U Michigan under pressure over antisemitism

Local representatives from Bnai Brith, American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and StandWithUs met with University President Mary Sue Coleman and University Provost Terry Sullivan, Tuesday, February 12. President Coleman and Provost Sullivan assured the assembled group that the Pluto Press contract and all distribution contracts are being reviewed under the new guidelines posted in January.

"The director of the Press has been charged with reviewing all the distribution contracts of the Press," said Coleman. "That review is to determine if the existing contracts meet the new guidelines." President Coleman said that a determination on Pluto Press was expected before the May 30th deadline for terminating or the contract.

Since 2004, the University of Michigan has been the sole distributor for London-based Pluto Press, which publishes some of the most anti-Israel, anti-Semitic and anti-American tracts available in the United States. More than a dozen of these books advocate for the destruction of the Jewish State, and any book dealing with Israel can be trusted to vilify Zionism. Neither UM Press nor Pluto Press offer any texts that present pro-Israel views. If left alone the contract will automatically renew for six months.

Our efforts exposing this arrangement have led to the UMP executive board creating guidelines for contractual distribution relationships with other publishers.

The guidelines now appear on the UM Press website, but there is no mention of the ongoing review process or the reasons for it. Pluto Press also remains listed as a distributed publisher, as does all the language used by Pluto Press to promote its books on its own site. The resulting image is that Pluto Press is in compliance with the new guidelines.

When pressed on this issue, President Coleman and Provost Sullivan stated that these concerns would be brought to the UM Press Board. Several days later, at the time of this writing, the misleading website endorsement of Pluto Press remains.

Throughout the meeting, President Coleman laid great stress on the necessity of this review process being allowed to play out. StandWithUs-Michigan accepts that President Coleman placing an emphasis on proper review procedure is important when dealing with long standing university contacts. We also understand her concerns over appearing heavy-handed regarding the policy of a faculty board that was empowered to do exactly the review requested in this case. We share her respect for free speech and academic freedom, and we thank her and Provost Sullivan for the efforts that have been made. We are pleased to hear that President Coleman will be travelling to Israel with several university presidents on a Project Interchange trip in June. These are all positive steps.

The problem that remains is that anti-Semitism is still being treated differently, and as less serious than other forms of racism. It is inconceivable that if Black community leaders had learned that UM Press was distributing Ku Klux Klan material and brought it to the attention of the University administration that they would be then asked to endure a year's worth of bureaucratic procedure. We would see similar alacrity regarding concerns from the Muslim community, the Hispanic, or any other minority. But what constitutes hate of Jews and Judaism is still open to debate by non-Jews, and at the University of Michigan Press that misinformation and hate is still being actively promoted on a University website.

The series of anti-Israel events that took place this week at the University of Michigan, while reprehensible, were largely ill-attended and likely effected few students. That is the good news. But what is also revealed by the events this week is the real pattern emerging at the University of Michigan - the total absence of responsible, informed debate about Israel and Zionism.

The anti-Israel group sponsoring this event had the support of Arab and Muslim groups, and anti-war groups, and of course Amnesty International. But these unscholarly, overtly political events also held the endorsement of several university departments, including the Program of American Culture and the Screen Arts and Culture Department.

The same group also brought radical anti-Israel Pluto Press author Joel Kovel to Michigan last semester, and has now invited "Israel Lobby" writers John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt to Michigan in March.

Seen in the light of UM Press's four-year exclusive distribution of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic texts, the four years of protests of a local community synagogue, and all of these actions greeted with the complete silence of the administration, it is quite clear that University of Michigan is becoming known among those who hate Israel as a safe haven for efforts to legitimize anti-Israel activist scholarship and anti-Semitic fervor.

If the University adheres to the new guidelines, it should end its distribution agreement with Pluto Press, but the University has not yet declared it intends to do so. We are pleased that the review process goes forward. But right now UM Press continues distributing the offensive, non-scholarly anti-Israel, anti-Zionist invectives. It is becoming clear that the University, and President Mary Sue Coleman, need to publicly condemn anti-Semitism in any form and clarify that the University will not condone or endorse hatred for Jews and Judaism masked as criticism of Israeli policies.

StandWithUs-Michigan is working closely with the local chapters of leading community organizations, namely Bnai Brith International, Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the Jewish Community Relations Council to build a broad coalition within the Jewish community, and to reach out to non-Jewish organizations on this issue.

StandWithUs-Michigan is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to restoring responsible, informed discussion about Israel and Zionism, and we will continue to work for the termination of the irresponsible UMP-Pluto Press contract that undermines the very hope for responsible and informed discussion.

Source





Australian school test results to go public

Federal education chief ignores school fears and opts for openness. Both creditable and surprising in a dedicated Leftist. Background to the story here



The Federal Government will publish the results of new national literacy and numeracy tests for Years 3, 5. 7 and 9 students, despite strong opposition from Queensland educators, a spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Julia Gillard said on Friday. The Government's focus was on achieving higher standards, greater accountability and better results for the whole school system, he said. At least one million students from more than 9000 schools around the country will sit the literacy and numeracy tests from May 13 to 15.

Parents from state and independent schools, many principals and Queensland Education Minister Rod Welferd have voiced fears about publishing the test results, claiming they could damage schools and their communities. They believe that if the wrong type of test is developed and the results publicised, it would waste taxpayer money and hurt the image of many hard-working schools.

Mr Welford wants the tests to be a diagnostic tool that helps uncover problem areas for students, rather than establishing a benchmark that creates a "leagues table" for schools.

Ms Gillard's spokesman said stakeholder concerns were taken into consideration in the development of the test, and the matter would be discussed further at the next meeting of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. "By comparing the performance of schools, it would be possible to ensure resources were placed where they would be required most," the spokesman said.

Mr Welford said he had asked Ms Gillard if a regular meeting of state education ministers could be organised before the May tests to discuss the process, but that appeared unlikely to happen. If the test was designed to just set a benchmark, it would only grab a picture of one day in the 13-year schooling life of a student, Mr Welford said. "The idea that we would be creating a leagues table is a folly and a waste of time. It's a scandalous waste of public funding," he said.

The Queensland Joint Parent Committee, which represents parents from state schools, the Catholic and independent sector, and parents of children at isolated schools, has written to Mr Welford opposing any publication of results.

The article above is by Paul Weston and appeared in the Brisbane "Sunday Mail" on March 2, 2008.