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Thu, 25 Mar 2004 |
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US vetoes UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli assassination of Sheikh Yassin | Tue, 23 Mar 2004 |
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New Zealand authorities mount surveillance operation on Israeli agents | Mon, 22 Mar 2004 |
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Israel assassinates Shaikh Ahmad Yasin (spiritual leader of Hamas) | Sun, 14 Mar 2004 |
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Suicide bombing attack on Ashdod port | Fri, 12 Mar 2004 |
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Israeli protester shot in eye with rubber bullet by Israeli army | Thu, 11 Mar 2004 |
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2004 Madrid train bombings | Wed, 10 Mar 2004 |
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Undercover israeli soldiers shoot dead five armed Palestinian resistance fighters near Jenin | Tue, 9 Mar 2004 |
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Buildings were demolished in three villages: Wadi Gwein, Al-Araqib and Wadi Na'am | Mon, 8 Mar 2004 |
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Israeli troops murder Khalid Sulaiman Mahdi "for fun" | Sun, 7 Mar 2004 |
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Israeli troops, tanks and gunships attack several refugee camps in Gaza | Sat, 6 Mar 2004 |
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Palestinian resistance fighters attack the Erez Crossing | Thu, 26 Feb 2004 |
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Israeli forces shoot and kill demonstrators against the wall in Biddu | Wed, 25 Feb 2004 |
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US releases delayed human rights report just after end of ICJ hearing on Israeli wall | |
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end of International Court of Justice Hearing on the Israeli Apartheid/Landgrab Wall | Mon, 23 Feb 2004 |
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start of International Court of Justice Hearing on the Israeli Apartheid/Landgrab Wall | Wed, 18 Feb 2004 |
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Yusuf Bashir shot by Israeli army while waving goodbye to UN visitors to his home |
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New Bill in Congress Targets Teachers Who Dare to Question US Support for Israel
Article/book #: 6402 Title: New Bill in Congress Targets Teachers Who Dare to Question US Support for IsraelBy: Michael Collins Piper Published in: MiftahDate of issue: Saturday,
20 March 2004Topic(s) addressed: People/entities mentioned in this item:
Commentary (by a person who is not a member of the UCC Palestine Solidarity Campaign
):
From the Washingon Report on Middle East Affrairs
CORRECTION
Regarding the article we e-mailed to our list: "Israeli Lobby Slips Anti-Free Speech Bill Through House of
Representatives… Bill Can Still Be Defeated in Senate if Citizens Act Now" By Michael Collins Piper. Piper mistakenly identifies Daniel Pipes as "Daniel Pipes, founder of the pro-Israel Middle East Institute and its affiliate, Campus Watch, an ADL-style organization that keeps tabs
on college professors and students who are-or are suspected of being-critics of Israel."
Of course Piper means Middle East Forum, not the Middle East Institute (MEI). We apologize for missing that error in Piper's excellent article. MEI, an organization with
events we regularly cover in the Washington Report, promotes a much more balanced view of the Middle East. Our apologies to MEI, which quickly brought the error to our attention.
A description of the MEI, taken from its Web site follows: Since 1946 the Middle East Institute has been an important conduit of information between Middle Eastern nations and
American Policy makers and organizations. From our founding in 1946 until today we have worked to increase knowledge of the Middle East among our own citizens and to promote understanding between the
peoples of the Middle East and America. Today we play a vital and unique role on Middle Eastern issues by carrying our work beyond the beltway and by working actively with organizations in the region
itself. Our Public Policy Center and Department of Programs present to Washington and beyond, on line, programs with top experts and officials from the US and foreign governments.
Michael Collins Piper writes for americanfreepress.net and can be reached at 1433 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20003 Abstract:
»The Israeli lobby has launched an all-out drive to ensure congressional passage of a bill, approved by the House and now before a Senate committee that would set up a federal tribunal to
investigate and monitor criticism of Israel on American college campuses.
Ten months ago the New York-based Jewish Week newspaper claimed that the report by American Free Press that Republican members of the Senate were planning to crack down on college and university
professors who were critical of Israel was "a dangerous urban legend at best, deliberate disinformation at worst." They were claiming that AFP lied.
However, on Sept. 17, 2003, the House Subcommittee on Select Education unanimously approved H.R. 3077, the International Studies in Higher Education Act, which was then passed by the full House on
Oct. 21. The chief sponsor of the legislation was Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a conservative Republican from Michigan.«
»Critics charge that the bill is dangerous-a direct affront to the First Amendment and the product of intrigue by a small clique of individuals and organizations which combines the forces of
the powerful Israeli lobby in official Washington. Leading the push for Senate approval of the bill are the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai B'rith, run by Abe Foxman,
the American Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee. Also lending its support is Empower America, the neo-conservative front group established by William Kristol,
editor and publisher of billionaire Rupert Murdoch's Weekly Standard, which is said to be the "intellectual" journal that governs the train of foreign policy thinking in the
Bush administration. One other group has lent its support: the U.S. India Political Action Committee, an Indian-American group that has been working closely with the Israeli
lobby now that Israel and India are geopolitically allied.«
»Juan Cole of the History News Network responds to this extraordinary twist on reality saying that the claim of "anti-Americanism" is intellectually dishonest.
"What they mean… if you pin them down is ambivalence about the Iraq war, or dislike of Israeli colonization of the West Bank, or recognition that the U.S. government has sometimes
in the past been in bed with present enemies like al Qaeda or Saddam. None of these positions is 'anti-American,' and any attempt by a congressionally appointed body to tell university professors
they cannot say these things-or that if they say them they must hire someone else who will say the opposite-is a contravention of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."«
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