Pro-Chavez Director Oliver Stone Calls Propaganda Film "101 Course on South America," Iran Criticism "B*llshit"

Yesterday, Big Hollywood ran a piece I wrote about Oliver Stone's visit to Pomona College. You can read it here or below.

Pro-Hugo Chavez propagandist, Oliver Stone, came to Pomona College to promote his film, “South of the Border.” Stone, fresh off making the 2010 list of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s top ten anti-Semitic slurs for his belittling of the Holocaust , continued to mispronounce Chavez as “Sha-vez” and to apologize for the Latin American tyrant’s pro-Iranian speech. Have a look here.


Pro-Chavez Director Oliver Stone Calls Propaganda Film "101 Course on South America," Iran Criticism "B*llshit" from The Claremont Conservative on Vimeo.

Stone was the guest of pro-Hugo Chavez, anti-tea party professor, Miguel Tinker Salas, according to the student newspaper. When answering a question about Chavez’s support for the Iranian dictatorship and Hezbollah, Stone curiously leaned over and whispered with Tinker Salas. I guess he was looking for the party line.

Even the left-wing newspapers think Stone’s film is propaganda. “South of the Border” was savaged in the New York Times. The Washington Post said Stone lobbed softball questions to Chavez. NPR said Stone treated Latin American leaders with “kid gloves.”
 
Stone, who says that he “liked what we saw” in Latin America, never met with any dissidents while there.
Here’s the transcript of an exchange with Stone and a Pomona college student. You can watch the exchange here…

Student: Chavez considers the dictatorship of Iran great for its people and fully supports the government. He also considers Hezbollah to be heroic and legitimate. Do you agree? And Danny Glover got money from the government of Venezuela; did you? And who financed this film?

[Leans over, and whispers to pro-Chavez professor Miguel Tinker Salas]

Stone: We did not get any money from the government of Venezuela for the film. We made this movie outside that domain, and we were critical, if need be, but we liked what we saw. As you can see from the movie, we were trying to balance what we see as an extremely negative picture, so we were not going to go into a ‘he-said-you-said’ kind of documentary because I think it would have taken far longer and we would not have been able to cover the general movement of change in South America. This is truly a first look, a 101 type course, on South America. On the issue of the Middle East, on Iran, I heard, and on Hezbollah, I’m not going to get into that argument, but I will say Chavez trades with us in oil and Iran is a standing member of OPEC and has been for quite a few years and all, not just Chavez, but Saudi Arabia, all the members of OPEC, Russia, and have quite a lot of [business dealings] to Iran, so does the United States, too, by the way.

A huge amount of (business  dealings) as we know. Something like 250 firms are doing business with Iran, so what you read in the media is, again, you know it’s very distorted about Iran. There are some many problems, but a lot of that is bullshit. So re-examine your sources on Iran and on Hezbollah too because Hezbollah keeps getting re-elected in a very strange sort of balance in the Middle East, so I, I just, you know, let’s get off the American view of the Middle East. Just get away from it.
Student: Okay, thank you.

Everything I Sent The Board of Trustees on Frangieh Part IX

I sent the following to the Board of Trustees roughly ten days ago. As you can, Bassam Frangieh signed this letter.

HOMECONTACT & SIGN-UPJOURNALARCHIVEDONATEhttp://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/index2.phpBROWSELINKSWHAT THEY SAY ABOUT US

