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Duke Editorial "The Jews" Draws Controversy

Thread ID: 15400 | Posts: 14 | Started: 2004-10-22

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Okiereddust [OP]

2004-10-22 04:12 | User Profile

by Philip Kurian Print Article E-mail Article

You are not required to complete the work, yet you are not allowed to desist from it.

—Pirkei Avot (The Book of Principles), 2:21

Such describes the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam. Perfecting, preparing or repairing the world: a credo that, to many Jews, prescribes what role they should play in the wider concerns of our society. Judging by the opposition to this past weekend’s Palestine Solidarity Movement conference, however, I cannot help but conclude that the powerful Jewish establishment has distorted the meaning of this age-old teaching.

It is well known that Jews constitute the most privileged “minority” group in this country. Among the top 10 universities, Jews enjoy shocking overrepresentation: Only the California Institute of Technology has an undergraduate Jewish population below 10 percent, and four schools have particularly stark Jewish advantages—Harvard (30 percent), Yale (23 percent), UPenn (31 percent) and Columbia (25 percent). Keep in mind that, at best estimate, no more than 3 percent of all Americans are Jewish.

In his slim volume The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (2000), Jewish-American historian Norman Finkelstein argues that American interest in Judaism is “a tribute not to Jewish suffering but to Jewish aggrandizement.” The holocaust label, he says, arose from the real suffering of European Jews during the 1930s and 1940s, in turn giving rise to the Holocaust ideology, distinguished in its capitalization. He documents economic exploitation by this “Holocaust Industry,” which he calls an “outright extortion racket.”

Regardless of your political stance or position on the PSM conference, it is impossible to ignore the unprecedented outpouring of pro-Jewish, pro-Israeli support in defiance of free speech at Duke. Jewish alumni, faculty and staff have gone out of their way to lobby Duke to reject the PSM conference, mustering 92,000 signatures for their online petition and denouncing professors who have spoken out in support of free speech, as Duke’s chair of political science Michael Munger can attest.

Supposedly apolitical in nature, the Students Against Terror concert, headlined by Sister Hazel, kicked off this weekend’s festivities. The Chronicle reported, “The Freeman Center for Jewish Life funded 90 percent of the $80,000 event through the private donations from parents and alumni.” The Joint Israel Initiative, a coalition of campus Jewish and pro-Israeli groups, coordinated a series of events in opposition to the PSM, at a price tag of $25,000, more than two-and-a-half times what was spent on the conference itself. Four pro-Jewish, full-page advertisements appeared in the Friday, Oct. 15, edition of The Chronicle, with two directly condemning the PSM. We are dealing with a very well-funded and well-organized establishment, indeed.

Granted, I tend to err on the side of complete academic freedom; I would probably let the Ku Klux Klan hold a conference on campus, as long as it could be couched within the framework of serious discussion. But what Jewish suffering—along with exorbitant Jewish privilege in the United States—amounts to is a stilted, one-dimensional conversation where Jews feel the overwhelming sense of entitlement not to be criticized or offended. If the Duke administration had buckled under the influential weight of the Jewish establishment by not allowing the PSM conference, we would be suffering from the Orwellian notion of consciousness, where the only ideas that matter are the ones espoused by the powerful.

While Jews undoubtedly lay claim to a long history of racism and genocide that continues across the world today, this characterization does not transport perfectly to the United States. After World War II, overt anti-Semitism gradually subsided, in part because of American response to Hitler’s murderous regime, but largely due to Jewish association with whiteness and the privileges white skin affords. In short, Jews can renounce their difference by taking off the yarmulke. Clearly, this is not a luxury enjoyed by all minority groups.

When former President Bill Clinton nominated his first two judges to the Supreme Court, both were Jews. Remarkable in the slightest? No, of course not. But the American public still can’t get over Clarence Thomas’s cultural heritage, after being appointed by Bush 41. To be Jewish is to have the right to move seamlessly between the majority and minority, without constraint. Thus, Jewish-American appropriation of the “oppressed” moniker is disingenuous, belying the reality of America’s social hierarchy.

What’s worst is that the “Holocaust Industry” uses its influence to stifle, not enhance, the Israeli-Palestinian debate, simultaneously belittling the real struggles for socioeconomic and political equality faced, most notably, by black Americans. As the world-renowned historian John Hope Franklin mentions, the U.S. decision to authorize federal funding of a holocaust memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.—hallowed ground otherwise reserved for commemorating U.S. history—camouflages this nation’s guilt in our own crimes against humanity: the Native American genocide and slavery.

