Israeli Tenured Professor Facing Expulsion Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - "Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory" The Case of Ilan Pappe An international academics' petition in support of Ilan Pappe can be found online at http://www.petitiononline.com/pappe/ . The text can be found at the bottom of this message. ***** Background on the case of Ilan Pappe: Israeli historian Ilan Pappe faces expulsion from Haifa University for supporting Palestinian rights, Hala Sakr reports. Al-Ahram Weekly Online - May 16-22, 2002 http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/586/re63.htm To Break the Mirror by Hala Sakr When Israeli historian Ilan Pappe's name popped up on Al-Ahram Weekly's e-mail last Sunday, the initial reaction was to assume that his message would relate to his latest contribution to this newspaper. [Note: this is an article entitled "Demons of the Nakbah" which TOPLAB sent to its lists several days ago. It can be found on line at http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/586/sc1.htm .] But, one double click later, the unexpected content of his e-mail was displayed on the screen. Pappe had been requested by his own University of Haifa to stand "trial". The prosecution, represented by the Dean of Humanities, had called upon the court "to judge Dr Pappe on the offences he has committed and to use the court's legal authority to expel him from the university." Pappe, a professor of political science and a member of the non-Zionist Arab Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, has written a number of books including The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1947-1951. According to a statement issued by Pappe, the real reason why Haifa University is seeking to put him on trial lies in his "past critique of the university's conduct in the Katz affair". Teddy Katz was an MA student who was expelled by the university in 2001 for unearthing evidence of a massacre committed by Israeli forces in the coastal village of Tantura in May 1948. Pappe and fellow revisionist historians such as Avi Shlaim and Benny Morris have dedicated their professional lives to unearthing the truth about events that have entered Israel's triumphalist mythology associated with what Israel calls its "war of independence" and the Palestinians, Al-Nakba, or the catastrophe. The rector of Haifa University appointed a committee of four lecturers from April to June 2001 to examine Katz's thesis. According to Pappe, they inspected only six instances, previously highlighted by the prosecution as the worst cases of misquotation and falsification, claiming that they were only the tip of an iceberg of systematic fabrications. Pappe recalls that the committee ended up with only one inexcusable misquote out of hundreds which, he says, "does not at all undermine the conclusions of the thesis". The committee's report, however, stated that the thesis contained grave problems and fallacies and left the final decision to the university. Five months later, Haifa University's Council for Advanced Studies decided to disqualify Katz's thesis. Pappe said earlier: "The Katz case sheds light on the extent to which mainstream Zionism is prepared to go in discouraging research that brings to the fore such aspects of the 1948 war as 'ethnic cleansing'." Having no illusion that he will receive a "fair trial", Pappe said in his statement that he did not intend to participate in what he called a "MacCarthyist charade". To him, the current proceedings are nothing but "an opening gambit." "Many colleagues, particularly my Palestinian-Israeli colleagues, may be next," he warned. Pappe stated that, despite the fact that he would shortly be on trial, his "situation is far better than that of (his Palestinian) colleagues in the occupied territories, living under the daily harassment and brutal abuses of the Israeli army." In his statement, Pappe called upon his friends to voice their opinions and help expose "the already dismal and false pretense of Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East." He stressed, however, that his was not a personal appeal. Pappe said his expulsion was likely to happen sooner or later, given the present atmosphere in Israel where "Israeli academia has unanimously decided to support the government and silence any criticism." This could be the time to "shed light on the debate of whether or not to boycott Israeli academia," he suggested. The Academic Secretariat, Haifa University's disciplinary body, says the writ Pappe was served did not contain any political implications. They sent an e-mail reply to all the addresses listed on Pappe's "claims" e-mail denying that Pappe was being "hounded for his political views" and arguing that the complaint was lodged against him because of his behaviour, described in the letter as "contrary to all accepted rules of ethics at an academic institution". Furious that Pappe made the case public in a "distorted manner," the Secretariat stressed that "any person -- whether a senior political figure, a judge, or a person with unacceptable views -- against whom charges have been levelled of exhibiting behaviour that appears unethical or illegal, has no immunity when these charges are brought up for clarification." On the other hand, Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, issued an action alert condemning Haifa University's efforts to expel Pappe. The alert also called on all academics "to join the growing demand for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions." Salman Abu Sitta, an expert on Palestinian refugees, described Pappe as "an honourable academic with integrity and conscience." "Even if we cannot do anything in Haifa University, we should let the world know about it and make those 'judges' unwelcome in all