Click here to visit the new Engage website! Many intellectuals are backing Hizballah against the Lebanese government Added by David Hirsh on August 19, 2006 10:59:15 AM. The following statement, signed by a large number of academics and cultural producers worldwide, criticizes the Lebanese government for not embracing the "Lebanese Resistance Operation" - code for Hizbollah. While the statement says that it wants to see the government "leading a sovereign, democratic state for all Lebanese", it is clear that this aspiration is not compatible with support for the Iranian and Syrian backed Jew-hating Islamist movement, which is committed to a long-term project of eradicating Israel and the Jews that live there. Alex Callinicos, a leading academic in the British Socialist Workers Party, has signed this statement and is sending it around by e-mail. Tariq Ali, Virginia Tilley, Mona Baker, Omar Barghouti, Haim Breesheeth, Norman Finkelstein are other well known name on the list. Pacbi, the Palestinian Campaign for the Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel carries this statement with approval: Statement by Workers in the Public Cultural Sphere in Lebanon, July 27, 2006 (Signatures updated, July 31, 2006) We the undersigned declare: 1) Our conscious support for the Lebanese national resistance as it wages a war in defense of our sovereignty and independence, a war to release Lebanese imprisoned in Israel, a war to safeguard the dignity of the Lebanese and Arab people. 2) Our unambiguous refutation of the logic that accuses HizbAllah of having provided the "pretext" for the Israeli invasion. Israel did not invade Lebanon, destroy its infrastructure, displace and murder its populace because of the heroic operation carried out by HizbAllah. Israel has never needed a pretext to breach the sovereignty of Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, or other nations. Rather, the recent Israeli aggression is the latest in a long series extending back to the founding of the Zionist state and motivated by both historical ambitions vis-à-vis Lebanese territory and waters and by a racist supremacist ideology that denigrates the indigenous population, their culture, and their very existence. The most recent aggression is, more specifically, the realization of a long-standing, openly professed desire of Israel to avenge for its humiliation at being driven out of most of Lebanon by the resistance operations that began in September 1982 and had their fruition in May 2000. Israel's very avowal of intent to implement by its own powers UN Resolution 1559 is itself proof that its invasion of Lebanon today surpasses any mere response to the above-mentioned operation and serves an American policy that aims at annihilating all viable opposition in the world at large, and at direct control of the Arab world and its resources in particular. How strange that Israel should wish to be the policeman in charge of executing UN Resolution 1559 when it has not yet executed any of the previously issued UN resolutions addressing its own actions, with the exception of the partial implementation of Resolution 425, which resulted essentially because of strikes inflicted by the armed Lebanese Resistance. 3) Our staunch condemnation of official American support for, and contribution to, the Israeli aggression. The war crimes Israel is currently committing, as well as those it committed in the past and will commit in the probable future, would not have occurred or occur yet without America's political and military support for Israel, that which is unmitigated by its allegedly unswerving espousal of Lebanese freedom, sovereignty, and independence. 