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Posted by National Post on 08:16:25 2005/03/30
In Reply to: Re: U of T's academic dummy list posted by Al Gordon
U of T protests over Pipes fail to materialize
Middle East scholar's visit preceded by letter denouncing him
Scott Stinson
National Post
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
A small group of students held a peaceful protest last night before U.S. scholar Daniel Pipes gave a speech at the University of Toronto, but the event went off without the angry demonstrations that marked the Middle East expert's appearance at York University two years ago.
About a dozen students handed out pamphlets outside Brennan Hall at St. Michael's College, where Mr. Pipes later addressed a crowd of about 400. The pamphlets accused Mr. Pipes of spreading anti-Muslim racism through his books and commentaries, and of attempting to limit freedom of speech via an organization called Campus Watch, which monitors and critiques Middle East studies at universities and colleges.
Ahmed Shokr, representing a group called the Arab Students Collective, said his purpose in handing out the pamphlets, which juxtaposed an image of Mr. Pipes with that of a hooded Ku Klux Klan member, was that he hoped "people would think twice before giving legitimacy to someone who would [make anti-Muslim statements] and would ... think twice before inviting him to speak here."
Mr. Shokr, a 22-year-old history student, said his group accepted Mr. Pipes' right to speak at the school and was not disappointed the university administration did not move to prevent the scholar's address.
Students handed out their literature to attendees before they entered the lecture hall. Some people took what was offered, while others turned it down.
One visitor, a student from York, exchanged tense words with a student who questioned why she would attend Mr. Pipes' lecture. She replied that she wanted to hear what he had to say, even if she did not agree with all of it.
Much of the attention on the visit of Mr. Pipes, the director of the Philadelphia-based think-tank Middle East Forum, was prompted by an open letter signed by more than 100 professors and students that was published this week in a student newspaper and online.
The letter, authored by a campus organization called Science for Peace, said it affirmed Mr. Pipes' right to speak at the university but denounced what it deemed his "long record of xenophobic, racist and sexist speech that goes back to 1990."
The letter cited some partial quotes from Mr. Pipes' published works in an effort to back up its accusations.
Rebecca Wasserman, president of the U of T chapter of Middle East Forum, which co-sponsored last night's speech, used her opening remarks to criticize the Science for Peace letter.
"This group, whose anti-American and anti-corporate diatribes are well known, has graciously consented to allow Dr. Pipes to speak, but not before launching a pre-emptive attack through the campus media, blackballing him with vehement and shallow rhetoric," she said.
Ms. Wasserman said the letter asserted that hate and prejudice have no place on a university campus, but she questioned why the signatories made no such statements in the past when other campus groups produced posters that appeared to support the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terror group.
Before Mr. Pipes began his lecture on "Radical Islam and the War on Terror," he addressed the minor controversy his appearance had wrought.
He said the open letter was "exactly the kind of shoddy scholarship that Campus Watch is out to expose."
Mr. Pipes said that while the letter accuses him of attempting to restrict academic freedom, he has no ability to limit freedom of speech.
"All I can do is criticize, and I expect others to criticize me," he said. "Why should only one side be allowed to criticize?"
Mr. Pipes said much of the anger directed toward him is based on the mistaken belief that he speaks out against all of Islam.
"Islam is not the enemy," he said. "Radical Islam is the enemy."
He said it is not just terrorists who pose a threat to Western society, but certain ideologically driven Muslims from all walks of life "who are all part of a movement. That movement is called Radical Islam, or Islamism."
Dr. Pipes spoke at York in January, 2003, after university administrators backed off an initial decision to ban him from the campus. The school imposed strict security, including a 24-hour lockdown on the building beforehand and identification checks of attendees. About 25 students demonstrated outside the school president's office to protest her decision to allow the speech.
© National Post 2005
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