Alllearn Courses
on
Arab-Israeli Conflict
Correspondence regarding course taught by Prof. Joel Beinin
Dear Fellow Blues,
It has been brought to my attention by
one of the
Yale Club of Israel members that Yale's educational endeavor with
Cambridge/Stanford/MIT etc. called Alllearn currently includes a course
about Israel by Joel Beinin, a prominent and openly activist, Stanford
Professor who has been unrestrained in his feelings about Israel and
the Jewish people.
See http://www.AllLearn.org
listing "Palestine, Zionism, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict".
<>Beinin is author of "Is Terrorism a Useful Term in
Understanding the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli Conflict?" (Radical
History Review no. 85 (winter 2003):12-23.) and many similarly strident
works. In his own words, an interview at "Muslim Wake Up!"
shows his perspective in greater detail:
http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000055.php
(see other links below)<>.
I bring this to your attention inasmuch as our
Alma Mater has put her imprimatur on something that touches our
lives. If this is a matter of concern to you, please make
your feelings known to Yale’s president at richard.levin@yale.edu.
You can also contact Alllearn at
Help@AllLearn.org
with questions or comments. Allearn notes in their email “We
would like to hear your ideas or suggestions. Please e-mail
Samantha
King, our Marketing Manager.”
http://www.why-war.com/files/85.1beinin.pdf
http://www.mission4israel.com/Anti-Semitism.htm?contrassID=2&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0
http://history.stanford.edu/faculty/beinin
"Middle East Studies after
September 11,"
Presidential Address to the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies
Association of North America, MESA Bulletin 31 (no. 1, summer
2003):2-18 http://fp.arizona.edu/mesassoc/Bulletin/Pres%20Addresses/Beinin.htm
Excerpt:
The highlight of the three-day
conference in
Washington was a barnburner of a speech by Stanford University's Joel
Beinin, the outgoing president of MESA. Invoking the Sept. 11 attacks,
Mr. Beinin mocked Americans for thinking they should be "uniquely
protected from the consequences of (their) actions." He heaped contempt
on foreign-policy analysts -- "terror-ologists," he called them -- who
go on television to discuss Islamic extremism. He denounced the
president of Harvard University for suggesting some weeks ago that
anti-Israel activism on campus is mutating into anti-Semitism. Finally,
Mr. Beinin accused "neoconservative true believers with ties to the
Israeli right" of orchestrating a smear campaign against him and other
Middle East experts. MESA members gave him a standing ovation.
Regards,
Carice Witte '83
Miriam Hartman '80
Managing Director
Yale Club of Israel
Dear Fellow
Blues,
In response
to our email about the Alllearn course on Israel, a number of you
have written to me, Alllearn and President Levin. Moshe Werthan
’59 has asked that I forward his letter to President Levin to the list.
Thank you for your time.
Carice Witte '83
Managing
Director
Yale Club of
Israel
From: Moshe Werthan [mailto:m.werthan@comcast.net]
Sent:
Monday, January
31, 2005 7:49 PM
To:
Richard Levin
Cc:
'Carice'
Subject:
Professor Joel
Beinin
Dear Mr. Levin,
Below you will find my
correspondence with Ms.
Samantha King regarding the AllLearn program jointly sponsored by Yale,
Stanford, and Oxford. Of especial concern is the use of Professor Joe
Beinin of Stanford to teach the course on the Middle East. Professor
Beinin would be called a self hating Jew and anti-Semite by almost
everyone but himself. Please take a moment to read an interview with
him in Muslim Wake-Up
http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000055.php
which I referred to Ms. King. Her response is so politically correct
and pleasant, but also begs the question as to how Yale University
could allow someone such as Professor Beinin to teach as part of its
faculty. Ms. King suggests that I take the course so that I can see
what a serious effort Beinin has made to present a balanced approach.
I suspect you will say that AllLearn
has a
contract with Professor Beinin and even if you recognized choosing such
a biased Israel basher was a mistake, it would be too costly to make a
change and that it is too late. If that is true, I suggest that you
have an impartial person take the course to see how fair and balanced
it is. If it is not too late, I implore you to rectify what I, and many
if not all of your alumni living in Israel, view as tragic mistake.
Ms. King’s note that Sandy Sufian,
praised by
her students for her balanced and even-handed approach, only makes
matters worse. Those who have studied the Middle East know what “fair
and balanced approach means” when referring to this part of the world
(BBC prides itself on its fair and balanced approach). And who is Sandy
Sufian? I cannot find much at all about her expertise on the Middle
East.
Her special fields seem to be History of Science, Medicine, and the
Environment.
Mr. Levin, have not Harvard,
Columbia, and UC
Berkeley among others received enough negative publicity about their
Israel bashing Middle East departments, chock full of professors who
harass and intimidate students who speak positively about Israel.
Please keep Yale free of such people. We want to be proud of the ideals
for which Yale stands.
Sincerely,
Morris Werthan II, Yale '59
From: Samantha King
[mailto:Samantha.King@alllearn.net]
Sent:
Tuesday, January
25, 2005 2:31 PM
To: Moshe
Werthan
Subject:
RE: Professor
Joe Beinin
I appreciate your taking the time to express your thoughts on our
course on “Palestine, Zionism, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.” I
want to assure you that although Professor Beinin has a point of view
on the subject he teaches (something that is nearly unavoidable when it
comes to teaching topics like this), he has made a serious effort in
developing the course to ensure that it includes multiple
points-of-view, and that all viewpoints can be freely expressed. The
course includes a diverse and rich set of readings that reflect
multiple perspectives. It is also taught by Sandy Sufian, who has been
praised by her students for her balanced and even-handed approach. We
have had students of many different backgrounds take the course, and
most have come away happy with the experience. I would encourage you to
enroll in the course, add your own viewpoints to the discussion, and
form a first-hand opinion of the course content and perspective.
If you have any further questions or concerns, I can put you in touch
with our Director of Academic Services, Allison Formicola.
Sincerely,
Samantha King
-----Original
Message-----
From:
Moshe Werthan
[mailto:m.werthan@comcast.net]
Sent:
Tuesday,
January 25, 2005 11:25 PM
To:
Samantha King
Subject:
Professor
Joe Beinin
Dear Ms. King,
I sent you an e mail under
separate cover that
contained an interview with Prof Joe. Beinin. Frankly, I am truly
distressed that Yale would be part of a program that included such an
obvious anti-Semite and Israel basher. What would you expect his
message to be?
I implore you to reconsider the
use of such a
person in your program. You may say it is already too late to make a
change, but I would say you should have been more careful in your
choice.
Regards,
Morris Werthan, Class of 1959
