FrontPage Magazine=20 <title>=C2=BB Israel-Bashing CSU Prof to Fight Anti-Semitism? = =C2=BB Print

Israel-Bashing CSU Prof to Fight Anti-Semitism?

Posted By Lee Kaplan On December 11, 2012 @ = 12:41 am In=20 Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 27=20 Comments

Does appointing an advocate of = Boycott,=20 Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel to chair a committee = aimed at=20 combating anti-Semitism in the California State University system make = sense?=20 That=E2=80=99s exactly what happened in the case of Manzar Foroohar, a = well-known=20 anti-Israel activist who teaches modern Middle Eastern and Latin = American=20 history at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. = The=20 Iranian immigrant was placed in charge of an Academic Senate 2012/2013 = CSU committee=20 charged with implementing the =E2=80=9CGovernor=E2=80=99s Task Force on = Tolerance and=20 Anti-Semitism Training,=E2=80=9D an effort that originated in 2010 under = former=20 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Foroohar does indeed have = extensive=20 experience in training students and faculty members=E2=80=94in how to = delegitimize and=20 demonize the state of Israel, an activity that hardly promotes an = environment of=20 =E2=80=9Ctolerance=E2=80=9D for pro-Israel CSU students.

When asked about Foroohar=E2=80=99s appointment, Diana Guerin, = chairwoman of the=20 Academic Senate CSU (ASCSU) who oversees committee selections and = appointments,=20 offered the standard bureaucratic response, making sure to include = politically=20 correct praise for the professor=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9Cdivergent=E2=80=9D = point of view:

The Executive Committee of the Academic Senate makes appointments = each year=20 based on senator interest in serving on the various committees. With = over=20 forty senators eligible to serve and approximately fifty committees to = staff,=20 this is a very involved process. We note that sometimes committees do = their=20 best work when there are divergent points of view that lead to careful = consideration and thorough discussion of issues. Senator Foroohar has = been=20 elected by her peers at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo multiple terms and = has served=20 the Academic Senate of the CSU with distinction.

After further questioning, the chairwoman explained that at a 2010 = meeting=20 with the Governor=E2=80=99s task force at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, = =E2=80=9CConcern arose=20 about the potential blurring of the lines between anti-Semitism and=20 anti-Zionism, which are two separate issues = [emphasis=20 added]=E2=80=9D and that, =E2=80=9CIt was important for faculty to have = a voice on this type of=20 training for our students.=E2=80=9D This sheds light on the = ASCSU=E2=80=99s true agenda: using=20 the committee to promote the idea that campus anti-Zionism has nothing = to do=20 with anti-Semitism. Foroohar=E2=80=99s appointment to = =E2=80=9Ctrain=E2=80=9D faculty effectively ends=20 any meaningful attempt by the Governor=E2=80=99s task force to battle = campus=20 anti-Semitism.

Among Foroohar=E2=80=99s anti-Israel activities:

=E2=80=A2 She is on the Organizing Committee of = the U.S.=20 Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI ) and = in 2010,=20 signed a petition to=20 have an Israeli scholar ejected from an academic conference in Los = Angeles. She=20 is also on the = Coordinating=20 Committee of the Israel Divestment Campaign.

=E2=80=A2 She is one=20 of the signatories to a 2012 op= en=20 letter to the California State Assembly objecting to House = Resolution=20 35, which condemned anti-Semitism on California campuses, alleging that = it=20 threatened academic freedom by conflating =E2=80=9Ccriticism of Israel = or its policies=20 with anti-Semitism.=E2=80=9D

=E2=80=A2 In 2009, she authored a = resolution=20 that was adopted by the 23,000-strong California Faculty Association = that=20 condemned Israel for its 2006 military incursion into Gaza and = white-washed the=20 terrorist organization Hamas.

=E2=80=A2 She signed a= 2011=20 open letter to CSU Chancellor Charles Reed demanding an = end to=20 the CSU Israel [Study] Abroad program.

=E2=80=A2 She invited=20 Ilan Pappe, a former Haifa University history professor and notorious=20 anti-Israel propagandist,=20 to speak on her campus, leading to public outcry and = protests.

=E2=80=A2 From 2007-2010 she worked to organize the Students for = Justice and Peace in=20 the Middle East-sponsored =E2=80=9CWall of Separation=E2=80=9D displays = on her campus.

=E2=80=A2 In 2003 she oversaw a lecture=20 series offered in conjunction with one of her courses that featured = only=20 anti-Israel speakers.

=E2=80=A2 Student comments at = Polyratings.com=20 include the following: =E2=80=9CI am a Jewish student, and I felt=20 extremely uncomfortable during her discussions about the Middle = East, as=20 she presented all of the course material in ways that seemed to attack = Israel=E2=80=9D;=20 =E2=80=9CThis class is just pandering to Palestinian = propaganda=E2=80=9D; =E2=80=9CShe is also rabidly=20 anti-Israel=E2=80=9D; and =E2=80=9CGod forbid if you are Jewish or = Israeli because she has it in=20 for you.=E2=80=9D

Viewing Foroohar=E2=80=99s dubious resum=C3=A9 against the U.S. State = Department=E2=80=99s working = definition=20 of anti-Semitism=E2=80=94which includes demonizing, delegitimizing, and = applying double=20 standards to Israel=E2=80=94it=E2=80=99s clear that her appointment to = lead a committee charged=20 with promoting tolerance and opposing anti-Semitism is unacceptable. = Concerned=20 faculty members have expressed their opposition to the CSU = administration=20 privately, but thus far have been met with stonewalling, claims of = ignorance, or=20 attempts to downplay the situation by maintaining that the position is = merely=20 symbolic. Whatever the truth, Foroohar=E2=80=99s appointment is a stark = reminder that=20 pro-Israel CSU students facing discrimination are on their own.

Lee Kaplan is an investigative journalist and columnist who = writes for=20 Isracampus.org.il, = Israel=20 National News, and the Northeast Intelligence Network. He is a Fellow at = the=20 American Center for Democracy and the founder of DAFKA.org and = StoptheISM.com.=20 He wrote this article for Campus Watch, a = project of=20 the Middle East = Forum.

NB: If you wish to make your views known to the administration of the = California State University, you may contact the CSU Public Affairs = office,=20 at:

Email: publicaffairs@calstate.edu=
Phone: (562) 951-4800

The office of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis = Obispo=20 President Jeffrey D. Armstrong may be contacted at:

Email: jarmstro@calpoly.edu
Phon= e:=20 (805)756-6000
Fax: (805)756-1129

The office of California Governor Jerry Brown may be contacted = at:

Email: http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php<= /A>
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 558-3160

Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click=20 here.

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