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CounterPunch
September
24, 2002
Smear Mongers
by PAUL de ROOIJ
The shockwaves of 9-11 have had a chilling effect
on civil liberties in the form of the Patriot Act and the repressive
measures taken by a plethora of government agencies. One must
add to this the fallout from the conflict between Palestinians
and Israelis, and it becomes evident that even universities are
not immune from the chill. Now freedom of speech, academic freedom
and democracy itself are all at risk--the values that America
so greatly cherishes have been greatly diminished.
Case in point. Last July Prof. Shahid
Alam of Northeastern Univ. in Boston wrote an eloquent article
calling for an academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions;
it appeared in both CounterPunch and Al Ahram
. The article gave an overview of the Palestinian condition,
a criticism of the "West" in allowing this situation
to continue, and then a carefully reasoned argument why academics
and students should engage in the time honored peaceful protest,
an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. When Professor
Alam invited some academics to consider joining the academic
boycott against Israel, he said, "one wrote back saying
how disappointed he was that I should support this boycott, since
it was destructive. I felt called upon to explain why I thought
the boycott was morally justified." Such a boycott has
been applied before in the case of South Africa to end apartheid,
and it proved to be effective. Even Israeli academics like Prof.
Illan Pappe have called for such a measure--stating that there
must be consequences to the Israeli oppression and dispossession
of the native population.
One seldom thinks about the consequences
for someone in writing or expressing their views. We take it
for granted that there is freedom of speech, and that a writer
need not fear for their life, safety or livelihood. In the case
of Prof. Alam, a smear campaign was set in full swing after the
publication in Al Ahram. The first salvo was an article
in the Jerusalem Post , a newspaper owned by Conrad Black,
an ardent Zionist, and owner of the Daily Telegraph of
London. The JP article completely altered the thrust
of Prof. Alam's argument; the first sentence read: "An economics
professor at Boston's Northeastern University has justified Palestinian
terrorist attacks against Israel." The thrust of his article,
a call for a boycott, a peaceful means to protest, was distorted
into a support for violence and the suicide bombers. The article
ended with a reference to a course Prof. Alam will teach in the
fall. So first there is a smear, a lie, and then a none too
subtle suggestion to some readers of a way that Prof. Alam could
be harassed.
The second salvo in the campaign came
in the form of articles by different American newspapers regurgitating
the Jerusalem Post interpretation of Prof. Alam's article.
The Boston Herald's version : "Prof. shocks Northeastern
with defense of suicide bombers." Two things are evident:
the author, Ed Hayward, didn't read (or chose to ignore) Alam's
original article, and didn't bother to contact the author directly.
His statement: "Attempts to reach him by phone and e-mail
were unsuccessful yesterday" is false. Prof. Alam has stated
that he replied by email, suggested that the author read the
original article, and made himself available for further questions.
Mr. Hayward based his article entirely on the Jerusalem Post's
scurrilous version of Prof. Alam's article. He then added a
few quotes of one Northeastern Univ. faculty replying to a question
about "Prof. Alam's defense of suicide bombers." The
answers elicited have more to do with character assassination
than reporting on an important debate among many academics.
(Repeated attempts to reach Mr. Hayward by email elicited only
a "no comment" reply.)
The requests for interviews and comment
poured in at the same time suggesting an orchestrated campaign.
To top off the requests for interviews came the "O'Reilly
Factor"--a sensationalist current affairs program-- the
program responsible for slandering Prof. Sami Al-Arian, a professor
at Univ. of Florida. Prof. Alam wisely turned down the request.
This tactic of initiating the smearing
campaigns in Israel has everything to do with undermining the
legal protection a libeled person should have in the US. It
becomes very costly to prosecute an Israeli newspaper, and the
legal outcomes in Israeli courts will likely favor the Israeli
newspaper. Therefore, it is convenient for the smears to start
there. Thereafter the smear campaigners can regurgitate the
libelous statements without much fear--they can always state
that they quoted a "respected Israeli newspaper."
