2. Censorship of Anti-War Views

2(a) University of New Mexico: History professor Richard Berthold told two of his classes on September 11 what he thought to be a joke, "Anyone who would blow up the Pentagon would have my vote.” Berthold has received death threats, keeping him off campus; on Sept. 27, an unidentified person left a message on the provost's voicemail saying if Berthold was not "ousted" within 24 hours, Berthold would be ousted by other sources. State politicians demanded his firing and accuse him of committing treason.

An alum sued the university, claiming this violated a state law that forbids government employees from teaching or advocating "sabotage, force and violence, sedition, or treason." Berthold declared, "I was a jerk," but noted that the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of free speech "protects my right to be a jerk."

In a letter outlining its investigation, the university called Berthold's comment not a question of free speech but an ethical violation. The school said the professor failed to adhere to his role as an "intellectual" guide.

Berthold was threatened in front of his home by a biker who came at him screaming obscenities, and received several angry e-mails and letters with messages such as “I'd like to blow you up.” He agreed to stay away from campus for a week for safety reasons while campus police investigated the threats.

New Mexico state rep. William Fuller declared, "Treason is giving aide or comfort to the enemy. Any terrorist who heard Berthold's comment was comforted." According to Fuller, “If you read the Constitution, you'll see that the freedom of speech, what it says is that you cannot be imprisoned for what you say. And it doesn't say a thing about you can't be fired. We encourage you continue to fight for this professor's termination.”

"Academic freedom requires a free exchange of ideas - no matter how controversial," said ACTA vice president Anne Neal, opposing UNM’s investigation. The conservative National Association of Scholars—which Berthold once actively participated in—wrote to the president, “We strongly urge you to protect Professor Berthold's freedom of speech from any and all efforts to impose official censure of any kind on him.”

University President William Gordon said, "The university will deal with a remark made by one of its professors on the day of the tragic events of Sept. 11 . . . through its internal disciplinary procedures.” "We are, of course, mindful of the First Amendment protection of freedom of speech . . . and the faculty's guidelines for professional conduct in the classroom." Gordon had promised to "vigorously pursue" disciplinary action against the professor.

Berthold will be barred from teaching freshmen for a year. A letter of reprimand also will be placed in Berthold's personnel file, and he will undergo an in-depth post-tenure review following the comment he made after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Brian L. Foster, university provost, who had earlier noted that "There are a lot of things you can't say with impunity, even on a college campus.” Berthold also will follow a specific plan for complying with the standards of professional behavior for the classroom that are described in the faculty handbook.

Berthold called the reprimand "an entirely appropriate response to the stupidity and callousness of those remarks." Gordon declared, "Our decision to take action in this case was based on our conclusion that Professor Berthold had, indeed, failed to carry out his responsibility to his students, when he made gratuitous remarks that were needlessly offensive and potentially hurtful in the classroom.”

(Daily Lobo, 10/3/01; Washington Post, 10/30/01)

2(b) City University of New York: faculty who participated in an Oct. 2 forum criticizing U.S. foreign policy for the attacks were denounced by CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein for making "lame excuses" for the terrorists, and condemned as seditious by the CUNY Board of Trustees.

Math lecturer Walter Daum called the Sept. 11 killers "mass murderers," but added: "The ultimate responsibility for the attacks lies with the rulers of this country, the capitalist ruling class of this country." In response, CUNY trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld said: "These people should be ashamed of themselves. While recognizing their right to be stupid, their opinions render ill repute to the university. They're fortunate it's not up to me. I would consider that behavior seditious at this time."

A university trustee drafted a resolution condemning the professors’ remarks, although the final version did not name them. Chancellor Matthew Goldstein condemned the professors’ comments, but noted that they had free-speech rights.

John Nidiry argued, “Naturally, trustees too have free speech rights. But they ought to be aware of the chilling effects and the perils such condemnation can have on students and particularly untenured faculty members, who want to contribute to the public weal.”

(Newsday, 10/19/01)

2(c) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: When four leftist faculty at the University of North Carolina criticized US foreign policy at a teach-in, Scott Rubush, associate editor of David Horowitz's FrontPage magazine, told National Public Radio, "They're using state resources to the practical effect of aiding and abetting the Taliban"--and should be fired. FrontPage urged, "Tell the good folks at UNC-Chapel Hill what you think of their decision to allow anti-American rallies on their state-supported campus." The administration received hundreds of angry emails, and was denounced on the floor of the North Carolina legislature. Several antiwar faculty members received death threats, including anthropologist Catherine Lutz.