I do not ignore historic Jewish oppression or discredit the stark realities of the holocaust. Nor do I discount anti-Semitic sentiments that still persist in America. With the burden of Tikkun Olam, Jews were even some of the most vocal abolitionists and supporters of the civil rights movement. However, to preserve our democracy and honestly confront inequality where it persists, Jews must own up to their privilege in America, and use it more wisely.

Philip Kurian is a Trinity senior.

*Check out the commentary on this too. [url]http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/SEC/Editorial[/url] I heard about this on TV I think its become a national story.

Odd, even the [url=http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_culture&Number=293038456&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=293038456#Post293038456]Liberty Forum Thread[/url] seemed pretty tame. I wonder if LF has changed in the last few months. *

Faust

2004-10-22 04:50 | User Profile

The Freeper threads:

[url]http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-news/1250588/posts[/url]

[url]http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1250053/posts[/url]

More stuff from the Duke Newspaper:

They rant back: [QUOTE] October 20, 2004 Columnist's views miss the point

In his Oct. 18 column, Philip Kurian made a great many specious claims about the pro-Israel and Jewish community at Duke. Perhaps most glaringly, his central point that the Jewish “establishment” becomes a dark and malignant opponent of free speech whenever its own views are challenged could not be farther from the truth. He cites pseudo-historians and borderline holocaust-deniers like Norman Finkelstein to support his claims.

The objections to the Palestine Solidarity Movement stem not from a desire to stifle open debate; they stem from the need to oppose a group which by its own charter seeks to include and support those that endorse the deliberate murder of civilians, including children, as a method to achieve its goals.

This is simply inexcusable.

What seems to bother Kurian most however, is the “overrepresentation” of Jewish people, particularly in centers of higher learning. Perhaps Kurian would prefer an openly discriminatory policy whereby Jews (or any other group) might be limited to proportional representation regardless of their merits? I for one am proud to be counted among a group whose members came in great numbers to this country, with little more than the clothes on their back, a belief in hard work and a relentless pursuit of education and self-improvement and have succeeded in raising themselves up and achieving in staggering numbers.

Essentially, Kurian’s thesis is that the strength of a claim comes not from logic or force of argument but rather from the claimant’s ability to establish itself as the “victim” par excellance. As a “privileged” group, he would rather Jewish people ignore the biblical injunction “Do not stand idly by while the blood of your brother is being spilled” and evaluate the opposing view not on the merit of its argument or in light of the deplorable tactics it supports, but rather on its ability to establish itself as a victim. Such a view could not be more counterproductive, and although Kurian seems to have missed the point entirely, I trust the readers of The Chronicle will not.

Joshua Danziger

Trinity ’02 [/QUOTE]

And some Praise for academic freedom:

[QUOTE]Praise for academic freedom

I want to thank The Chronicle for publishing such a thoughtful, intelligent and controversial column in the paper Oct. 18. Yes, I am talking about Philip Kurian's “The Jews,” which has created such an uproar that I can no restrain myself from writing a letter any longer.

I am neither pro-Israeli nor pro-Palestinian. I am neither Jewish nor Muslim. I do not support terrorism or racism of any kind. What I do support are our individual rights as students and as citizens—rights to life, the pursuit of happiness and liberty, particularly that of free speech.

I understand that not everyone holds the same views as Kurian as expressed in his article, but it is disgusting to me how others have criticized and attacked him (using unsound logic nonetheless) for expressing his views.

It is even more unbelievable to me that people have gone so far as to condemn not only him, but also the editors of The Chronicle, President Brodhead and the University as a whole.

Mr. Kurian said in his article that he tends to “err on the side of complete academic freedom.” When did standing up for “complete academic freedom” become wrong?

Well, I for one, congratulate Duke University for its acceptance of the Palestine Solidarity Movement Conference on campus, as well as the protesters in response, and the institution's overall support of open academic discussions. I praise The Chronicle for publishing all editorials, articles and commentaries with content, relevance and intellectual merit. Lastly, I thank Kurian for his well-written article.

I am not ashamed to say that I am proud to attend an institution that supports individual freedoms.