The third salvo in the smear campaign
was an email sent by an impostor claiming to be a Prof. Alam
and using his very email address. This new form of cyber-smearing
is called "email-spoofing." The email first emphasized
that Prof. Alam is a Moslem, and then proceeded to attribute
anti-Semitic remarks to him. Grammatical mistakes were rampant
in the document--perhaps another way to taint Prof. Alam. These
sentences convey the gist of the impostor's message: "I
will not remain silent while Jews in Israel use Palestinian blood
as wine. I, will not remain silent while my Moslem brothers
and sisters are being raped, murdered, and beaten to death by
a government that claims to conduct itself according to 'Jewish
values.' No kidding." The email was sent to 52 faculty
members at Northeastern Univ., the entire Economics Dept., and
to several dozen media related addresses.
The modern world affords many new threats
to freedom of speech; one of them is the "hate website".
In the context of the Middle East conflict, there are several
Zionist websites listing people and making intimidating comments
or veiled threats. Sam Bahour, an American-Palestinian living
in Ramallah, uses the enforced "spare" time due to
the recurrent curfews to write about the Palestinian condition.
His articles clearly show what it means to live under occupation,
and the articles are widely distributed by sympathizers. His
popularity has attracted the attention of various hate websites,
e.g., Jewish Watch Dog (Canadian based website).
Although appearing on such a website
could frighten some, Sam Bahour hasn't been fazed. His reaction
was: "Upon seeing myself listed on this right-wing Jewish
Watch Dog site, I chuckled in satisfaction. If my efforts, from
my computer chair at home, under curfew, under occupation, have
ruffled their feathers, then we are absolutely on our way to
freedom. Why? Because thousands of other Palestinians have
sacrificed much more than their time and pen [...] So if one
man's pen gets him the honor of being "a most dangerous
person" then I accept this as a token of my modest efforts
to tell the world enough is enough - end the occupation now!"
Topping the list of the hate groups is
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, an eloquent Palestinian spokesperson who resigned
from the Palestinian Authority some years ago. During her recent
US university speaking tour bodyguards were necessary to safeguard
her safety given the visibly hostile reception by Zionist and
extreme Christian groups. These same people interrupted her
speech, and intimidated others in the audience.
Another disturbing development is campus-watch.org,
a website compiling "black lists" of faculty at US
campuses whom it considers biased, and compiling "dossiers"
on them. Not surprisingly, this website is yet another creation
of Daniel Pipes, an ardent Zionist pundit. The website employs
McCarthy-ite tactics that do not promote academic freedom or
open debate. In an open and democratic society, academic debate
is advanced by the force of argument, and not by sinister slander
or veiled threats. "We are watching you," isn't the
behavior expected in US academia. Or as Prof. Alam, one of those
targeted, put it, "I see it as a serious challenge, indeed,
an affront, to academic freedom and freedom of speech in United
States. By creating a dossier on professors who have written
critically about Israel, they are inviting their colleagues and
students to spy on them and perhaps harass them. What would
happen to academic freedom if every group in this country did
the same?"
Since the names of the eight professors
appeared on the Campus Watch their email accounts have been attacked
by spammers, i.e., computer hackers sending thousands of huge
files, obnoxious emails, and fraudulent business offers. These
people have rendered inoperable the targeted professors' email
communications. In the words of Prof. Alam: "Since this
morning [Sept. 23, 02], the eight professors on the campus-watch.org
are being spammed and spoofed. First came the spams (thousands)
from several sources. When this stopped, there followed spam
combined with spoofs-- emails supposedly originating from the
seven [other professors] on the CW site."
At UMIST (University Manchester Institute
of Science and Technology) in the UK, Prof. Mona Baker attracted
the ire of the Zionist groups when she acted on the call to boycott
Israeli academic institutions. She dissociated the journal she
edits from the Israeli scholars who were previously on the board
on a pro bono basis, as representatives of Israeli institutions.