(The Nation, 12/3/01)

2(d) University of California at Los Angeles: Library assistant Jonnie Hargis was suspended without pay for one week after sending a mass email response criticizing American policies in Iraq and Israel. On September 12 one of Hargis' colleagues sent around an email titled "America: The Good Neighbor." Hargis replied: "This is all well and good but avoids the fact that U.S. taxpayers fund and arm an apartheid state called Israel, which is responsible for untold thousands upon thousands of deaths of Muslim Palestinian children and civilians. So, who are the 'terrorists' anyway?" Hargis was charged with "contribut[ing] to a hostile and threatening environment" for his colleagues who have "ethnic, religious, and family ties to Israel." The staff was also told library policy forbids using its email to send unsolicited political or patriotic messages. Hargis’ union, the Coalition of University Employees, successfully pursued a grievance when senior administrators learned of the suspension. Hargis will be repaid for his lost income, the incident will be stricken from his job record and the university has been forced to clarify its e-mail policies. "An error was made," says Joseph Mandel, vice chancellor for legal affairs.

(Nation, 12/3/01; USA Today, 12/7/01; Daily Bruin, 10/4/01; American Libraries, 10/15/01)

2(e) University of Texas at Austin: Journalism professor Robert Jensen received threats and hate email after he published an op-ed in the Sept. 17 Houston Chronicle criticizing American foreign policy: "My anger on this day is directed not only at individuals who engineered the September 11 tragedy but at those who have held power in the United States and have engineered attacks on civilians every bit as tragic.” President Larry Faulkner received emails and calls demanding that he fire Jensen and threatening to withhold donations. Faulkner wrote to the newspaper, “No aspect of his remarks is supported, condoned or officially recognized by The University of Texas at Austin. He does not speak in the University's name and may not speak in its name. Using the same liberty, I convey my personal judgment that Jensen is not only misguided, but has become a fountain of undiluted foolishness on issues of public policy. Students must learn that there is a good deal of foolish opinion in the popular media and they must become skilled at recognizing and discounting it. I, too, was disgusted by Jensen's article, but I also must defend his freedom to state his opinion. The First Amendment is the bedrock of American liberty.” Faulkner said, “There is some comfort in the fact that practically no one here takes his outbursts seriously.”

"The faculty felt there was a very clear message that if you stick your neck out, we will disown you," says Dana L. Cloud, an associate professor of communication studies. "This was a symbolic casting out of Bob Jensen from our intellectual community."

Jensen argues, “As president of the university, Faulkner has considerable power--the power to hire and fire, to dictate policy, and to set the intellectual tone on campus.” Jensen makes the analogy of a student in his class who says something stupid; according to Jensen, it would be wrong for a professor to ridicule that student because “it would inhibit other students from speaking.” Jensen said the public rebuke had little effect on him. "But the question is how do students and junior faculty respond to such a public humiliation?"

Jensen says he cannot even convince colleagues to go on stage with him to debate the pros of cons of U.S. policy.

(Houston Chronicle, 9/19/01; Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/5/01)

2(f) California State University at Sacramento: During a Sept. 15 commencement speech, when Janis Besler Heaphy, president and publisher of the Sacramento Bee, urged that citizens safeguard their rights to free speech and a fair trial, the audience booed her. The crowd cheered the idea of racial profiling, and then when Heaphy argued that "the Constitution makes it our right to challenge government policies," the crowd started clapping, foot-stomping, and heckling her. When the interruption went on for five minutes, and university president Don Gerth unsuccessfully tried to quiet the audience, Heaphy gave up speaking.

One student wrote to the Sacramento Bee, "Although I think it was a shame that she was unable to finish the speech, I feel that she brought the reaction of the crowd on herself," wrote Jason Collins. "The consensus was that this forum was neither the time nor the place to be making such strong political statements as she did."

(Sacramento Bee, 12/21/01)

2(g) University of Miami: Mohammad Rahat, an Iranian citizen and University of Miami medical technician who turned 22 on Sept. 11, 2001, declared in a meeting that day, “Some birthday gift from Osama bin Laden.” Although Rahat said that he meant it “in a sarcastic way,” Rahat was suspended and then fired on Sept. 25, 2001 for his words. Vice president of university relations Paula Musto declared that Rahat’s "comments were deeply disturbing to his co-workers and superiors at the medical school. They were inappropriate and unbecoming for someone working in a research laboratory. He was fired because he made those comments, certainly not because of his ethnic background." Rahat had received only positive evaluation in 13 months working in the lab.