4) Our utter rejection of the Lebanese government's decision to "not adopt" the Lebanese Resistance operation, thereby stripping the Resistance of political credibility before the adversarial international powers, when it behooved that government to deem the said operation as consistent with its Ministerial Proclamation in support of the liberation of the Lebanese prisoners in Israel, of Shebaa Farms, and of Kfar Shuba. We the undersigned, in declaring our intentions, also therefore, call upon: 1) The Lebanese government, which we want to see leading a sovereign, democratic state for all Lebanese, to realize its full responsibilities, especially in terms of embracing the Lebanese Resistance in diverse ways, and particularly after the clarification of Israel's plan to destroy the infrastructure, institutions, and political entity of Lebanon. 2) Arab intellectuals to stand beside the Lebanese Resistance, to expose the Zionist racist, supremacist impetus, and to document Israel's crimes against Arabs since its founding. Likewise, we ask our Arab colleagues to confront the continual calls for capitulation (wrapped in the cloak of "realism"), and to expose both the American bias towards Israel and the complicity of the majority of "rational" Arab governments against the Lebanese Resistance. We, also, ask that you take a stand against all kinds of normalization with Israel, by closing down the Israeli embassies and government offices located in Arab countries, and by boycotting products of Israeli and pro-Israeli companies, whatever their nationality. 3) Lebanese intellectuals, in particular, not to be swayed by the (il)logic that accuses HizbAllah of having destroyed the Lebanese economy, but instead to hold Israel fully responsible for its age-old policy of destruction and war crimes. The principle of the Lebanese Resistance is to be a deterrent force against Israel's ability to pursue that policy with impunity. 4) Free-thinking intellectuals the world over, and advocates of justice and peace, to publicize the history of Israeli aggression and to pressure the American and European governments to halt their military and material maintenance of the Zionist killing machine. Similarly, we call upon our peers in the world to announce a boycott of Israeli products, and of Israeli academic and scientific institutions that do not condemn the Israeli aggression against Lebanon. Furthermore, we invite intellectuals the world over to visit Lebanon in order to stand by the side of their Lebanese colleagues and to view first hand the results of Israeli war crimes against civilians, schools, infrastructure, humane institutions (foremost among them the Lebanese Red Cross), and media (which, in addition to sustaining hits on its press convoys and aerial transmitters, most recently lost to Israeli fire the reporters Layal Najib and Sulayman Shidyak). The solidarity of world intellectuals with the Lebanese people, press, and culture-workers, in such direct terms, would constitute an international declaration of the refusal to permit Israel to treat Lebanon as a mere "military target" for its airplanes, warships, tanks, and "smart" bombs. Resistance is an intellectual act par excellence. That is because the goal of intellectual activity, like resistance, is to defend the values of justice and equality of all people. For this reason we, the undersigned, consider, regardless of our varying intellectual inclinations, cultural and critical activity an integral part of Lebanese national resistance, indeed of resistance to injustice anywhere in the world.. Signatories in/of Lebanon: Amine A. Abi Aad (Industrial Eng.) Fares Abi Saab (Researcher & Editor) Pierre Abi Sa'b (Journalist) Sawsan Abdulrahim (Asst. Prof., Health Sciences, AUB, And Cultural Activist) Gabi Abou 'Atmeh (Journalist) Abboudi Abou Jawdeh (Publisher & Distributor) Milia Abou Jawdeh (Journalist) Nidaa Abou Mraad (Prof., Musicology) Nicholas Abou Mraad (Prof., Theology, University of Balamand) Saqr Abu Fakhr (Asst. Editor, Journal of Palestine Studies) As'ad Abu Khalil (Prof. of