to the Secretary General on Iraq. He is also a strong supporter of academic liberties and a defender of the United States Bill of Rights.
Kathleen Kern has worked with Christian Peacemaker Teams since 1993, serving on assignments in Haiti, Washington DC, Palestine, Chiapas, Canada, and Colombia. Kern has published two books: When it Hurts to Live: Devotions for Difficult Times_ (Faith and Life Press, 1994) and We Are the Pharisees (Herald Press, 1995.) The latter book explores how Christians have used Jesus' teaching about the Pharisees to justify persecution of Jews over the centuries.
The program will focus on the importance and the need of dialogue and the recent attacks on academic freedom and liberties. It is the responsibility of every human to defend freedom and justice. People can show their support by attending this event! For if one person is deprived their freedom of speech it is as if we have caged the tongue of humanity.
For information: http://www.rit.edu/~msawww
Contact: [email protected]
Phone: 631-241-5155
--
A Naqvi
Location:
RIT Campus - Building 6, room A205
Cost: No Charge - Donations Accepted to support the sponsoring groups
Directions: See www.rit.edu for directions and campus map
Contact: Ammar Naqvi aan3854
URL: http://www.rit.edu/~msawww
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/391