Jenny Bo

Trinity ’07 [/QUOTE]

Okiereddust

2004-10-22 05:09 | User Profile

[QUOTE=Faust]The Freeper threads:

[url]http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-news/1250588/posts[/url]

[url]http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1250053/posts[/url]

[/QUOTE] You have a strong stomach !

arkady

2004-10-22 15:06 | User Profile

According to this National Vanguard article, the author of the piece is black: [url]http://www.nationalvanguard.org/printer.php?id=4058[/url]

I can't help wondering if he would have dared write it if he had been White -- or, if he had, what would have been his fate.

Okiereddust

2004-10-22 16:22 | User Profile

[QUOTE=arkady]According to this National Vanguard article, the author of the piece is black: [url]http://www.nationalvanguard.org/printer.php?id=4058[/url]

I can't help wondering if he would have dared write it if he had been White -- or, if he had, what would have been his fate.[/QUOTE]

So that's it!

I don't wonder. If he hadn't been black, there isn't a snail's chance this piece would ever have ran in the paper.

Kurian being black also explains the main questions I had. Why did the Duke admin and leaders seem to be so moderate in their criticism? The editor continued to say she would have run the article, albeit with wording changes. The Duke President just seemed to give one of those "let's not forget we're one big happy family here".

No doubt, if this guy wasn't black, and operating under the cover of the weekend Palestenian conference, this article, and its author in all probability, would have been consigned to some academic rathole, never again to see the light of day.

Faust

2004-10-24 06:29 | User Profile

Philip Kurian article is from a culturally marxist point of view, but makes some good points. They don't people to use the standard they use for everyone else.

Blond Knight

2004-10-24 13:57 | User Profile

Proving once more that the "Jewish lobby" exists only in the fevered imagination of "anti-semite, bigoted, evil, hate filled, neo-nazi, goyim", we have the following examples of freedom of thought and expression from our self anointed God's chosen.

Jews Infuriated by Editorial, Demand Removal of Columnist Report; Posted on: 2004-10-21 21:48:05

Editorial dares to mention Israel lobby's heavy-handed effort to stop Palestinian conference at Duke University.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke's student-run paper, the Chronicle, recently published a column deemed "anti-Semitic" by Jews.

In Monday's column, Negro Philip Kurian criticized Jewish reaction to a recent Palestinian Solidarity Movement (PSM) conference on campus. He said Jewish people have "an overwhelming sense of entitlement not to be criticized or offended." He called them "the most privileged minority in America."

The article prompted a flood of vicious, hate-filled email responses. One Jew said Duke has lost its moral compass. Another wrote academic freedom cannot justify hate speech. Those were the nice ones.

In response to the demand for Kurian's removal, university president Richard Broadhead said that although he was "deeply troubled" by the editorial, he will not be asking the Chronicle's editor to step down. (At least not yet.)

The truth-telling editorial revealed some Politically Incorrect, suppressed information, greatly displeasing the pampered little minority:

"Among the top 10 universities, Jews enjoy shocking overrepresentation: Only the California Institute of Technology has an undergraduate Jewish population below 10 percent, and four schools have particularly stark Jewish advantages -- Harvard (30 percent), Yale (23 percent), UPenn (31 percent) and Columbia (25 percent). Keep in mind that, at best estimate, no more than 3 percent of all Americans are Jewish."

The editorial also spoke of a massive Jewish effort to stifle dissent at Duke:

"...It is impossible to ignore the unprecedented outpouring of pro-Jewish, pro-Israeli support in defiance of free speech at Duke. Jewish alumni, faculty and staff have gone out of their way to lobby Duke to reject the [Palestinian] conference, mustering 92,000 signatures for their online petition and denouncing professors who have spoken out in support of free speech.

"Supposedly apolitical in nature, the Students Against Terror concert... kicked off this weekend’s festivities. The Chronicle reported, 'The Freeman Center for Jewish Life funded 90 percent of the $80,000 event through the private donations from parents and alumni.' The Joint Israel Initiative, a coalition of campus Jewish and pro-Israeli groups, coordinated a series of events in opposition to the [conference], at a price tag of $25,000, more than two-and-a-half times what was spent on the conference itself. Four pro-Jewish, full-page advertisements appeared in the Friday, Oct. 15, edition of The Chronicle, with two directly condemning the [conference]. We are dealing with a very well-funded and well-organized establishment, indeed.

"...Jewish privilege in the United States amounts to is a stilted, one-dimensional conversation where Jews feel the overwhelming sense of entitlement not to be criticized or offended. If the Duke administration had buckled under the influential weight of the Jewish establishment by not allowing the pro-Palestinian conference, we would be suffering from the Orwellian notion of consciousness, where the only ideas that matter are the ones espoused by the powerful.