Political Sciences, Univ. of California at Stanislaus) Wadih Akl (Lawyer, Prof.) Adonis Al-'Akra (Phd, Philosophy, Lebanese Univ.) Hana Alamuddin (Architect) Ghada Ali Kalash (Writer & Journalist) Sa'da 'Allaw (Journalist) Firas Al-Amin (Writer) Ibrahim Al-Amin (Journalist) Adel 'Ammous (Publisher) Jacques Al-Assouad (Art Critic & Lexicographer) Wasef 'Awadah (Journalist) Faraj Al-`Awar (Water Expert & Cultural Activist) Khodor 'Awarika (Novelist & Political Essayist) Maysa 'Awwad (Journalist) Husayn Ayyoub (Journalist) Omar Al-Ayyubi (Writer & Translator) Dr.Nassif Azzi (Prof., Philosophy, Lebanese Univ.) Hala Bajjani (Al-Akhbar Newspaper) Sulayman Bakhti (Literary Critic) Jumana Ba’lbaki (Journalist) Salwa Ba'lbaki (Journalist) Susan Barclay (Graduate Student in Anthropology, AUB & Political Activist) Jihad Bazzi (Journalist) Abe Bazzi (Al-Montada, Dearborn, MI, USA) Ahmad Bazzoun (Journalist) Rania Ahmad Berro (Journalist, Qatar) Karma Bibi (AUB, Instructor of Sociology) Martine Btaich Rania Chaaban (Graduate Student) Jean Cham'oun (Film Director) Zeinab Charafeldine (Journalist) Salah Dabbagh (Lawyer) Abbas Dabbuq (Lawyer) Eva Dadrian Camille Dagher (Writer) Mohammad Dahir (Ambassador, Researcher) Moataz Dajani (Cultural Activist) Nabil Dajani (Prof., Sociology, AUB) Ahmad Dallal (Prof. of Islamic Studies, Georgetown Univ.) Nada Dallal Doughan (Executive Director, Kitab fi Jarida) Mahmoud Dandashly (Architect & Activist) Majdolene Darwish (Pres., Nadi al-Saaha Cultural Club) Marie Debs (PhD, Writer, Prof. Lebanese University) Lara Deeb (Asst. Prof., Univ. of California, Irvine) Ibrahim Desouki (Sports Journalist & Cultural Activist) `Afif Diab (Journalist, Al-Akhbar) Gaspard Dadrian (Writer & Lawyer) Hanan Fadhallah (Journalist) Albert Farhat (Lawyer) Tareq Ghaddar (Prof. AUB) Laila Ghanem (Editor, Bada’il) Rania Ghosn (Architect) George Haddad (Writer) Hala Haddad (Radio Host) May Haddad (Doctor, Public Health Worker, & Cultural Activist) Nabil Al-Hage Ali (Engineer and Cultural Activist) Lamya Al-Haj (University Lecturer) Wael Al-Hajjar (Journalist, Qatar) Hanna Al-Hajj (Phd, Sociology) Ibrahim Al-Halaby (Media Director, Political Activist) Lara Halaoui (Prof. of Chemistry, AUB) Jamal Hamdan (Architect, Activist, Writer, Australia) Hussein Hamiyeh (Journalist) Ali Hammoud (Television Producer) Zein Hammoud (Journalist) Zeinab Hammoud (Journalist) Sari Hanafi (Assc. Prof., Sociology, AUB) Charles Harb (Asst. Prof., Psychology, AUB) Khalil Harb (Journalist) Mona Harb (Asst. Prof., Urban Planning, AUB) Paula Hariqa (Psychologist & Researcher) Howayda Al-Harithy (Assc. Prof., Architecture, AUB) Mohamed Hashem (Dir., Docudays) Rida Hashem (Visual Artist, Interior Designer) Hussam Hassan (Cultural Activist) Dyaa Haydar (Journalist) Imad Haydar (Journalist) Rana Hayeck (Journalist, Al-Akhbar) Nabil Haytham (Journalist) Sami Hermez (Graduate Student, Anthroplogy, Princeton Univ. & Social Activist) Mousa Al-Hindi (Cultural Activist) Mahmoud Hojeij (PhD, Film-Maker) Lama Al-Hurr (Poet) Abbas Al-Husseini (Researcher) Houda Ibrahim (Journalist) Samah Idriss (PhD, Al-Adab Magazine) Suheil Idriss (PhD, Novelist & Lexicographer) Ghassan Issa (MD, Social Activist) Najib Issa (Prof. of Economics, Lebanese Univ.) Abir Jaber (Journalist) Tima Al-Jamil (Asst. Prof., Psychology, AUB) Maher Jarrar (Prof., Chairperson, Civilization Sequence Program, AUB) Suad Joseph (Anthropologist, UC-Davis) Zeinab Jumaa (Writer) Ray Jureidini (Assc. Prof., Sociology & Refugee Studies, American Univ. of Cairo) Graziella Kallab (Psychotherapist) Laila Kalot Nassar (Social Activist) Samih Kawash (Palestinian Poet & Literary Critic) Assaf Kfoury (Prof., Computer Science, Boston Univ.) Malak Khaled (School Teacher & Cultural Activist) Muna Al-Khalidi (Prof., Public health Juhayna Khalidiyyah (Journalist) Laila Al-Khatib (Phd, Literary Criticism), Marwan