Wednesday, April 9, 2014

One War Against Women

How does Brandeis U get this so wrong?  It displays bigotry against people of color who fail to conform to politically correct views.  It displays similar bigotry against women with independent views.  It surrenders after profiling abuse of women in the name of Islam.  And it announces that academic freedom is a meaningless label thrown around to justify malicious attacks on those who not conform to the politically correct orthodoxy.  There is no freedom in academia, only orthodoxy.

Brandeis U. decides against honor for Islam critic


 
In this Monday, Feb. 5, 2007 photo, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, writer of the film "Submission," which criticized the treatment of women in traditional Islam and led to the murder of Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh, talks to a reporter in New York. Brandeis University in Massachusetts is taking heat from some of its own about plans to give an honorary degree to Ali, who has made comments critical of Islam.
In this Monday, Feb. 5, 2007 photo, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, writer of the film "Submission," which criticized the treatment of women in traditional Islam and led to the murder of Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh, talks to a reporter in New York. Brandeis University in Massachusetts is taking heat from some of its own about plans to give an honorary degree to Ali, who has made comments critical of Islam. 
SHIHO FUKADA / AP PHOTO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

After taking heat from some of its own over a decision to grant an honorary
 degree to an advocate for Muslim women who has made comments critical of Islam, 
Brandeis University withdrew the honor Tuesday night.
The university said in a statement that Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali would no longer 
receive the honorary degree, which it had planned to award her at the May 18 
commencement.
Ali, a member of the Dutch Parliament from 2003 to 2006, has been quoted as making
 comments critical of Islam. That includes a 2007 interview with Reason Magazine in 
which she said of the religion: "Once it's defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful.
 It's very difficult to even talk about peace now. They're not interested in peace. I think
 that we are at war with Islam. And there's no middle ground in wars."
Brandeis, outside Boston in Waltham, Mass., said it was not aware of Ali's statements
 earlier.
"She is a compelling public figure and advocate for women's rights, and we respect and
 appreciate her work to protect and defend the rights of women and girls throughout the
 world," said the university's statement. "That said, we cannot overlook certain of her
 past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values."
Even though the university withdrawing the honorary degree, "Ali is welcome to join us
 on campus in the future to engage in a dialogue about these important issues," the 
statement said.
Ali was raised in a strict Muslim family, but after surviving a civil war, genital mutilation, 
beatings and an arranged marriage, she renounced the faith in her 30s. She declined to
 comment this week to The Associated Press.
In 2007, Ali helped establish the AHA Foundation, which works to protect and defend the
 rights of women in the West from oppression justified by religion and culture, according
 to its website. The foundation also strives to protect basic rights and freedoms of women
 and girls. This includes control of their own bodies, access to an education and the 
ability to work outside the home and control their own income, the website says.
More than 85 of about 350 faculty members at Brandeis signed a letter asking for Ali to be
 booted off the list of honorary degree recipients. And an online petition created Monday by
 students at the school of 5,800 had gathered thousands of signatures from inside and
outside the university as of Tuesday afternoon.
"This is a real slap in the face to Muslim students," senior Sarah Fahmy, a member of
 the Muslim Student Association who created the petition, said of the honor before the
 university withdrew it.
Bernard Macy, a 1979 Brandeis graduate, sent an email this week to university 
President Frederick Lawrence and several members of the faculty saying, "Thank you
 for recognizing Ayaan Hirsi Ali for defending Muslim women against Islamist honor
 violence."
But Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the
 nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, said, "It is unconscionable that such a 
prestigious university would honor someone with such openly hateful views."
The organization sent a letter to Lawrence on Tuesday requesting that it drop its plans
 to honor Ali.
"This makes Muslim students feel very uneasy," Joseph Lumbard, chairman of Islamic
 and Middle Eastern studies, said in an earlier interview. "They feel unwelcome here."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/08/4048176/brandeis-u-decides-against-honor.html#storylink=cpy