(Miami Herald, November 16, 2001)

2(h) California State University at Chico: some students heckled a professor during a speech at a peace rally, and he received at least 70 hate emails, with threatening subject headings like "Dead Man Walking." As George Wright spoke during a vigil at Cal State's Chico campus, students began interrupting him. "I'm here for the victims," yelled one. "My sister was on that island," shouted another. "His comments were not timely, in the sense that nerves were very raw, and obviously an effort is being made throughout the country for everybody to be behind the president," says Manuel Esteban, the president, who defended Wright’s right to speak. "There is a time and a place for his position, and one needs to be careful when one speaks."

(Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/5/01)

2(i) Attacks on Peace Camps.

Ohio State University: On November 10, 2001, protesters noted that “the ‘Peace Camp’ (An anti-war protest encampment at the Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio), was attacked twice by separate groups of rowdy football fans. One person suffered minor scrapes & bruises as a result of being stepped on while inside their tent as it was being attacked, one tent was destroyed, and two tents suffered substantial damages.” The Washington Post reported that students had bombarded protesters with water balloons, and twice ran through the camp, toppling and breaking tents.

At the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point: a peace camp with members of the Peace and Unity Coalition was attacked by homemade bombs made with Drano and aluminum foil, firecrackers, and egg throwing.

At Indiana University: a peace camp was attacked repeatedly, with protestors shot at with beebee guns, and tents vandalized. A peace symbol was set on fire and later destroyed.

(Washington Post, 11/23/01)

2(j) St. Olaf College: On September 13, 2001, two resident assistants complained to the dean of students that undergraduates felt fearful and uneasy because some professors questioned the competence of the Bush administration. According to the RAs, "The recent attacks extend beyond political debate, and for professors to make negative judgments on our government before any action has taken place only fosters a cynical attitude in the classroom." The administration asked faculty to think hard about what they said. Contact Greg Kneser, dean of students: “There were students who were just scared, and an intellectual discussion of the political ramifications of this was not helpful for them. They were frightened, and they look to their faculty not just for intellectual debate" but as "people they trust."

"Students spent the morning watching planes hitting buildings and blowing up," says Greg Kneser, the dean. "They weren't prepared for this political analysis critical of the US government. When your house is on fire, you don't want individuals standing there saying how stupid the firefighters are."

(Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/5/01; Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 9/24/01)

2(k) Washington University: Campus officials prohibited the news media and any outsiders from attending an anti-war protest on campus. Administrators claimed that they closed the campus to protect “nervous and concerned” students and acting “in their best interest." Boston University also reportedly closed its campus to the media.

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9/21/01)

2(l) Harvard University: 4,000 faculty, staff, and students signed a petition objecting to allowing Harvard senior Zayed Yasin to give his commencement address, "Of Faith and Citizenship: My American Jihad." Yasin argued that “jihad” referred to a personal struggle for faith, and had been misinterpreted by Muslims and non-Muslims. Yasin was allowed to give his address in June, 2002, but compromised by adding the first title and leaving “My American Jihad” out of the printed name.

(Commondreams.org, June 7, 2002)

2(m) Investigations of Arab and Muslim College Students

An October 2001 survey by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, "Campus Consequences of the Sept. 11 Attacks," found that at least 220 colleges had been contacted by law enforcement since Sept. 11. Police or FBI agents made 99 requests for private “non-directory” information, such as course schedules, that under law cannot be released without student consent, a subpoena, or a pending danger (only 12 of the requests had a subpoena, although the Immigration and Naturalization Service doesn’t require consent for information on foreign students). Most requests were for individual students, although 16 requests for student records were “based on ethnicity.” Law enforcement received the information from 159 schools, and only eight denied any requests.

The Muslim Student Association has been targeted for investigation by the US government because it has urged donations to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, and the Benevolence International and Global Relief foundations, three organizations which have had their assets seized for allegedly supporting terrorism.

At the University of Colorado at Denver, federal agents visited at least five times, interviewed at least 50 Arab students, and detained two of them briefly because they had been observed taking photographs of an arena for a photography class.

A Saudi Arabian student at San Diego State, Yazeed al-Salmi, spent 17 days in custody in San Diego, Oklahoma and New York even though he was not a suspect. He was held as a material witness because he had once lived in the same house as one of the terrorist attackers. He was denied contact with his family, held in solitary confinement, and prevented from washing or brushing his teeth. Al-Salmi reported: "No phone call. I can't contact my attorney. I only see him like 10 minutes before I have court." Al-Salmi said he was strip-searched twice a day while officers videotaped the procedure, and couldn't take a shower for nine days. When he was in New York, he said, "They don't call you by name, they call you 'f****** terrorist'."