Thus, no economic hardship ensued--it was only a symbolic statement
of disapproval of the Israeli occupation and an expression of
her rejection of the 'business as usual' mode given the level
of atrocities being committed by Israel. Her courageous stance
unleashed a wave of hateful emails directed at her personally,
and a wave of protest against the university. There was no discussion--just
ad hominem attacks--her stance was branded either anti-Semitic
or stupid. The calls for this inquisition came from, among others,
the Union of Jewish Students . Predictably, pro-Israeli academics
in the US and Canada (including the Canadian Association of Academic
Freedom) joined the bandwagon of protests. Even well known academics
joined the clamor to shout down Mona's call, and behaved in a
most "non-academic" fashion by e.g., demanding her
dismissal.
These groups were making an example of
Dr. Baker to frighten off any other academics seeking to take
a principled stance--they didn't want her symbolic act to set
a precedent. Never did a small journal devoted to Translation
Studies and circulated to less than one thousand academics garner
so much (unwelcome) attention.
The Internet has provided new means for
these hate groups to intimidate those raising their voices.
As this author can attest, there have been attempts to hack into
his own computer, having received numerous virus-infected emails,
fraudulent business offers, and huge files to disrupt email service.
It is also disconcerting to receive sympathetic emails, and
when one replies to such an email, to find the subsequent reply
to be seriously hostile. There is an attempt to make writers
suspicious of any email they receive--and an attempt to eliminate
further dialogue on whatever issue. Also, there may be also
attempts to trace the email account of the hounded authors.
Another dirty trick used by these people
is to enter web forums dealing with the situation in Palestine,
submit awful remarks attributed to the victimized person--another
type of spoofing. It is baffling to receive dozens of irate
emails from people responding to the impostor's remarks--that
always contain the victim's email address or telephone number.
It is annoying to receive unambiguous
death threats and then find no way to identify the person, have
their email privileges revoked, let alone to prosecute the person.
Thus, queries to the ISP are referred to the police, and these
in turn will send the query back to the ISP. The situation is
worse if the threatened author resides overseas. A Palestinian
writer, a resident of the Occupied Territories, recently received
several serious email death threats (including his home address),
and upon complaining to the US-based ISP, he received a suggestion
that the matter should be followed up with the local authority.
The address given to him was an Israeli agency.
Finally, we also have witnessed the ultimate
threat to freedom of speech, the assassination. Alex Odeh, the
regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,
led a campaign to inform the American public of the massive no-strings-attached
economic and military aid to Israel. His activities provoked
JDL terrorists to murder him in 1985.
It seems that the "smear mongers"
go to extraordinary lengths to silence their opponents. If their
cause had any merit, then their best approach would be to engage
in a frank and honest debate. Their illicit acts instead indicate
that they are fighting a rear-guard action in a lost cause that
relies on lies and smears to keep people from having a critical
discussion. Among the most dangerous acts are those that suppress
discussion about what Israel is doing, its history, and the fact
the US bankrolls its existence, thereby heaping the wrath of
the people in the area upon itself. One only wonders to which
extreme these people will go to stem the rising clamor for justice.
Readers of this magazine know that the
influence of pro-Israeli groups has undermined democracy in the
US. Huge financial resources recently targeted and subsequently
unseated
Congresspersons Hilliard and McKinney--pro-Israeli
money determined the outcome, and brought the nature of America's
democracy into question. The smear campaign by pro-Israeli groups
now threatens other cherished aspects of American society: free
speech and academic freedom. These threats diminish the US,
and they help perpetuate injustice around the world--the massive
injustice perpetrated against Palestinians foremost among them.
Today's Features
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Philip Farruggio
Democratic
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Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Another
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What Would
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Web
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Six Weeks
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New
Print Edition of CounterPunch Available Exclusively
to Subscribers:
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Mind; DC's Most Dangerous Man;
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- Merle Haggard on Civil
Liberties;
- Dullness Hailed: The Press on the Defeat of McKinney,
Traficant and Barr;
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into Town.
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