Khawaja, (Prof., Dir., Ctr for Research on Population & Health, AUB) Nada Khoury Raghed Khoury (MIS Analyst) Firas Kobeissy (Graduate Student & Cultural Activist) Zeina Kodeih (Graduate Student, Urban Planning, AUB) Pascal Lahhoud (Phd) Nasser Lama (Industrial Manager) Zeina Maasari (Asst. Prof of Graphic Design, AUB) Jala Makhzoumi (Prof., Argriculture & Food Sciences, AUB) Mohammad Ali Makki (Elec. Eng. & Cultural Activist) Jamil Malak (Researcher & Lecturer) Emma-Jane Maalouf (Entertainment Agency, Netherlands) Sahar Mandour (Journalist) 'Imad Marmal (Journalist) Mai Masri (Film Director) Rania Masri (Asst. Prof., Fac. of Science, University of Balamand) Sa'dallah Mazra'ani (Journalist & Media Commentator) Sa'd Mehio (Journalist) Sabine Menassa (Hotel Management, Ireland) Hasna Reda Mikdashi (Editor, Nur Magazine) Hilmi Mousa (Political Analyst) Ahmad Al-Moussawi (Journalist) Ali Munaim (School Teacher & Political Activist) Abdallah Naaman (Writer) Ammar Naameh (Journalist) Omar Nashabeh (PhD in Criminology) Chadi Nasrallah (Graphic Designer, Al-Jazeera TV, Qatar) Husayn Nasrallah (Journalist, Al-Kifah Al-'Arabi Newspaper) Najib Nasrallah (Journalist) Anwar Nassar (Doctor, Prof. of Obstetrics, AUB) Ghassan Nasser (Architect & Cultural Activist) Kholoud Nasser (Performing Artist) Rana Nawfal (Publisher) Nemer Nemer (Writer, Composer, Radio Show Host) Karen Pinto (Asst. Prof., Civilization Sequence, AUB) Amin Qammuriyyeh (Journalist) Wafiq Qansoh (Journalist) Nada Al-Qara (Cultural Activist & Health Worker) Faysal al-Qaq (Doctor, Prof., AUB) Hashim Qasem (Journalist) Adib Qa`war (Writer & Researcher) Fatin Qubaysi (Journalist) Eliane Raheb (Film-Maker) Sharif Al-Rifa'i (Architect) Michel Riyachi (Cultural Activist) Ussama Saab (Architect) Lara Saade (Arab-American Activist, US) Rima Saba (Planning Consultant, Anthropologist) Nader Sabbagh (Journalist) Tania Safieddine (Artist) Khalid Saghiyyeh (Asst. Prof., AUB & Journalist) Adnan Al-Sahili (Economist & Journalist) Atallah Al-Salim (Leftist Activist) Ali Salman (Journalist) Hanady Salman (Journalist) Rabi'a Salman (Journalist & Teacher) Talal Salman (Al-Safir Newspaper) Georges Saliba (Prof., Islamic Sciences, Columbia Univ.) Hana Samadi (Lawyer) Joseph Samaha (Al-Akhbar Newspaper) Madonna Sam'an (Journalist) Hala Sayegh (Collections Librarian, AUB) Nasri Al-Sayigh (Writer) Rosemary Sayigh (Anthropologist) Nadya Sbaiti (Graduate Student in History & Cultural Activist) Kirsten Scheid (Asst. Prof., Anthropology, AUB) Muhammad 'Ali Shamseddin (Poet) Fatima Sharafeddine (Children's Author) Walid Sharara (Journalist) Zaynab Shawraba (Editor of Al-Muntaliq al-Jadid) Stephen Sheehi (Asst. Prof, Civilization Sequence Program, AUB) Hanadi Sleiman (Assc. Prof., Chemistry, McGill Univ., Canada) Mounzer Sleiman (Political-Military Analyst, USA) Amira Solh (Urban Planner) Sami Souaydane (Literary Critic, Prof., Lebanese Univ.) Rafif Srour (Res. Assc, Civil & Environmental Engineering, AUB) Rasha Steitieh (Graduate Student) Mayssoun Sukarieh (Cultural Activist) Mohammad Bassam Sukarieh (Prof. of Education, Lebanese Univ.) Rabih Sultan (Prof., Chemistry, AUB) Shadi Takieddine (Sales Manager & Activist) Bisan Tayy (Journalist) Jihad Touma (Phd, AUB) Fawwaz Trabulsi (Prof., Political Sciences, LAU) Najah Wakim (Political Essayist and Activist) Ali Anis Wehbe (Poet, Rashad Printing Press) Zaynab Yaghi (Journalist) Hassan Yatim (Visual Artist) Ranwa Yehya (Coordinator of a Youth program) Zeina Zaatari (PhD, Social Researcher) Khalil Zahreddin (Geologist & Cultural Activist) Samar Zebian (Asst. Prof., Psychology, AUB) Omar Zein (Assistant Secretary General Arab Lawyers Union) Ahmad Zeineddine (Journalist & Writer) Ra’fat Zibdawi (Social Activist) Rami Zurayk (Prof. of Agriculture, AUB) Supporting Signatories Outside Lebanon: Mona Abaza (Prof., Sociology, AUC, Egypt) Salam Abboud (Iraqi