Osama Awadallah, a Jordanian college student at Grossmont College, was held as a material witness for a month and then charged Oct. 19 with lying to a grand jury about whether he knew one of the hijackers. His attorney reported that guards kept him from sleeping and "roughed him up." Business senior Nabeel Khalid and computer engineering senior Mohammad Imran Shaikh were once roommates of a suspected terrorist. University College senior Hussein Al-Attas and Mukkaram Ali were under arrest since the week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because of their friendship with suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.

In Mississippi, a 20-year-old student from Pakistan said he was stripped and beaten in his cell by inmates who were angry about the attacks, while jail guards failed to intervene.

Ramez Noaman, a Yemeni student at California Polytechnic University at Pomona, was held as a material witness in Manhattan for 12 days, then released.

(New York Daily News, 10/12/01; San Diego Union-Tribune, 10/12/01; Washington Post, 10/15/01; Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/12/01; New York Times, 11/12/01; Oklahoma Daily, 11/14/01)

ANALYSIS: The use of colleges and universities to spy on their own students sets a dangerous precedent that threatens student privacy and institutional autonomy. While authorized information about individual suspects is correctly released, the broad racial profiling of foreign-born students cannot be permitted.

Most colleges would object if one of their students was wrongly detained, illegally held for days without charges, or abused while in custody. Students of Arab origin are entitled to equal protection, and colleges must be careful to protect their rights.

2(n) Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim Violence and Discrimination

The following attacks on Arab and Muslim college students were reported by national and campus media around the country, representing only a small part of all the threats and attacks against such students, and Arabs and Muslims generally:

A Muslim student at Arizona State University was attacked.

University of Arizona President Peter Likins declared: "I have been receiving reports that my fears of irrational retribution against members of our community are being realized in the form of death threats and harassment of Islamic students. This behavior is a disgrace to our university and will not be tolerated."

Two people wrote "die" on a Persian Club booth at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. An altercation ensued.

Several Muslim women at Oakland's Laney College report being harassed on campus. They were stopped by police officers, asked to provide identification, and searched. One student's head scarf was ripped off, and a woman wearing traditional Muslim dress reported someone on campus shouted, "She's got a bomb underneath there!" Another woman on campus was subject to Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim comments from a professor in one of her classes. She eventually fled the classroom with classmates chasing her.

Unidentified men beat two Muslim women near Moraine Valley Community College on Sept. 12. Two Arab men assaulted the offenders in defense of the two students.

In Evanston, a Chicago taxi driver and college student, Mustapha Zemkour, was injured Sept. 17 when two men--including a Cook County corrections officer--chased him on motorcycles, hit him in the face and yelled, "This is what you get, you mass murderer."

An Arab college student in Kansas City reported that strangers approached him menacingly and asked if he knew "the ones who did it."

A 20-year-old Boston University Saudi Arabian student was stabbed three times as he left a nightclub Sept. 16 by assailants who yelled "You Arab [expletive]."

Windows at the Muslim Students Association at Wayne State University were broken.

Areej El-Jawahri, a first-year student at the University of Michigan, received a threatening email on Sept. 11, including one that said, “We will fuck you bastards for doing this.” Brenda Abdelall, president of the Arab Students Association, received a death threat within two hours of the attack.(Newsweek, Nov. 12, 2001) Arab-American and Muslim students at the University of Michigan receive e-mailed death threats, some signed by "a Christian American." Other anonymous e-mails warned "your life will be a living hell," and "this is war."

At the University of Minnesota, the Arab Student Association received threatening messages on its answering machine, and some Arab students have been called "terrorists" or cursed at on campus.

At Syracuse University, a flier was posted on campus that declared, "An Orange a day keeps the Arabs away.”

At Duke University, junior Hazim El-Haddad said: "My friends have been telling me to stay in my room and to lock my door. I overheard stuff like 'fucking Palestinians,' and 'damn Arabs.'"

At North Carolina State University in Raleigh, a student who wore a black scarf said she had been spat upon, and many Arab students reported harassment.

A professor of Middle Eastern languages and cultures at the University of Texas was spat on by a pedestrian. At the University of Texas in Austin, students wearing Islamic garb said their bags were searched by university police before they were admitted to classrooms and they were told to leave the student union because of "anti-Muslim sentiment."