"...The 'Holocaust Industry' uses its influence to stifle, not enhance, the Israeli-Palestinian debate."

The following are highlights from the hundreds of email responses. Some threaten the writer physically, others promise he'll never work as a journalist again. Many are too vulgar to reprint.

Make sure to read the last response, and send your own by following the link provided:

People like you are lucky that people like me left the US for Israel. Had I been anywhere near Duke university when this article was published you would now be undergoing reconstructive surgery (most likely by a Jewish doctor) at the nearest medical facility. Not all Jews are docile and one day you will meet a REAL Jew who will put you in your place. Then you will know what it means to "exploit suffering"

-- Chai

Dear President Brodhead: My daughter is one of us overprivileged Jews who are shockingly and undeservingly overrunning Duke University, America and then probably the world, as is intimated by Chronicle columnist Philip Kurian, recent winner of the Melcher Family Prize for Excellence in Journalism, who quotes with approval that notorious lying Holocaust denier Norman Finkelstein as a reliable "historian" of Jewish "aggrandizement." Unless you as President of the University speak out against this outrageous, disgusting slander and stereotyping I will not rest and I will do everything in my power to discourage other families from sending their children to Duke, and to encourage my own daughter to depart even though she will be a Senior next year.

I have sent a copy of Mr. Kurian's column to Mr. Rick Melcher and have since written him again to invite his comments. I will forward to you his response.

-- Duke Parent

I have some ideas about how to take action if you wish to protest this piece. Write Duke Development Office and tell them you are withholding your donations. Cancel your subscriptions to the Duke Chronicle. Tell Duke Admissions office that you intend to circulate Kurian's piece to every high school admissions officer in your area. Let Duke know that you will discourage every parent or students you know from attending Duke. Given the above actions Duke will soon be free of annoying, overprivileged Jewish students, along with the Jewish Establishment Conspiracy who supports them. It is time to "divest" from Duke.

-- Madelyn Hoffman

Translation -- "Jews should know their place." Am I reading The Chronicle or Der Sturmer?

-- Alan Surchin

What you wrote today was an injustice to not only to the Jews, but to all minorities. I am embarased to have been a writer for the chronicle after reading this. Just because you use some textual evidence doesn't mean you are justified in what you wrote. You are an embarasment. At least I know my grandparents went through Concentration Camps. I heard their stories. I doubt now is yet the time to start belittling the Holocaust.

-- Tal

Is this a joke or is the university going to get rid of this racist

-- David Silverstone

What your "editorial" shows is that rather than promoting true debate you produce a piece whose tone is almost identical to 1930's German anti-semitic propaganda...you should be ashamed..and then apologize.

-- David Goldman

This student is a blatant RACIST and is a disgrace to the Duke student body. This student has no future as a writer in the real world, unless he wants a job with the KKK. Very offensive!

-- Andrew Heller

Thanks to the Chronicle for publishing this letter-it's important for everyone to know that racism is alive and well at some our finest universities.

-- Ken Blumenthal

It is not true that only “well-funded and well-organized” Jewish voices have been heard at Duke regarding the Palestine Solidarity Movement conference. The author prefers to err on the side of “complete academic freedom.” But just as one cannot call upon ‘free speech’ to justify yelling ‘Fire’ in a theater, academic freedom cannot justify hate speech.

-- Susan Ludeman

Your outrageous claim that “the powerful Jewish establishment has distorted this age old teaching” sounds like it could be lifted from the pages of the discredited Protocols of the Elders of Zion. (Look it up, if you need to.)

-- Michael Gurion

This article is just a proof that [the Palestinian conference] brought out old fashioned anti-semite racists to write in the Chronicle.

-- Jose Oldak

...You come off sounding like a textbook bigot... would it make you feel better if we all wore Kippahs to show everyone that we are Jewish? No, better yet, how about arm bands with stars of David on them? History has shown that past PSM conferences brought peripheral violence and visual signs of anti-Semitism at other campuses. If swastikas or riots had occurred because of the conference, would you have still criticized the protest or those protesting? Or was this just you’re opportunity to vent how you really feel about Jews?

-- Andrew Steinberg

That a college student at one of our nation’s top universities can so easily say so many hateful and generalist comments shows us that we still have a long way to go. Kurian makes the ignorant assumption that all Jews take the same position on the Israel. You cannot and should not classify any group as a single voice. As with most groups of people, Jews represent a wide range of opinions on Israel.

