Friday, May 6, 2005
A few weeks ago I noted that Columbia University's Middle East Institute was honoring notorious anti-Semite and conspiracy-theorist, Amiri Baraka - notable for the fact that Baraka is neither a Middle-Easterner, nor does he write about the Middle East.
The MEI defended themselves by saying that they were not, in fact, honoring Baraka, but were instead simply forwarding an event announcement by an outside group - something they do regularly. The 'we're not responsible, we do it automatically' defense. OK.
Now enter Daniel Pipes' Middle East Forum and a request that the MEI forward their announcement seeking summer interns.
No go on that one. It's not up to their exacting standards:
The Middle East Forum requested that it be sent out on April 22, 2005. Noting the announcement had not gone out, the Forum sent a follow-up inquiry on May 5. In reply, Astrid Benedek, MEI's associate administrator, explained that she would not do so until the Forum made changes on its Campus Watch website. She also indicated she would not reply again to the MEF ("I think we best end our communication right here").
This refusal contradicts an earlier statement by Benedek about the institute's policy of semi-automatically forwarding information for "countless other … outside organizations."
The Middle East Institute is directed by former PLO advisor [ouch] Rashid Khalidi.
Although Columbia's Middle East Institute receives taxpayer funding via the federal government's International Studies in Higher Education Act, Title VI, it demonstrably shows a lack of impartiality. For example, while it turned down the MEF intern announcement, it on May 2, 2005 circulated an invitation for a study trip to Gaza sponsored by the Faculty For Israeli - Palestinian Peace, a group that blames "the occupation" for all the region's problems...
Got that? Forwarding an announcement about an event honoring a notorious racist, anti-Semitic, anti-American conspiracy-theorist: OK. Sending out a call for interns for a Middle East think-tank: No-go.
Remember this when they deny that political bias or personal turf-protecting have anything to do with their decisions.
