Matthew Rothschild: (Desmond) Tutu Banned From Campus in Minnesota

from The Progressive:


Tutu Banned From Campus in Minnesota
October 8, 2007 By Matthew Rothschild



Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been disinvited to speak on the campus of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. The reason: The head of the Catholic university said he was worried that the appearance of the Nobel Peace Prize-winner would be “hurtful” to the Jewish community, citing Tutu’s criticism of Israeli policies.

In addition, a tenured faculty member was removed from her position as director of the university’s Justice and Peace Studies program after she protested this decision.

The story, broken by the City Pages of Minneapolis, involves a partnership between St. Thomas and a group called PeaceJam International, based in Denver. That group arranges for Nobel Laureates to meet with at-risk and other youth in various places. For the past five years, the Justice and Peace Studies program at the University of St. Thomas has arranged with a local affiliate of PeaceJam to bring Nobel Laureates to campus to conduct the sessions. Under these auspices, Rigoberta Menchu, Betty Williams, Wangari Maathai, and Shirin Ebadi have all participated at St. Thomas.

The Justice and Peace Studies program was delighted that Archbishop Desmond Tutu had agreed to come in April 2008.

But when the program staff notified the university administrators this spring that Tutu was coming, the response was chilly. “We’re going to have to pass,” they said, according to Cris Toffolo, who was then the director of the Justice and Peace Studies program. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.progressive.org/mag_mc100807

really.

MKJ

The Alumni must be oh, so proud.

Minnesotans can finally sleep soundly for the first time since Jesse Ventura left office...

American debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is being stifled by an insidious form of pre-emptive censorship.

By
Richard Silverstein

I've noticed what may be a new phenomenon in the Israel-Palestine debate as it plays out in the US. I call it pre-emptive censorship. A number of non-Jewish organisations have denied supposedly controversial speakers or organisations the right to speak or perform due to the anticipated reaction of the local Jewish community.

It's one thing for pro-Israel groups to protest, as they did when Columbia University extended a speaking invitation to Mahmoud Ahmedinejad or when Barnard College approved tenure for a supposedly anti-Israel professor, Nadia Abu el-Haj. At least there was an actual protest that came in the midst of, or after, the supposedly controversial activity.

But in the case of the postponed New York performance of My Name is Rachel Corrie, a cancelled Chicago appearance of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, a cancelled concert by Marcel Khalife in San Diego, and a cancelled speech by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Minneapolis, the hosts nixed the appearances before there was any protest. And they cancelled because of an anticipated response from the Jewish community which they had no reason to know might ever happen. This to me seems absolutely pernicious to open political debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


SNIP

In San Diego, the local al-Awda chapter planned to host a Marcel Khalife concert this month at the Joan Kroc Theater. The theatre was established by a $27-million gift to the Salvation Army from Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc. Theatre personnel assured the al-Awda representatives for months that their rental of the hall was guaranteed but then two days before the contract signing the Salvation Army cancelled the concert without any explanation.

During subsequent discussions, the Salvation Army said it cancelled because it viewed al-Awda, a pro-Palestinian group which advocates full implementation of the right of return for Palestinian refugees within Israel, as "divisive" and "unbalanced". Captain John Van Cleef also volunteered, according to the Al Awda representatives I spoke with (though denied by Van Cleef himself), that he might approve the concert if Khalife were to perform with an Israeli musician. The captain also told the group that he feared a hostile reaction by the local Jewish community.

SNIP

This reminds me of the Pavlovian response - when you ring a bell and feed an animal long enough if you ring the bell but do not feed it, it will salivate despite the absence of food. Similary, the Israel lobby has so conditioned American organisations to its wrath that the latter won't even touch certain speakers for fear of stirring it once again.

http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/10/land-of-free.html