Does Columbia University Hate America?

CNSNews.com ^ | April 01, 2003 | Daniel Pipes and Jonathan Calt Harris

[Stand Watch Listen]

"U.S. flags are the emblem of the invading war machine in Iraq today. They are the emblem of the occupying power. The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military."

Those words were spoken last week by Nicholas De Genova, a professor of anthropology and Latin American studies at Columbia University. De Genova went on, in words that will long shame his university, to call for U.S. soldiers to "frag" (i.e., murder) their officers and express a wish "for a million Mogadishus," referring to the 1993 ambush in Somalia that left 18 U.S. soldiers dead and 84 wounded.

He wants 18 million dead Americans?

While Columbia's administration distanced itself from De Genova (he "does not in any way represent" the university's views) and other professors criticized him, his remarks are hardly the rude exception to the usual discourse of the faculty at that university. For one, a visiting professor at Columbia this academic year named Tom Paulin, has stated that Brooklyn-born Jews "should be shot dead" if they live on the West Bank.

More broadly, plenty of other Columbia professors share De Genova's venomous feelings for the United States, though they stop short of calling for the deaths of Americans.

* Eric Foner, Dewitt Clinton professor of American history, sees the U.S. government as a habitual aggressor: "Our notion of ourselves as a peace-loving republic is flawed. We've used military force against many, many nations, and in very few of those cases were we attacked or threatened with attack."

* Edward Said, university professor, calls the U.S. policy in Iraq a "grotesque show" perpetrated by a "small cabal" of unelected individuals who hijacked U.S. policy. He accuses "George Bush and his minions" of hiding their imperialist grab for "oil and hegemony" under a false intent to build democracy and human rights. And Said deems the current conflict "an abuse of human tolerance and human values" waged by an "avenging Judeo-Christian god of war." This war also fits into a larger pattern of the United States "reducing whole peoples, countries and even continents to ruin by nothing short of holocaust."

* Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said chair of Middle East Studies (starting in the fall), used the term "idiots' consensus" to describe the wide support for reversing Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait and called on his colleagues to combat it. After 9/11, he admonished the media to drop its "hysteria about suicide bombers."

* Gary Sick, acting director of the Middle East Institute, alleges that Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter in 1980 by conspiring with the Ayatollah Khomeini to keep the U.S. hostages in Iran. He apologizes for the Iranian government (it "has been meticulous in complying with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty") and blames Washington for having "encouraged Iran to proceed" with building nuclear weapons. He opposes American victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism collecting large damages against Tehran. More generally, he sees the Bush administration as "belligerent" and his fellow Americans as "insufferable."

* George Saliba, professor of Arabic and Islamic Science, routinely interrupts his class with political rants, leading one student to observe that it is "continuously insulting" to attend his lectures and another to complain about his course (on the subject of an "Introduction to Islamic Civilization," of all things) degenerating into a forum for railing against "evil America."

* Joseph Massad, assistant professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History. Massad seems to blame every ill in the Arab world on the United States. Poverty results from "the racist and barbaric policies" of the American-dominated International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The absence of democracy is the fault of "ruling autocratic elites and their patron, the United States." Militant Islamic violence results from "U.S. imperialist aggression."

Such sentiments coming from leading lights of the Columbia professorate suggest that De Genova's fit very well into his institution. He just made the mistake of blurting out the logical conclusion of the anti-Americanism forwarded by some of his colleagues.

This self-hatred points to an intellectual crisis at a school long considered one of the country's best. Alumni, parents of students, and other friends of the university should first acknowledge this reality, then take steps to fix it.

( Daniel Pipes is director and Jonathan Calt Harris is managing editor of Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.)

Copyright 2003, Daniel Pipes

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[Cosmo]

And I suppose this is patriotic.

Feel the gin

[Joe Boucher]

Far as I see it not only Columbia but all the Ivy League colleges. Also cuny.

[Uncle George]

Columbia University is the results of a disease known as "The Macarthy syndrome". Infiltration of Commies into power in higher learning universities as well as Government, media and Unions.

[dennisw]

I hope many freepers read this additional information on treachery at Columbia University.

[The PeteMan]

Idiot VIOLENT Columbia alum last night on Hannity and colmes

[PBRSTREETGANG]

The short answer is yes.

[68skylark]

I don't know why, but this Columbia thing has stuck in my craw like nothing else in this war -- even more than the stupid comments from those ditzy singers whose names I've forgotten.

I didn't really get ticked off unitl I read the wimpy, CYA email letters from the President of Columbia, and from the Chairman of the Anthropology department. These guys are evil or just totally clueless.

I sent letter to my Senators and Rep. to say that I'd like federal funds withheld from Columbia until they can clean up their act and get some adult supervision.

[jc_ct]

Keep in mind that there are unintended consequences to their left-wing noise. I entered Columbia in 1982 as a left-wing, liberal 18 year old from the People's Republic of Massachusetts. I graduated in 1986 as a Reaganite. Just 'cause there are idiots teaching there, doesn't mean that students believe everything they teach. After all, we were not accepted to the school because we were dunces. No one could be more appalled by these morons and the slimed-by-association that they inflict on me. Just know, that they are a small, vocal group of idiots. In Federalist #10, Madison argues that we need vocal factions - if only to know what the idiots who could harm us think before they move to action. This is an early warning system of sorts.

JC
EN 86 - and still proud of it

[jigsaw]

George Saliba, professor of Arabic and Islamic Science, routinely interrupts his class with political rants, leading one student to observe that it is "continuously insulting" to attend his lectures and another to complain about his course (on the subject of an "Introduction to Islamic Civilization," of all things) degenerating into a forum for railing against "evil America."

Paging some patriotic Columbia student to tape a class and send it to O'Reilly.

[Cosmo]

UVA professors for the most part , too

[Blue Screen of Death]

What do you think would have happened if any of these professors had said, "I believe the reason African Amnericans score lower on tests than White or Asian studnts is because Whites and Asians are better students"?

Or, had any of these professors suggested that female students with majors in fields like Sociology who would never actually use their degrees ought to think about searching for husbands somewhere else.

Want to bet on how long before their tenure was ignored and they were out of work? So much for academic freedom.

[ELS]

What say you?

Fox News interviewed the son of a military officer currently serving in GW2. He said that virtually noone at Columbia spoke up against this professor. The kid will be graduating this June and hopes that his father will be able to attend his graduation. When one of the interviewers asked the student whether his father would seek out the professor the student said "No, my father is too much of a gentleman for that."

[rmlew]

Plenty of Columbia Students oppose De Genova.
There will be a pro-war rally at Columbia tomorrow at 12:15 at Low Plaza.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Does Columbia University Hate America?

Is the Pope Polish?

[Stand Watch Listen]

Is the Pope Polish?

LOL!!! ...I haven't heard that in centuries ;-)

[Tailgunner Joe]

bttt

[YoungKentuckyConservative]

These guys are evil or just totally clueless.

Research the FOUNDERS of Columbia, and you'll know which answer is the correct one. Hint: They game from Germany.