academic forums. The case of Katz is only a thin guise for silencing his human rights' position," he said. Following Israel's recent incursions into the West Bank, Pappe, along with two other Israeli academics -- Tanya Reinhart and Rachel Giora -- issued a statement expressing "their support for the initiative to call on Princeton University to divest all holdings in corporations doing significant business in Israel." Pappe has always stood apart in his open support of the Palestinian struggle for independence. He strongly believes that the only means to achieve peace and reconciliation with the Palestinian people is to de-Zionise Israel, a first step towards the creation of some form of a future bi-national or secular democratic state. Along with other Israeli "new historians", Pappe continues to unveil what really happened in 1948, refuting Israel's claims that Palestinians left their homes willingly and affirming that they were expelled by military force. Many Palestinian intellectuals have hailed the position Pappe has taken. After a conference he attended with Edward Said in Paris -- where Israeli new historians met their Palestinian counterparts -- Said wrote that, "... Ilan Pappe ... was open in his espousal of the Palestinian point of view and, in my opinion, provided the most iconoclastic and brilliant of Israeli interventions." Pappe once wrote that despite all the risks involved, he was determined to "go on telling my own people, from within, to break the mirror that shows them a superior moral body. They must replace it with one that exposes the crimes that they, on their behalf their various leaders and governments, are committing against humanity and the Palestinian people." (c) Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved ***** Analysis and further background information: Dear Friends, A document came to my attention that contains the complaint lodged by Prof. Ben Artzi against Dr. Pappe to the disciplinary authorities of the University of Haifa. The complaint takes the form of a letter signed by Prof. Ben-Artzi to the rector, Prof. Ben Ze'ev. In that document, Dr. Pappe is alleged to have violated academic rules of ethics in a series of letters and documents he has written and publiblicly circulated. The alleged violations include defamation of academic departments (particularly the departments of Eretz Israel Studies and the Department of Middle East History) and of various faculty members in the humanities, causing damage to the reputation and possible professional promotion of some of his colleagues (including Dean Ben-Artzi himself), offencive letters against the rector and other university professors, including members of the faculty who officiated in various capacities in the Katz affair and its aftermath, and libels against professors and officials of the university. All this is alleged to have taken place in such venues as letters that Dr. Pappe has written to presidents of professional societies in the UK and the USA, Letters he has publicly circulated in the email list "Alef," and letters circulated in HU's internal email lists. These are all very serious allegations. However, they render the situation even more complex in terms of the propriety of HU's disciplinary action. All the alleged offences are offences by speech (letters, statements, etc.). Some of them do pertain to the Katz affair and its aftermath, and in complex ways they are also related to underlying issues of political dispute. The disciplinary court will have to assess questions of fact and questions of interpretation as they appear in the dispute between Dr. Pappe and his opponents. It is highly questionable whether a disciplinary panel is appropriately equipped to judge such matters. It is also questionable whether disciplinary action is the appropriate action in such cases. People who feel that they have been libeled by Dr. Pappe can seek redress in a court of law. They can sue him for libel, and a court of law is fully and appropriately equipped to decide the matter and bring justice to bear. On the other hand, bringing the matter to a disciplinary panel in which very few protections apply (no clear presumption of innocence, no clear rules of evidence, no fully independent court of appeal, no professional counsel) raises concerns that justice might not be served. Given the irregularities that have already occured, these concerns are by no means "academic." Furthermore, the disciplinary and administrative course of action involves issues of academic liberty that may result in severe damage to the whole academic community. Terminating the position and tenure of a university faculty member on grounds of the content of what he said in various letters and pamphlets, and whether that content constitutes libel or defamation of character, sets a very dangerous precedent. Many others may soon find themselves in similar circumstances. Very few of us are immune from the temptation to argue against our colleagues, to denounce, to criticise, and so on. These speech acts may than be interpreted as libel or defamation, and a disciplinary court will be summoned. This is not how academic matters should be handled. The University of Haifa would do well to reconsider its action and turn around to the protection of free speech and academic liberty. Issues of libel, if they exist, should be handled in a court of law. Yours sincerely, Isaac (Yanni) Nevo ***** Message from Ilan Pappe - Sun, 12 May 2002 10:13:06 +0100 Regarding The expulsion of Pappe Dear Friends, I have received today an invitation to stand for a trial in my university, the University of Haifa. The prosecution, represented by Haifa Deans of Humanities demands my expulsion from the university due to the positions I have taken on the Katz affair. It calls upon the court 'to judge Dr. Pappe on the