...Sarah Wunsch, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts, wrote a letter to the School Department's lawyer Friday, saying Andover High students "should not be shielded from what some deem to be controversial views." Meyers distributed the letter to teachers yesterday morning...

...The Wheels of Justice, a group consisting of staunch critics of the U.S. and Israeli governments, were invited by six social studies teachers at the school to speak to 200 students about their experiences in Iraq, the West Bank and Gaza, according to Thomas Meyers, the president of the Andover Education Association and a social studies teacher at the school.

Through an attorney who spoke first to the Advocate, Principal Peter Anderson said that he did not cancel the event, but instead asked the Wheels of Justice to reschedule since he did not feel he had enough time to provide a balanced forum, according to Leonard H. Kesten, an attorney at Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kesten, LLP, in Boston. Kesten is representing the school committee and speaking on behalf of the principal and the superintendent.

“[The Wheels of Justice] was not canceled,” said Kesten. “The principal was not familiar with the group and he wanted to gather more information because quite a few concerns had been raised about the presentation. The principal offered to reschedule but the Wheels of Justice said it wasn’t possible.”...

After cancelling a visit by pro-Palestinian speakers, Andover High School will host a "balanced presentation" on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the school's lawyer said.

But that's still not enough to appease the head of the teachers union.

President Tom Meyers was one of six teachers who organized last Friday's cancelled visit by the Wheels of Justice tour. It was supposed to be a seminar for students to learn about the Palestinian perspective in depth, and the teachers were planning a similar event later in the year with speakers who would be "more favorable to Israel," he said.

Despite the school's new plans for a forum with speakers on both sides of the conflict, Meyers said he will still sue if the school does not allow those original seminars to take place as planned. Prohibiting Wheels of Justice to speak at the school violates the First Amendment, he said.

Meyers has already received a letter of support from the American Civil Liberties Union. He has also asked the Massachusetts Teachers Association for legal help...

...Francis continues to be an advocate for human rights. His position regarding the Israel- Palestinian struggle is consistent with his defense of other oppressed groups. He advocates that Jews and Palestinians have fundamental human rights. These include the right of Jews to live in peace, but these same rights also include the right of Palestinian refugees who were driven from their homes in the late 1940s to be allowed to return to their land. These Palestinian homes are in the territory known as Israel. These folks have been granted refugee status by the United Nations they have a legal, fundamental right to return to their homes, to claim their property and to be fully enfranchised. Would such a change alter the configuration of the current state of Israel? The answer is unequivocally yes. Israel would become a nation that embraces human rights for everyone including those driven out of the territory. Such a policy would create a nation free from discrimination based upon ascribed characteristics such as race or religion. Then Israel would truly become a democratic nation. This position embraces diversity and ultimately provides security for all citizen of Israel...

...The [Jewish] Adcotate [sic] said that "the ADL stands firmly behind the school's decision. According to Andrew Tarsy, the ADL's New England regional director, the group provides a grossly distorted view of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. The ADL quotes on its Web site that Wheels of Justice speaker Mazin Qumsiyeh, a Yale University associate professor, said that Zionism is 'a disease' during a speech at Duke University in 2004."

...Some think they can get away with ignoring the large elephants in the room (special interests that shape elections including one of the biggest the Political Zionist lobby). But activists around the country are taking matters into their own hands, showing up at candidate rallies, candidate debates and other places shining a light on this precise issue. The Zionist influenced mainstream media is frantically and desperately trying to suppress any leakage of those events and trends...

...So far we spoke to literally hundreds of schools (including elementary, middle, and high schools) in 48 states in the US. In two schools, we had opposition from the usual suspects. Below is one report on one of such attacks. The racist and misnamed ADL leads the attacks on us; this is the same group that spied on Arab and African Americans and is famed for its support of racism (see http://www.adlwatch.org/ ). Yet, again we have an edge: truth. And good people: the ACLU is involved in defending us as are teachers, and over 200 students signed a petition in support of our rights at North Andover High School [sic]...