-- Jenny Woodson

As for Israel, there is no Israel-Palestinian conflict. There is a culture of 'hate' throughout the Muslim world. The Arab and Palestinian Muslims have vowed to kill us all and they have made a fair start on it. Israel is merely the 'canary in the coalpit'. We didn't realize that at first and assumed it was an ethnic struggle (Israelis v. Palestinians) but it's more evident now that in fact, what happens between the Israelis and Palestinians is like an 'early warning system' of terrorism, fuelled by hateful leaders like Arafat and Zarqawi and they have much bigger designs than Israel.

-- Elizabeth Coote

Mr. Kurian's editorial "The Jews" is a hateful piece of writing. It sadly reminded me that, like the bitter speeches and writings of Patrick Buchanan, anti-Semitic rhetoric in the United States is not confined to extremist publications, but can still be found in mainstream media. Patrick Buchanan has been writing anti-Semitic rhetoric for decades. I can only hope that Mr. Kurian does not follow in his footsteps.

-- Stuart Rojstaczer

I'm truly ashamed to see Duke give in to the common argument of free speech overriding the rights of the individual. Even more shocking is Academia's acceptance of Palestinian propaganda as truth. At very least, this letter shows that Jews everywhere must continue to remain vigilant against the threat of supposedly enlightened individuals.

-- Michael Katz

After 2000 years of victimhood, we've discovered that we prefer success. If we are too successful, take some time and discover what Jews have contributed to this country during the 350 years that we've been here in science, technology, medicine, education, art, and popular culture, and you and your PSM friends can see how much richer this country is thanks to the Jews.

-- Harrry Onickel

...The author does not actually develop any new theories, but (inadvertently I assume) merely rehashes the same arguments that have appeared throughout history to fuel anti-Semitism, whether manifested in the Holocaust, the many pogroms throughout Europe in the previous millennium, or in countless other instances.

-- Adam Silberstein

Phil, I hope you are not planning a career in politics. A small-minded hateful paper like this will stick to you like fly-paper. Good luck - there's always the service industry!

-- Paul

Thank you for demonstrating conclusively that anti-Zionism does, in fact, equal anti-Semitism.

-- Gershom

Your disgraceful diatribe leaves me wondering about your editors, not about you. It's clearly very easy for you, a college senior, to create a poorly constructed assault on "The Jews" but I wonder about the lack of checks and balances at your institution of higher learning.

-- Ellen

If this is the sickness that "academic freedom" and Duke purports to advance I would expect the SS to recruiting there shortly. After all the Duke hospital has some pathogenic incinerators that could be used as part of the solution to their “Jewish problem”.

-- Ray

Great article, Phil. I only regret that, due to secret Jewish control of the media, international finance and professional world, you'll never get a job again.

-- Nathan

I note that your 'scholarship' is funded in part by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. Rest assured I and others will be asking them if this is the sort of scholarship they want funded with their money. In the meantime, you may want to reflect on how easy it is to ruin one's future career based on an ill thought out screed that gets national attention. That is, of course, unless you plan to spend your career in the arab world.

-- Michael

Nice to see the reference to Jew's "shocking overrepresentation" at universities. Shocking indeed. Last time I read something this enlightening it was in Mein Kampf.

PS- does The Chronicle pay well? Or did they Jew you down.

-- David Suraski

You BLASTING anti-semite! Proud yarmulke-wearing Israel-living Bush-voting Jew!

-- Ben Gold

I read with horror your October 18 editorial entitled The Jews. I say horror, because it is one of the most blatantly anti-Semitic pieces I have read in a long time, and could easily belong in a nazi publication. You have dropped all pretenses of criticizing Israel and Zionists, and gone straight for the Jewish jugular.

-- Dave

I am wondering how Philip Kurian was admitted to the university. Are the Duke President, administration, faculty and admissions office ashamed of taking part in the development of this bigot? It is obvious that the author is anti-Semitic. Did he gain these views at Duke? Moreover, he has been afforded a platform to broadcast his libel by the University.