Novelist, Sweden) Afaf Abdelmoaty (Continuing Education Inst., AUC, Egypt) Mohammed Abed (Prof., Philosophy, Univ. of Wisconsin—Madison, US) Shadi Abed (Cultural Activist, Palestine) Osama Abi-Mershed (Prof., Georgetown Univ., US) Mohammad Abdel-Karim (Poet & Writer, Syria) Hany Abu Assad (Film-Maker, Palestine) Bassam Abu Ghazale (Palestinian Writer, Jordan) Yehya Abu Zakaria (Writer & Journalist, Algeria) Nasr Hamed Abu Zayd (Theorist, Egypt) Fawzia Afazl-Khan (Prof., Montclair State Univ., New Jersey, USA) Munir Akash (Editor, Prof., Humanities, Suffolk University, US) Jawad Alasfoor (Member Altajdeed Cultural Society, Bahrain) Essam `Ali (Children’s Rights Consultant, Documentary Director, Egypt) Tariq `Ali (Pakistani Writer in Britain) Ala’ Allami (Iraqi Writer & Poet, Geneva) Jumaa Allami (Novelist, Iraq) Mirza Mohamedd Aman (Media Expert & Writer, Bahrain) Kindy Amin (Graduate Student in IT, Jerusalem) Nabil Anani (Visual Artist, Palestine) Wassan Hadi Al-`Anbaki (Computer Eng., Iraq) Dima Al-Ansari (Palestinian Film Director, Dubai) Sinan Antoon (Iraqi Writer, Prof., Arabic Literature, New York University, US) Miriam Aouragh (Prof., Anthropology, Amsterdam) Masad Arbid (Arab Physician & Writer, US) Radwa Ashour (Novelist, Literary Critic, Prof., Egypt) Hussein Al-Awadat (Writer & Journalist, Syria) Usama Al-Azm (Syrian Administrator, Kuwait) Sayyed Al-Bahrawy (Prof., Egypt) Mona Baker (Prof., Linguistics, University of Manchester, UK) Salwa Bakr (Novelist, Egypt) Shadi Bakr (Graduate Student, Palestine) Chris Bambery (Editor, Socialist Worker, UK) Reem Banna (Singer, Palestine) Tayseer Barakat (Visual Artist, Palestine) Gaby Baramki (Prof., Birzeit Univ., Educational Consultant) Majeed Barghouthi (Poet & Writer, Palestine) Omar Barghouthi (Choreographer, Independent Researcher, Palestine) Suha Barghouthi (TV Host, Palestine) Widad Barghouthi (Prof., Journalism, Birzeit Univ., Palestine) Mourid Barghouti (Palestinian Poet, Egypt) Tamim Barghouti (Palestinian Poet, Egypt) Javier Barreda (Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Alicante, Spain) Golbarg Bashi (Graduate Student, Bristol University, UK) Mahmoud Al-Bayati (Iraqi Novelist, Sweden) Moustapha Bayoumi (Assc. Prof. English, Brooklyn College, US) Faisal Ben Khadra (Banker, Member of Arab Nationalist Congress, Jordan) Ahmad Ben Maymoun (Poet, Morocco) Sherna Berger Gluck, (Prof. Emerita, California State University, US) Rana A. Bishara (Palestinian Visual Artist) Kamal Boullata (Palestinian Visual Artist) Hisham Boustani (Dentist & Cultural Activist, Jordan) Sarah Bracke (Prof., Women's Studies, Utrecht Univ./Univ. of California Santa Cruz) Haim Bresheeth (Prof., University of East London) Alex Callinicos (Prof., European Studies, King's College, London, UK) Antonia Carver (Editor & Film festival Consultant, Dubai & UK) Dalia Chams (Journalist, Egypt) John Chalcraft (Prof. of History, London School of Economics, UK) Majed Chergui (Prof. of Chemistry, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland) Catherine Cobham, (Prof., Univ. of St Andrews, Scotland UK) Hamid Dabashi (Prof., MELAC, Columbia University, US) Ibrahim Dakkak (Chair, Board of Trustees, Birzeit Univ.) Bucker Dangor (Prof. Emeritus, Physics, Imperial College, UK) Lamis Jamal Deek (Palestinian Grassroots Activist & Attorney At Law, NY, USA) Herman De Ley (Prof. Emeritus, Ghent Univ., Belgium) Samar Dudin (Cultural Activist & Theater Director, Jordan) Tareq Al-Dulaimi (Iraqi Researcher, Syria) Mohammad Elagati (Writer & Researcher, Egypt) Abdeljawad Elaoufir (Writer, Morocco) Hamdi Elbatran (Novelist & Retired Office, Egypt) Khalid Elkhayri (Physician, UK) Hoda Elsada (Prof. of the Contemporary Arab World, Manchester University, UK) Furat Esber (Syrian Poet, New Zealand) Reem Fadda (Curator, Palestine) Nadia Fadil (Graduate Student, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium) Suleiman