At University of Utah (where a press conference by the mayor against intolerance was delayed by a bomb threat), doctoral student Farah Ramezanzadeh reported two students directed hateful statements toward her: "One person told me, 'How dare you show your face at the university.'"

At Washington State University in Pulliam, Adly Natsheh, president of Friends of Palestine, said he spoke with several upset students who were called terrorists, told to go back to their country or heard other comments. Anita Rao, a member of the Indian Students Association, reported: "A couple of my friends were walking down the mall and some people called them 'Palestinian bitches.’"

In Alabama, an Indian medical student's car was vandalized.

The president of University of California-Berkeley's Muslim Student Association said the group has received hate e-mail. One student reported, “I was walking out of class and I heard somebody tell this guy, 'Stop looking at me, you barbaric Arab,'” and noted, “Somebody said to me 'Bring all your friends, we're going to bomb your ass.' I said, 'I'm from Puerto Rico --you've been bombing Vieques for the last 25 years.'” There have also been reports from Muslim and Arab American students who have received insulting hand gestures while driving. Muslim women wearing hijabs reported being harassed.(Alternet)

Two University of Connecticut students of Middle Eastern descent decided to return to their home countries after encountering harassment after Sept. 11. Rashed Alvaabi reported his physics professor asked the class what they thought about Islamic people, and approximately five people responded: "We hate the Islamic people." Alvaabi said the professor told these students that they should not have said that and the discussion of Islamic people did not continue. Mark Wentzel, director of the department of international services and programs, said his office received several complaints of harassment. On the north side of campus, people in a vehicle drove by a female who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent and shouted intimidating comments at her.

An Arab-American student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, reported that a girl in his English class had said "she was sure 95 per cent of Arabs were terrorists."

An Indian student in Kentucky was attacked when he was mistaken for an Arab.

At MIT, Muslim Students Association spokesman Numan Waheed said students there have also been threatened, "But for every bit of hate mail, we've received so much support from the community. We're not going to let that interfere with our standing up for justice on our campus."

University of Southern California: a student of Arab descent reported that someone scrawled "Osama" in the paint of his car. One Arab woman reported that some men had yelled obscenities at her from their car as she walked nearby off campus.(Daily Trojan, October 19, 2001)

At Washington State’s Pullman campus, 57 students who have decided to leave, about half of the Arabs enrolled. Obscenities were spray-painted outside one student's apartment. One student got in a scuffle outside the campus bookstore with a group of 10 men after one of them used an expletive and said, ‘you Arabians bombed our country.'" A student speaking Arabic with his mother on his cell phone outside a supermarket was attacked by a man who ripped the phone out of his hand and threw it on the ground, saying, “Speak in English next time.” The co-chairman of the university's Middle Eastern Students Association was stopped by police four times after Sept. 11, due to complaints from drivers, until he removed the Palestinian flag from his car.(Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/27/01)

At Fort Lewis College, during an anti-war teach-in, a student in a dorm yelled “kill the ragheads.”(Durango Herald, 10/31/01)

At John Jay College, part of CUNY, a Muslim woman was shot in the eye with a bee-bee gun outside of the school.(John Jay Times, 11/14/01)

University of Connecticut: Flor Amaro, a student at the University of Connecticut, has received harassment and a death threat for wearing a hijab to protest the attacks on Muslims. "There has been physical harassment where women have had scarves snatched from their heads. Male students have been physically attacked and there has been lot of verbal harassment," said Anne D'Alleva, assistant professor of art and art history and women's studies. University of Connecticut police received about six reports of harassment aimed at Muslim and Middle Eastern students, but many incidents were not reported.(Hartford Courant, 10/3/01)

University of Oklahoma: Mohammad Yaseen Haider, president of the Pakistan Student Association at the University of Oklahoma, was assaulted by three men on Sept. 16, who shouted racial slurs, kicked him, and punched him in the parking lot of a convenience store where he worked because he refused to sell them beer: "At first, they just verbally attacked me and kept calling me a foreigner," Haider said. "Then, they began pushing, kicking and beating me and I was pretty much in shock. The men said, 'Get out of our country.'" Two of the attackers were students, and one was expelled and the other subjected to discipline. After the attack, the Immigration and Naturalization Service filed charges against Haider.(New York Times, 11/15/01)

University of Michigan: Areej El-Jawahri, a first-year student at the University of Michigan, received a threatening email on Sept. 11, including one that said, “We will fuck you bastards for doing this.” Brenda Abdelall, president of the Arab Students Association, received a death threat within two hours of the attack.(Newsweek, 11/12/01)