The Jerusalem Post’s deputy managing editor Caroline Glick states in a June 9th article entitled “Yale, Jews and Double Standards” that “politics were in all likelihood the decisive factor in the decision” to close YIISA, and adds that, “like nearly all university campuses in the US, Yale is dominated by the political Left.” Pointing to a possible causal relationship between YIISA’s programs and a boycott imposed upon Yale, Ms. Glick writes, “In January 2010, Iran announced that it was instituting a boycott of 60 institutions. Yale was among them. Although the regime did not explain the reason for the boycott, university officials attributed Tehran’s decision to YIISA’s activities in spotlighting the regime’s role in promoting genocidal anti-Semitism. Due to the boycott, Yale professors involved in research in Iran were forced to end their activities. These professors reportedly blamed YIISA rather than Iran for the cancellation of their research projects.”
Ms. Schachter of the New York Post corroborates Yale’s affinity with the Iranian regime by saying that in 2009 ”a lecturer at Yale’s new Jackson Center for Global Affairs (Hillary Mann Leverett) took her graduate students to New York to visit with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad explained to the students that there is no hard scientific proof that the Holocaust happened.”
As a participant at various YIISA conferences, Dr. Phyllis Chesler calls the closing “a tragedy” and remarks in a June 13th article entitled “Islam and Anti-Semitism at Yale” that appeared on the FrontPage Magazine website, “Yale has rendered racism respectable, has contributed to the academic isolation of scholars of contemporary anti-Semitism, and snuffed out truth-telling, genuine dissent, free speech, and academic freedom. This will be a permanent stain on Yale and on American academia.” Also offering an explanation for Yale’s decision, Dr. Chesler said, “There is one other reason that Yale felt it could get away with shutting YIISA down. For nearly 50 years, Arab, Saudi, and Palestinian money men have patiently, carefully, silently, funded the American professoriate and media.”
Elaborating on this notion was Alex Joffe, who, in a June 13th article titled “Anti-Semitism and Man at Yale” said, “Yale has long been seeking support from wealthy Arab donors…In particular, it has wooed Saudi Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, who in 2005 gave $20 million apiece to Harvard and Georgetown for Islamic-studies programs. (Yale, which competed vigorously for the prize, made it to the final round.) Spotlighting the authentic “educational” agenda of Muslim nations and rulers, Mr. Joffe adds, “true to their donors’ intent, such academic programs are faithful disseminators of the ‘narrative’ of Muslim victimization. In the same connection, it should likewise be borne in mind that in 2009, alerted to the imminent publication by its own press of a scholarly book on the Danish-cartoons controversy, the Yale administration summarily intervened to yank images of the cartoons from the final product—on the grounds that their appearance might elicit ‘violence.’”
Jewish organizations also weighed in on the decision to close YIISA. David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee said, “We hope Yale will review this unfortunate decision so that YIISA’s critical work can continue. In our experience working with YIISA, AJC has been impressed by the level of scholarly discourse, the involvement of key faculty, and the initiative’s ability, through conferences and other programs, to bring a wide range of voices to the Yale campus.”
Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith offered a rueful observation of Yale’s decision by saying, “Especially at a time when anti-Semitism continues to be virulent and anti-Israel parties treat any effort to address issues relating to anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism as illegitimate, Yale’s decision is particularly unfortunate and dismaying.”
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Shame shame shame on Yale–so much for Lux Et Veritas!!!