December 13, 2011

Harvard's Middle East Outreach Center Headed By BDS Supporter

According to The Tab, a Boston-area newspaper, Newton resident Tony Pagliuso was shocked when he examined a reading selection on the treatment of women in the Middle East his daughter brought home from her history class at Newton South High School. The article, from a controversial textbook called The Arab World Studies Notebook, falsely accused Israeli soldiers of murdering Arab women. Pagliuso was incensed to discover such defamatory material disseminated in his daugher's school and raised the issue with school officials.


The incident prompts two critical questions that school systems need to address as they introduce the study of the modern Middle East to students: How do they identify reputable sources on such a contentious topic and what procedures do school systems need to put in place to evaluate curricular material supplied to them. Regrettably, some of the most prominent academic institutions educators turn to for training and curricula offer dubious scholarship tainted by partisan ideological agendas.


The Center pushed the controversial text book, The Arab World Studies Notebook, which state officials described as "propaganda" and "practically proselytizing." The Notebook included such bizarre assertions as the claim Muslims discovered America before Columbus and Iroquois Indian chiefs had Muslim names. Later editions of The Notebook removed some of the absurd claims, but its fundamental flaws remain.


For instance, Director Beran promotes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. At a Teach-In and Organizing Conference on Dec. 11, 2005 at Harvard, Beran discussed the success of BDS within the Presbyterian Church - PC (USA) - and offered his vision of the BDS movement. Beran advocated "constructing long-term networks of broad based support for action." He boasted of successfully forming a coalition with the radical anti-Israel group, Jewish Voice for Peace. In this way, Beran stated, "it helped the PC (USA) to deal more forcefully with the criticism it has and continues to receive from Zionist groups and their ilk."


http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=2161

Great, a Boycott Derangement Syndrome (BDS) sufferer who rewrites history and engages in unscholarly activity is in charge?
This does not bode well for both Harvard, and the school-age victims of this educational malfeasance.

December 13, 2011

Palestinians protest peace meeting

Angry Palestinians prevented Israeli and Palestinian peace activists from holding a convention at east Jerusalem’s Ambassador Hotel on Monday.

The convention was organized by the Israeli Palestinian Confederation (IPC) and was supposed to bring together Al-Quds University President Sari Nusseibeh and political science Prof. Munther Dajani from the Palestinian side and Shlomo Ben-Ami, Uri Avneri and Ruth Dayan as representatives of Israel.

The protesters accused the Palestinian participants of “encouraging the culture of peace” between Israelis and Palestinians. They said they were opposed to the conference because it was a form of “normalization” with Israel.

The protesters also raided the conference hall and confiscated booklets and signs belonging to the IPC

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=249213


Sneaky bastards....trying to encourage peace. We must put a stop to this mutual cooperation at once.