We provided Andover High School officials with a background briefing about Wheels of Justice so that it could make an informed decision.

We applaud the decision that was reached. We celebrate a school's interest in education about the Middle East conflict, and urge schools to provide educationally appropriate, factual and balanced content.

Wheels of Justice has a very clear track record of being neither factual or balanced.

...According to Ron Francis, a physics teacher at AHS who was at the center of controversy earlier this year for his political involvement, students started a petition on Monday voicing disagreement with the school administration.

"They responded rather aggressively," said Francis. "The students I think just saw right through it. It's censorship."

Francis said his only involvement with the social studies teachers who organized this event "is that I exposed them to the speakers."

On Friday, about 1,000 students were given a sheet of paper with the headline "Speakers on human rights for Palestinians invited and then blocked at last minute by administration." Boxed and in bold letters was the question, "Do you trust teachers to present educationally sound material and ensure that their classes explore all sides of issues?" The paper was signed "Dr. R. Francis."

Francis has been the advisor for an after-school group dealing with the Middle East, and paid Andover High students to work for the Somerville Divestment Project, which sought to end Somerville's financial ties to Israel.

When told of Francis' involvement with the Wheels of Justice event, Tarsy said, "I'm not surprised at all. Francis has used his position at Andover High School to promote his agenda, which includes the belief that there should be no Jewish state in Israel. And he's not shy about it."

Francis defended his position as an educator at AHS.

"That's just garbage," he said. "They've played this game before ... It's nonsense."

Francis said he opposes any state that gives preferential treatment to Jews at the expense of non-Jews. Asked if he felt Zionists were involved in preventing Wheels of Justice from speaking, he replied: "That's a statement of fact."...

...I asked Francis about the Andover ordeal, at which point he and John [Spritzler] gleamed and thanked me for the free publicity... many students are approaching him and are asking about Palestinians and why there was all this hoopla...

"So now I get to talk to them about Palestinians and they trust me because I am their favorite teacher. They know I would not lie. As a physicist, I can talk to them scientifically."...

...When Francis was thanking me for the free publicity he and the WoJ got in the media, he lost his cool, and started bragging about his indoctrination of the students at AHS, saying that it would have been better for our side to just let the WoJ in, and be done with it. Because now, he said, there are enough students and teachers who are outraged and want to know "the truth" -- and guess who is going to deliver "the truth" to them? You guessed it -- the virtuous, righteous Dr. Francis, of course...

...Qumsiyeh stated that Ashkenzi Jews didn't descend from Middle Eastern Jews, rather, they were converts who originated in Europe. He cited his background in genetics then spoke about Ashkenazic genetic disorders as proof that European Jews were of no relation to Jews who hailed from Arab countries. I'm not a geneticist, but this sounds like racialist pseudo-science to me...

[Qumsiyeh also stated] "The Zionists are now converting people from the Amazon jungle in order to bring them into the Territories to have more settlers..."

...On a personal level, I strongly disagree with Francis's admittedly noble philosophical engagements and moral crusades on behalf of the Palestinians and other worthy causes. I disagree even more with his flawed understanding of Middle Eastern history, his misguided political advocacy, and the smear campaigns and puerile divestment operations he relishes in mounting against the state of Israel in his spare time. Nevertheless, I will defend to the death Francis's right to spout his ideological biases and retail his narrow world view and partisan advocacy. But I can do so only so long as Francis advances his personal agenda in his spare time; not mine, not my daughter's - a junior at Andover High - and not anyone else's among those he teaches at AHS, courtesy of my tax dollar.

I send my children to the public school system to get an education, not to learn morality and not to be coaxed into imbuing the personal biases and political engagements of their teachers. Teachers should do their jobs and impart their knowledge in their areas of expertise, areas in which they were trained and for which they were hired. Teachers must not use their position of authority, their charisma, or their hold over their captive student audiences to proselytize personal agendas, biases and world views. I should hope Francis would respect the wishes of those who help pay his salary, and reserve his personal and philosophical crusades to contexts outside the public school system...