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Facts, please Pro-Israeli Democrat
Reader comment on item: An Inadvertent Endorsement of Campus Watch [at Georgia Tech]
in response to reader comment: Stop the witch-hunt; preserve democracy and academic freedom

Submitted by CanWePleaseWakeUpHere (Canada), Apr 25, 2006 at 14:38

Dear Pro-Israeli Democrat

Your words: "in my opinion, there is not much to criticise about Israel. It is a secular, liberal, democratic state that granted citizenship to the Palestinians who stuck around after the '48 war. It is important for pro-Palestinian activists to remember that Israel has granted citizenship to about 100,000 Palestinians. And what have Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Syria done for the Palestinians? The answer is: nothing. Absolutely nothing. "

Based on these views you are certainly not what many on the "right" consider "left-leaning"......however labelling you or anyone with an opposing view is a sickness that is far too common in the world today. Everybody (left and right) seems to be doing it. We've gone from debating issues, and we now label each other something sinister "neocons" "leftwing" "rightwing" etc. etc. Unfortunately we are probably all guilty of this.

In this case, you go from making concrete reasonable statements to opinions, name-calling, and generalizations. Again, your words "I believe there is a sinister undertone to this and other right-wing "reform" movements"

My understanding from this article was that "Campus Watch" was not meant to stop reasonable discourse but simply to insure that professors do not resort to propaganda (which in my understanding is to simply tell one side of the story) whether that propaganda is left-right, black-white, gay-hetero, whatever.

I am personally not that familiar with Campus Watch but would be interested if you gave some examples of its inequality. In other words, can you show us (not opinions, thank you), where Campus Watch has avoided blacklisting "right-leaning" professors who were spewing propaganda. Or perhaps fair-minded professors who were blacklisted simply for a left-leaning bias even though they allowed and encouraged different views.

As I said, I'm not familiar with Campus Watch but you obviously have strong convictions. I just wish you would back up your opinions with facts. Here's your opportunity to discredit the entire process.

You are entirely entitled to your opinion, but with 6 billion people (+) on the planet today we have 6 billion (+) different points of reference. It would be much more useful if we all stopped judging and labelling each other and started discussing issues and respecting each other instead.


Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.

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Reader comments (54) on this item

Title By Date
Professor Laura Bier [147 words]Charlie CoyleApr 23, 2006 14:46
well said [86 words]BosAug 23, 2007 09:23
Cowardly Professors' Hypocritical Orwellian Accusations of "McCarthyism" [420 words]Amendment9Apr 22, 2006 18:26
Campus Watch is Missing the Point (and so is the Right as a whole) [1078 words]Pro-Israeli DemocratApr 21, 2006 07:53
Wow [341 words]D WilliamsApr 22, 2006 21:42
If you read closely [402 words]Pro-Israeli DemocratApr 23, 2006 08:45
There is no fine print [436 words]D WilliamsMay 9, 2006 12:40
The need to be judicious in your remarks [127 words]Paul BowmanApr 20, 2006 13:29
In defense of free speech [39 words]NathanApr 20, 2006 01:59
Finally, Progress [30 words]Douglas BoggsApr 19, 2006 23:53
Spelling and grammar of GA Tech professor [35 words]Carl S. HoffmanApr 19, 2006 12:32
where do they come from??? [33 words]john bennettApr 19, 2006 11:30
Campus Watch [235 words]kim segarApr 18, 2006 14:09
Frontal Lobe Removal [109 words]Kevin MApr 18, 2006 13:27
Nice, Kevin! [10 words]D WilliamsApr 22, 2006 21:58
The Freedom Fighter [103 words]PigfootApr 18, 2006 12:58
Does Ms. Bier hear herself? [215 words]PatApr 18, 2006 11:53
Stop the witch-hunt; preserve democracy and academic freedom
[w/response] [735 words]
Pro-Israeli DemocratApr 18, 2006 10:40
⇒ Facts, please Pro-Israeli Democrat [370 words]CanWePleaseWakeUpHereApr 25, 2006 14:38
world war II [27 words]robert aApr 18, 2006 06:15
Britain!!! [51 words]Catriona BrownApr 18, 2006 05:45
Laura Bier [17 words]Peter YarrowApr 18, 2006 05:39
campus watch [147 words]Julia MackApr 17, 2006 23:31
What a silly diatribe [321 words]JeffApr 17, 2006 22:15
Good Point Raised [73 words]D WilliamsApr 22, 2006 22:09
Please drop the ...drivel [314 words]obilicApr 17, 2006 21:54
Are you saying [10 words]D WilliamsApr 22, 2006 22:14
campus [168 words]baruch tovaApr 17, 2006 20:41
cream of the crop [91 words]Donald OApr 17, 2006 20:27
The Fifth Column [9 words]Donna SummerApr 17, 2006 19:05
The historical expertise of Laur Bier [94 words]Joseph GreenbergApr 17, 2006 18:56
Israel is the promised land [163 words]Donald Grant CheesmanApr 17, 2006 18:38
Tenure you say [27 words]Katherine McLeanApr 17, 2006 18:19
what occupation? [444 words]john mcginleyApr 17, 2006 17:11
Keeping tabs on profs [35 words]David W. LincolnApr 17, 2006 17:01
Leah Bowman whoever [94 words]Colin SpencerApr 17, 2006 17:01
The radicals on American college campuses. [155 words]Richard Lion heartApr 17, 2006 16:38
Laura Bier [121 words]Donald W. BalesApr 17, 2006 16:06
Laura Bier [38 words]Jerry ScheinbergApr 17, 2006 15:48
Critical Thinkers or Captive Audience? [229 words]ddsApr 17, 2006 15:32
Pre-Occupied with Occupation [401 words]David GatorguyApr 17, 2006 15:26
Brainless or Brain dead? [73 words]JaladhiApr 17, 2006 15:09
Victims [38 words]D WilliamsApr 22, 2006 22:35
Organizational Conflicts are Generic [128 words]Stew GableApr 17, 2006 14:54
The Occupation of Palestine [69 words]Geoffrey LewisApr 17, 2006 14:37
I, amongst many, appreciate "Campus Watch" -- and I thank you!! [22 words]Nikki SimonApr 17, 2006 14:30
America today [83 words]HarrakApr 17, 2006 13:45
Holy cow, Harrak! [37 words]Kevin MApr 17, 2006 14:44
Nice [9 words]John RApr 17, 2006 21:47
we are losing... [165 words]ahmadzafireApr 17, 2006 22:07
Financial, Emotional.... [87 words]JohnApr 21, 2006 13:55
Coward thy name is Leah Bowman, I mean Laura Bier [31 words]SullyApr 17, 2006 13:33
Downside of Tenure [34 words]Ruth Morton FazioApr 17, 2006 13:17
Laura Bier longs for the days before the Web arrived [109 words]Yoel NatanApr 17, 2006 12:51

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.

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