Northwestern - Focal Point Publications

Posted Monday, October 14, 2002

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Is such professorial browbeating of students the way to ‘academic discourse’?

— asks Arthur Butz

Jewish professors try to halt debate about Israel

News from North-Western University

David Irving comments:

PROFESSOR Arthur Butz, who seems pretty well entrenched at Northwestern for the time being, tell us:
“That is, Professors Meyer and Drebin clearly accuse student Korkor of the ‘anti-Semitism’ that Harvard’s Summers complained about, though they don’t actually use that term.
“I don’t think I have ever seen that accusation hurled with less provocation, or in circumstances of such inequality in status (two professors vs. one student, writing in a student newspaper). Drebin, at least, is a pretty important guy on campus.
“Is such professorial browbeating of students the way to ‘academic discourse'”?

LAST Wednesday a student, Bassel Korkor, contributed a moderately worded column to the Daily Northwestern, arguing that the Arab perception of a hostile US foreign policy, and Israeli policies, explain Arab terrorism against the US and Israel.

The reply came today in a column by two professors, Stuart Meyer and Allan Drebin. Meyer and Drebin conclude:

“The president of Harvard University recently pointed out that columns like Korkor’s occur on campuses for less-than-laudable reasons. We hope that Northwestern is better oriented to academic discourse.”