For Immediate Release: Scholars for Peace in the Middle East Statement on the Accusation of Dissemination of Anti-Semitic Material Against University of California, Santa Barbara, Sociology Professor, William Robinson

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CHICO, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) Board of Directors has been asked by many colleagues to issue a statement about the email that Professor William Robinson at the University of California at Santa Barbara sent to the students in his course on The Sociology of Globalization, in which he dispatched paired photographs of atrocities committed by the Nazis with photographs from the recent Israeli operations in Gaza.

The allegations, and reactions to them, have been widely reported in the media and are being reviewed by the Academic Senate of the University of California at Santa Barbara.

As an organization of 27,000 academics worldwide, SPME takes the position that the primary responsibility for adjudicating allegations of unscholarly behavior or violations of academic standards and codes of conduct, including allegations of anti-Semitic and other racist expressions, falls on the institution where the events in question occurred. Some commentators have claimed that academic freedom protects Professor Robinson’s right to send such emails. However, according to the Revised Academic Personnel Policy 010, Academic Freedom and the Policy on Course Content of The Regents of the University of California, approved June 19, 1970 and amended September 22, 2005:

  • Teaching and scholarship (must) be assessed by reference to the professional standards that sustain the University’s pursuit and achievement of knowledge.
  • Misuse of the classroom by, for example, allowing it to be used for political indoctrination…constitutes misuse of the University as an institution.

We therefore support the university’s decision to initiate the review, and we encourage the Academic Senate to address the following questions:

  1. Was Professor Robinson’s email an attempt at political indoctrination of his students? Did he invite student discussion and critical evaluation of other information and alternative views?
  2. Does Professor Robinson have academic expertise regarding the issues in the email, specifically, the conflict in the Middle East and the life and beliefs of Martin Luther King?
  3. Did Professor Robinson’s email meet standards of scholarly competence in that the text was factually accurate?
  4. Was Professor Robinson’s email anti-Semitic? According to both the U.S. Department of State in its Report on Global anti-Semitism and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in its Public Education Campaign to End Campus Anti-Semitism:

An important issue is the distinction between legitimate criticism of policies and practices of the State of Israel, and commentary that assumes an anti-Semitic character. The demonization of Israel, or vilification of Israeli leaders, sometimes through comparisons with Nazi leaders, and through the use of Nazi symbols to caricature them, indicates an anti-Semitic bias rather than a valid criticism of policy concerning a controversial issue.

Contrary to what a number of academics who should know better have asserted, academic freedom does not mean that material that is introduced to a curriculum, class, or academic forum should be protected from collegial and peer review and discussion, conducted in a civil and constructive manner. Where peers find scholarship or pedagogy to be substandard, they are entitled, indeed obligated, to say so. As a leading expert on academic freedom recently wrote: “The pursuit of truth in universities requires adherence to fundamental principles of intellectual integrity and responsibility.” ( Donald Downs, Academic Freedom: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and How to Tell the Difference,http:www.popecenter.org/inquiry_papers/article.html?id=2164 )

We trust that the University of California Academic Senate will uphold its principles of academic freedom and responsibility.

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East web site: https://spme.org

For Further Information Contact:

Leila Beckwith, UCLA, SPME Treasurer and Board of Directors, lbeckwit@ucla.edu
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, UC-Santa Cruz, SPME Board of Directors,
tbenjamin@cats.ucsc.edu
Peter Haas, Case Western Reserve University, SPME Vice President for External Relations,
peter.haas@case.edu
Sam Edelman, Cal State-Chico, SPME Executive Director,
sedelman@csu-chico.edu
Ed Beck, Walden University, SPME President Emeritus,

SOURCE Scholars for Peace in the Middle East

For Immediate Release: Scholars for Peace in the Middle East Statement on the Accusation of Dissemination of Anti-Semitic Material Against University of California, Santa Barbara, Sociology Professor, William Robinson

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