The Perversion of Academics

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


In the below-linked article, Richard Cravatts of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East describes how college course (principally, but not limited to) California have been perverted by political agenda on the part of the teachers. Many of the people named in this article I happen to be familiar with.


http://spme.org/campus-news-climate/perverting-college-coursework-conform-ideology/23291/?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest-Hotspots-Campus

It is obvious on its surface that what is going on within the University of California violates its own UC Regents Policy on Course Content, which basically says that the classroom is not the appropriate place for teachers to advance political agendas. As exhibited by the one-credit, student taught course at UC Berkeley, that policy is being violated regularly.

But let's talk about some of the people mentioned in this article. I will highlight the ones with whom I have had personal experience at UC Irvine or other UC campuses.

First, Hatem Bazian. Any discussion of how the University of California at Berkeley has been perverted by personal political agendas must begin with Bazian. This character has two agendas; Islamophobia and Israel. In addition to being a co-founder of the brown shirt Students for Justice in Palestine, he has also co-founded American Muslims for Palestine, a dubious advocacy group if there ever was one. He is also co-founder of Zaytuna (Muslim) College, located in a non-descript brick building a couple of blocks off the campus and the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Center, which occupies a broom closet in Barrows Hall (Room 638). I have heard him speak three times, twice at UCI. On the first occasion (2010), I tried to get him to confirm the quote in the above article reciting the hadith about Jews hiding behind trees on the Day of Judgement. He skirted the question and never really answered it, kind of like Hillary Clinton might do in answer to a hostile question. I also asked him about the statement he reportedly made to a college crowd that they should go and count the number of campus buildings with Jewish names on them. Again, an evasive answer. Of course, his statement in 2004 about calling for an intifada in America is documented on videotape.

The University of California has many many left-wing professors teaching on its campuses, but I can think of not one who has brought more embarrassment to UC and UCB in particular than Hatem Bazian.

David Lloyd, an English professor at UC Riverside and leading BDS advocate, is also mentioned. I encountered Dr Lloyd in 2014 when he hosted BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti at UC Riverside. It was the second time I had seen Barghouti speak. The first time, 2013 at  UCI, he refused to answer my question of where he was  born saying it was "irrelevant". It was relevant because Barghouti claims to be a Palestinian (He resides in the West Bank) but was reportedly born in Qatar and raised in Egypt. He received his higher education at Tel Aviv University, which caused a lot of anger there since he works to destroy Israel. You can access the UCI video here.

When Barghouti spoke at Riverside, during the q and a, I commented that he was not born in the area he calls home and asked the organizers of his appearance if they would bring in any pro-Israel speakers  so that there students might get both perspectives of the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Lloyd termed the question, "preposterous". Barghouti asked in response, "Why shouldn't I get my education in my own country?" (which makes his birth and where he grew up a relevant question). You can access the 2014 video here.

It is Omar Barghouti and David Lloyd who are preposterous.

Then there is Jeff Halper, born in the US, an archaeologist who moved to Israel and travels the world trashing his adopted country. In 2011, this crackpot spoke twice in one day at UCI on behalf of Professor Chuck O'Connell, another academic warrior against Israel. I attended both sessions the afternoon session in O'Connell's class and the second in a meeting hall on campus.

By the way; who is Chuck O'Connell you ask?

You don't wanna know.

But back to Jeff Halper. Why do I call him a crackpot? Here is why: During the evening session (in which Dr O'Connell's students reportedly were given extra credit for attending), Halper told us about something called "spectral dust". You see, spectral dust is a substance possessed by the Israel Army (according to Halper) that when programmed with a specific person's DNA and spread out into a target area will seek out that person and kill him.

                                                                                                "That's right."


Imagine if that weapon were given to the US, Dr Halper asked his enthralled audience. In the q and a, I told him that sounded like a crackpot theory. That is why I call Halper a crackpot, and I am not talking behind his back.

So there you have a little more background on some of the characters mentioned in Dr Cravatt's article. It is for lack of a better phrase, a real cast of characters. And this is who is teaching our children.