offences he has committed and to use to the full the court's legal authority to expel him from the university". These offences are in a nutshell my past critique of the university's conduct in the Katz affair, the MA student who discovered the Tantura massacre in 1948 and was disqualified for that. The reason the university waited so long is that now the time is ripe in Israel for any act of silencing academic freedom. My intent to teach a course on the Nakbah next year and my support for boycott on Israel has led the university to the conclusion that I can only be stopped by expulsion. Judging by past procedures this is not a request, but already a verdict, given the position of the person in question in the university and the way things had been done in the past. The ostensible procedure of a 'fair trial' does not exist and hence I do not even intend to participate in a McCarthyist charade. I do not appeal to you for my own sake. I ask you at this stage before a final decision has been taken to voice your opinion in whatever form you can and to whatever stage you have access to, not in order to prevent my expulsion (in many ways in the present atmosphere in Israel it will come now, and if not now later on, as the Israeli academia has deiced almost unanimously to support the government and to help silence any criticism). I ask those who are willing to do so, to take this case as part of your overall appreciation of, and attitude to, the preset situation in Israel. This should shed light also on the debate whether or not to boycott Israeli academia. This is not, I stress, and an appeal for personal help - my situation is far better than that of my colleagues in the occupied territories living under the daily harassment and brutal abuses of the Israeli army. It is an opening gambit and many of colleagues, especially my Palestinian Israeli colleagues, can be next. A testimony to the tragic circumstances of my own university is that I know there is no use in distributing this letter on its internal web-site, as all of my colleagues in the past when it came to the crucial moment - for understandable reasons - felt they could do very little to help me, without risking their own position in the university. I know many of you have access to world media and can help to expose the already dismal picture and false pretense of Israel of being the 'only democracy in the Middle East'. Yours Ilan Pappe ***** Academics' Petition in Support of Ilan Pappe: To sign, or see the list of signatories, go to http://www.petitiononline.com/pappe/ Supporting Academic Freedom in Israel We the undersigned, members of both the Israeli and international academic communities, wish to express our dismay at Haifa University's decision to subject Senior Lecturer Dr Ilan Pappe to a trial. We have strong reservations about the attempt being made by the University Prosecutor and the Dean of Humanities Professor Yossi Ben Artzi to revoke Dr Pappe's tenure and fire him because he made harsh statements sent by e-mail about individual professors and has allegedly defamed the institution as well as asked for intervention of some professional associations. Dr. Pappe, who holds a rank roughly equivalent to a tenured Associate Professor, criticized the institution and its procedures following the nullification of a highly controversial Master's thesis that documented the fates of 5 Arab villages in northern Israel during the 1948 war. The thesis, which was originally approved with an excellent grade, was later nullified following pressure from veterans groups. These groups threatened a libel suit because the thesis portrayed them as possibly being responsible for a massacre. Dr Pappe unequivocally asserted in his e-mail postings that the thesis was nullified not on professional or scholarly grounds, but for personal and political reasons. While we do not take a position on either the nullification of the thesis or on Dr Pappe's assertions, we call on the University of Haifa to rescind its prosecution of Dr Ilan Pappe for the following reasons: * First and foremost, the revocation of tenure is usually conditioned upon a legally proven criminal act or deviance from academic standards. If there was an ethical violation, it lacked the severity to justify use of academia's ultimate weapon, the revocation of tenure. * The University of Haifa must avoid the appearance of using its institutional powers to exact revenge on an individual faculty member engaging in legitimate criticism of authority. This is the very core of academic freedom. Without such freedom, the continued existence of the university itself is in jeopardy. * Dr. Pappe is considered a political dissident. Revoking his tenure cannot be viewed but as political persecution -- an act which completely contradicts the idea of university. * Establishing a precedent for firing a faculty member on such weak and unusual grounds constitutes a grave danger both to higher education and the entire Israeli society. Especially in these days, when freedom in Israel is under attack, the university should be a stronghold of freedom. Therefore, out of respect and concern for academic freedom in Israel and the image of the University of Haifa, we strongly urge that Haifa University authorities reconsider this decision. Sincerely, The Undersigned [go to http://www.petitiononline.com/pappe/ to see list of signatories] ********************************************************************* "The first duty of a revolutionary is to be educated." --José Martí ********************************************************************* The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory http://www.toplab.org ********************************************************************* ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcov-05.20.02-21:33:02-28314