-- Eugene Rosenberg

You are to be commended for this superb, levelheaded, and absolutely accurate editorial, Mr. Kurian. Please pay no heed to the many vitriolic responses your piece is certain to draw. Jews are among the most ethnocentric minority groups in America -- one of the primary reasons for their success in our society -- and this can be seen in large part by the collective abuse they heap on anyone who dares to publicly criticize Israel or the Jewish community as a group. Do not expect any calm, rational rebuttals to your writing; rather, expect to be called a "racist," "hater," "anti-Semite," "Nazi," and all sorts of other handy epithets the Jews direct at anyone who opposes their agenda. On the other hand, you make take some satisfaction in the knowledge that your attackers reinforce much of what you said in their own clumsy way, and you should be proud of yourself for having had the courage to speak the truth regardless of its offensiveness to a powerful special-interest group.

-- Mike Taylor

complete editorial

Post your feedback at the link above!

Source: Jeff Hook • Printed from National Vanguard ( [url]http://www.nationalvanguard.org/story.php?id=4058[/url] ) National Alliance • Box 90 • Hillsboro • WV 24946 • USA NationalVanguard.org

Blond Knight

2004-10-24 14:22 | User Profile

This and other good info at:[URL]http://www.whtt.org/[/URL]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[url]http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?articles/ADL.htm[/url]

Centinel

2004-10-24 16:50 | User Profile

[url=http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_press&Number=293048349&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1&t=-1#Post293048349]Duke newspaper writer says Jews use Holocaust to rebut criticism[/url]

Associated Press October 21, 2004

DURHAM, N.C. - A columnist for the Duke student newspaper denouncing Jewish opposition to last weekend's Palestinian conference on campus argued Jews use the Holocaust to rebut legitimate criticism.

The column by Philip Kurian in Monday's edition of The Chronicle also called Jews "the most privileged 'minority' group in the country."

"What Jewish suffering - along with exorbitant Jewish privilege in the United States - amounts to is a stilted, one-dimensional conversation where Jews feel the overwhelming sense of entitlement not to be criticized or offended," Kurian wrote.

By Wednesday evening, more than 100 people had posted messages on The Chronicle's Web site, most of them critical of the column.

The column was deeply offensive, said Rachael Solomon, student president of the campus' Freeman Center for Jewish Life. Besides statements about the Holocaust, the column mentioned the belief that Jews were over-represented at top universities.

Solomon's organization now wants an investigation of The Chronicle to see whether its top editors are fit for their jobs. Others have already called for Karen Hauptman, The Chronicle's student editor, and other editors to resign and for Kurian to give up his column. No resignations are planned, Hauptman said.

No one answered the telephone listed to Kurian late Wednesday.

In closing his column, Kurian said his intent was not to ignore Jewish oppression or the Holocaust, but to encourage Jews to "own up to their privilege in America" and to use it more wisely to confront inequality.

In a letter to the editor Wednesday in The Chronicle, Duke President Richard Brodhead wrote that he was "deeply troubled" by the column.

"The column was (headlined), 'The Jews,' as if Jews were susceptible to group definition, and though its author probably did not mean to, it revived stereotypical images that have played a long-running role in the history of anti-Semitism," he wrote.

Brodhead's decision to allow the Palestinian Solidarity Movement conference on campus last weekend provoked several weeks of debate on and off campus.

More than 90,000 people signed an online petition calling for the conference to be barred from Duke. Jewish groups organized events in response after campus officials refused.

Jewish students felt the student paper was unbalanced in its coverage of events surrounding the conference, Solomon said.

The Chronicle's editors had been scheduled to meet Monday with Jewish student leaders to talk about the paper's coverage of the conference, but the meeting was postponed after the column appeared, Hauptman said.

The Chronicle reported that about 45 people met Tuesday at the Freeman Center for Jewish Life on campus to discuss the column and the paper's news coverage of events surrounding the conference.

The paper will probably publish a response to the criticism, Hauptman said.

"We are internally talking about some of the issues that have been raised, and how to discuss them," she said.

Hauptman also said she understood why Kurian's column may have angered some readers.

"Do I think Philip Kurian is anti-Semitic? The answer is no," she said. "Do I think the column could be read as anti-Semitic and does it employ arguments that have been used for anti-Semitic purposes? Yes. That's a fact."

Information from: The Herald-Sun, [url]http://www.herald-sun.com[/url]

Oklahomaman

2004-10-25 09:06 | User Profile

A few thoughts:

1) It's seems the coalition of minorities and degenerates that pushed the Jews to cultural power during the sixties is finally fragmenting.

