MESAN - Middle East Studies Association

Submitted by Yossi Ben-Aharon (Israel), Jul 15, 2002 at 03:39

Attn. Dr. Daniel Pipes.

Very heartfelt congratulations on your struggle to unmask the true face of Islamist violence and anti-Semistism. I fear that if you will remain an isolated voice (or accompanied by a very few colleagues like Steve Emerson) you might lose the battle. You are being confronted by a tremendously powerful lobby that has been building up its influence over several decades, by pumping immense funds to focii of influence in the US, including, among others, the MESAN. Having served in the US in the Israel diplomatic service, I attended some of the annual conferences of MESAN. I discovered that in many campuses, including Ivy League universities, Arab academecians achieved a monopoly and dictated their slanted version of Muslim and Arab history, religion and politics. They have trained and bred a number of generations of graduate students and instilled in them aversion, even hatred, toward Israel, the Jews and the Western scale of values and way of life.

This development poses a real danger to the US, to its system of government, to the conduct of its foreign policy and even to the social fabric of the American people. I hope something can be done to stem the tide of this phenomenon. Will appreciate your comments and advice.

Best regards
Yossi Ben-Aharon

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