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THE PATRIOT RETURNS |
Vol. 43, No.2 February 03, 2009
DELEGATE ASSEMBLY COMMITS TO NEW CAUCUS "RE-EDUCATION" EFFORTS ON ISRAEL
A few weeks ago, The Patriot Returns broke the story of the New Caucus' proposed Israel policy: create front organizations with Orwellian-sounding names like "CUNY for a Peaceful Gaza" or "CUNY for an Immediate Cease Fire in Gaza." These organizations would propagandize the membership on behalf of what even New Caucus Enforcer Nancy Romer has termed the group's "one-sided" position on Israel. That way, our Dear Leader can have the best of both worlds: pass a resolution confirming the PSC's anti-Israel bonafides, but avoid the "membership rebellion" that Romer feared the leadership's anti-Israel agenda will foment. At last week's Delegate Assembly meeting, the New Caucus put its plan into action. The body considered resolutions sponsored by a few of the New Caucus' leading anti-Israel zealots: Ros Petchesky, Sandor John, and PSC "foreign minister" Renate Bridenthal. Speaker after speaker at the Delegate Assembly expressed sympathy with the Ros/Sandor/Renate aims. But, they worried, the initiatives were "premature." The Delegate Assembly then voted to set aside the resolutions --- rebuffing an attempt to have this move done by a roll-call vote. (So much for the "union democracy" we constantly hear from our Dear Leader, Barbara Bowen.) Then Bowen's #2, "Solidarity Steve" London, stepped in, and pushed through a resolution to use union resources to "engage" the membership on individual campuses about Israel policy. No copies of the London Resolution were circulated in advance. (Again, so much for "union democracy.") And if you want to listen to a tape or read a transcript of this regularly scheduled Delegate Assembly meeting--you're out of luck. Contrary to usual procedure, the Dear Leader decreed there would be no recording or transcript made of the session--so as, obviously, to prevent the membership from learning exactly what the New Caucus is saying about Israel. (Again, so much for "union democracy.") In any case, expect a New Caucus-funded Israel "re-education" effort to be coming to your campus soon --- funded out of your union dues. --------------------- THE DEAR LEADER'S DOUBLE STANDARD? A few sane voices within the Delegate Assembly have pointed out that in a time of city, state, and federal budget tumult, having the PSC adopt an anti-Israel position makes no sense. It also is beyond the scope of the union. Not so!, says the Ros/Sandor/Renate triumvirate---with Romer, London, and the Dear Leader backing them up. Israeli foreign policy is an "academic freedom" concern, our New Caucus leadership tells us, because Israel attacked the Islamic University of Gaza during the recent Gaza military campaign. So, according to the Dear Leader's new definition of "academic freedom," if a government (let's say, for example, Hamas) uses the science facilities of a university (let's say, for example, the Islamic University) to produce military materiel that targets civilians of another country (let's say, for example, Israel), the country being attacked can't respond, because doing so would be a violation of "academic freedom." Will the PSC next file a grievance against Ehud Olmert with the AAUP? But let's take the Dear Leader at her word---one country attacking a college or university in another country, for any reason, is a violation of "academic freedom" and therefore justifies a PSC resolution. For the last several years, Sapir College in Sderot, Israel, has come under rocket attack from Hamas. (Unlike the Islamic University, no one has claimed that Sapir College has been used for national security purposes.) These attacks, by the PSC's new definition, were violations of "academic freedom." Yet the records of the Delegate Assembly reveal no resolution condemning Hamas for its attacks on Sapir College. There are no statements from the Dear Leader, or "Solidarity Steve," or Nancy Romer suggesting that the PSC should denounce the attacks on Sapir as violations of "academic freedom." So, in the spirit of "dialogue," we here at TPR offer a suggested question for the New Caucus' campus "re-education" efforts: if the Dear Leader believes that Israel's attacks on the Islamic University of Gaza violated "academic freedom," why have she and the New Caucus leadership been silent as the grave about Hamas' attacks on Sapir College? ---------------------------------- THE REAL REASON FOR THE DEAR LEADER'S It's not hard to understand why the Dear Leader has suddenly decided it's time to devote union resources to a PSC Israel effort. We're facing once-in-a-generation budget crunches at the city, state, and national levels. Union leaderships will need to call in political favors to ensure fair treatment in these tough times. Among the education unions, we know that Gov. Paterson thinks so highly of the head of the city teachers' union, Randi Weingarten, that she was one of the two finalists for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. And the UUP leadership has received favorable treatment from first Eliot Spitzer and then Paterson. The Dear Leader? What Democratic politician in New York would want to associate with a figure the local press has exposed as an anti-Israel zealot? So don't expect too many politicians to give Battlin' Barb favors anytime soon. How better to distract the membership's attention from the PSC's utter lack of political influence than to launch an anti-Israel campaign? And criticizing Israeli foreign policy is so much more fun for the Dear Leader and her Merry Minions than doing the hard work of fighting for better pay and reduced teaching loads.
Sharad Karkhanis, Ph.D.
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