2) Kurian's base argument is solid once you weed out the Marxist tripe - Jewish posturing as the victim [I]par execellence[/I] is absurd on its face. His facts and figures [I]vis a vis[/I] the Jews are truthful and accurate.

3) Kurian was [I]very[/I] niave to write such a piece while not preparing for a major firestorm of ideological scrutiny by the Jewish mass media. Truth is no defense against the charge of anti-semitism.

4) The Jewish responses to his article were quite comical and predictable as a clock. "Vat! Oh my G-d! I think schmell Zyklon B vafting through the air!".

5) I think Mr. Kurian can safely scratch off any future career in journalism. This article will not look good on his resume when he has to go to a Goldstein to get a job.

Okiereddust

2004-10-25 21:21 | User Profile

[QUOTE=Oklahomaman]A few thoughts:

1) It's seems the coalition of minorities and degenerates that pushed the Jews to cultural power during the sixties is finally fragmenting.

Well its always had weak links, ever since Marcus Garvey stormed out of NAACP headquarters early in the century, complaining it was a white organization. And in the long term MacDonald argues its problemattical for the Jews. In the intermedaite term I see no real significance to this though.

Its an expression of the attitudes many blacks personally feel, but I find no organizational expression to this in this case. Where are the Farakkans to defend this person?

2) Kurian's base argument is solid once you weed out the Marxist tripe - Jewish posturing as the victim [I]par excellence[/I] is absurd on its face. His facts and figures [I]vis a vis[/I] the Jews are truthful and accurate.

Standard fare actually, to anyone whose glanced at MacDonald or anything remotely close, or who just keeps his eyes open.

3) Kurian was [I]very[/I] niave to write such a piece while not preparing for a major firestorm of ideological scrutiny by the Jewish mass media. Truth is no defense against the charge of anti-semitism.

Call it a kid learning a hard lesson.

We'll probably never hear from him again. But who knows - somewhere the seeds may be being sown for the eventual emergence of another MacDonald or Chomsky.

MacDonald never explains how he became a defacto anti-semite. But I'd wager a rough guess it was something like this. Growing up around Jews. (like he did in his New Left days) it's enivitable for a perceptive person. You can't sit on the fences - either you become a shill or an anti-semite.

4) The Jewish responses to his article were quite comical and predictable as a clock. "Vat! Oh my G-d! I think schmell Zyklon B vafting through the air!".

Just like MacDonald notes.

5) I think Mr. Kurian can safely scratch off any future career in journalism. This article will not look good on his resume when he has to go to a Goldstein to get a job.[/QUOTE]

One letter stated exactly that.

Walter Yannis

2004-10-27 14:31 | User Profile

Is Kurian an Armenian name?

If the author is Armenian, this article would have appeared at what must be low ebb for Jewish-Armenian relations.

Yeshiva students in Jerusalem SPIT onthe Armenian Archbishop there. These same students jeer Christian religious processions, and make no secret of their desire to rid Jersualem of its ancient Armenian (and Christian) hereitage.

Walter

Kevin_O'Keeffe

2004-10-27 14:46 | User Profile

[QUOTE=arkady]According to this National Vanguard article, the author of the piece is black: [url]http://www.nationalvanguard.org/printer.php?id=4058[/url]

I can't help wondering if he would have dared write it if he had been White -- or, if he had, what would have been his fate.[/QUOTE]

He sounds like a decent fellow who probably sincerely believes he'd have written the aticle the same way had he been born White, although I do tend to doubt that. What I don't doubt for a moment is that the Duke paper is hiding behind his politically correct racial status, i.e. there's NO WAY they'd have published such a piece written by a White man or woman.

Okiereddust

2004-10-27 18:12 | User Profile

[QUOTE=Kevin_O'Keeffe]What I don't doubt for a moment is that the Duke paper is hiding behind his politically correct racial status, i.e. there's NO WAY they'd have published such a piece written by a White man or woman.[/QUOTE]True. But look at the firestorm they unleashed, even as it is. Considering their position, one can't really blame them for trying to hide behind anything they can. Shute, if I was editor and Kurian was a gay, hispanic surnamed/speaking handicapped Muslim I'd bring that up too now. You can only imagine how hot it must be for them now.

I wonder BTW if the people who should be defending Kurian, people like Farrakan or the Palestinian Solidarity Conference, even types like Chomsky and Finjlestein, have thought about putting together an organized defense of Kurian. You'd think they'd see the need and opportunity. Although from sheer political power nobody can fight against the ADL when they decide to flex their muscles.