Fahed (Writer, Politician, Iraq) Fatin Farhat (Director, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Palestine) Hana Farid (Writer, Egypt) James Faris (Prof. Emeritus, Anthropology, Univ. of Connecticut, US) Nader Fergany (Dir., Almishkat Ctr, Cairo, Lead author, Arab Human Development Report) Norman Finkelstein (Prof. History, Depaul Univ. & Writer, Chicago, USA) Ellen Fleischmann (Prof., History, Univ. of Dayton, USA) Ahmad Founouni (Iraqi Architect, Canada) Bassam Frangieh (Prof. Arabic Literature, Yale Univ., US) Luz Garcia Gomez (Senior Lecturer, Universidad de Alicante, Spain) Humam Ghassib (Prof. Physics, Univ. of Jordan, Dir. Of Studies & Programs, Arab Thought Forum, Jordan) Burhan Ghalioun (Syrian, Researcher, College de France, Paris) Muna Giacaman (Instructor, Birzeit Univ.) Rita Giacaman (Prof., Public Health, Birzeit Univ., Palestine) Vladimir Giertli (Mechanical Engineer, Slovakia) Jorge Gimeno (Poet, Spain) Aiman Hana Haddad (Palestinian Translator and Cultural Activist, New York) Ziad Haidar (Journalist, Syria) Mohammad Khodr Al-Hajjar (Educational Trainer) Khaled Al-Haj Saleh (Syrian Writer, Netherlands) Samia A. Halaby (Palestinian Artist, New York) Jinan Jassem Al-Halawi (Iraqi Writer, Sweden) Sondra Hale (Prof. Anthropology & Women's Studies, UCLA, US) Inas Hamad (Palestinian Visual Artist) Abdelqader Hamida (Poet & Novelist, Algeria) Miloud Hamida (Poet & Story-Writer, Algeria) Iman Hammouri (Cultural Activist, Palestine) Ahmad Harb (Writer, Academic, Birzeit Univ., Palestine) Maan Al-Hasbane (Syrian Artist, Belgium) Sabri Hashem (Iraqi Novelist & Poet, Berlin) Hadi Hassan (Economist, Iraq) Nizar Hassan (Film Director, Palestine) Ubayy Hassan (Writer & Journalist, Syria) Abe Hayeem (Architect, London, UK) Rosamine Hayeem (Teacher, London, UK) Dina Heshmat (Journalist, Egypt) Nadia Hijab, (Writer & Human Rights Advocate) Pol Hoste (Writer, Belgium) Mohamed Hussein (Sales Manager & Activist, Egypt) Haggag Hussein (Iraqi Researcher, UK) Sawsan Hussein (Researcher, UK) Jumana Husseini, (Organization Development Consultant, Jordan) Information & Rehabilitation Center for Human Rights, Yemen Sunallah Ibrahim (Novelist, Egypt) Nihat Ilhanli (Turkoman Iraqi Writer) Colin Imber (Writer & Researcher, Manchester University, UK) Ibrahim Istanbouli (Doctor, Translator, Activist, Syria) Georges Jabbour (Doctor, Syria) Islah Jad (Asst. Prof., Political Sciences and Gender Studies, Birzeit Univ., Palestine) Shilpa Jain (Active Learning Facilitator, India) Bakr Al-Jallaas (Graphic Designer, Egypt) Shamil Jeppie (Prof., History, Univ. of Capetown, South Africa) Khaled Jubran (Musician & Composer, Palestine) Fady Joudah (Palestinian Physician, Poet, Translator, US) Amal Al-Jurf (USA) Tarek Kamel (Visual Artist, Translator, Egypt) Melody Kemp (Australian Editor & Journalist, Laos) Bashir Khadra (Prof., Jordan) Mohammad Ata Khattab (Artist, Palestine) Ahmad Mahmoud Al-Khalil (Journalist, Syria) Ahmad Al-Khamisi (Writer, Egypt) Umaiyeh Khammash (Public Health & Population Advisor, Palestine) Mohammad Mahdi Al-Khusaibi (Iraqi Prof. of Punitivie Law, Netherlands) Eyad Kishawi (Palestinian Biomedical Researcher & Social Activist, US) Imad Kishawi (Palestinian Engineer & Activist) Moopelo Kungwane (Engineer, Cape Town, South Africa) Loula Lahham (Journalist & Photographer, Egypt) Regina Lark (Programs Director, UCLA, US) Nadia Latif (Pakistani Graduate Student, Columbia Univ., US) Peder Martin Lysestøl (Prof., Sør Trøndelag State Univ., Norway) Domenico Losurdo (Prof. of Philosophy, Urbino Univ., Italy) Arab Lotfi (Egyptian-Lebanese Film-Maker) Ali Al-Madlouh (Cultural Journalist, Saudi Arabia) Sami Mahdi (Poet, Iraq) Sayed Mahmoud (Egyptian Journalist, Bahrain) Umme Leila Mahmoodi (Development Researcher, Pakistan) Maher Makhlouf (Engineer & Activist, Egypt) Khaled Malas (Architect, Syria) Suleiman Mansour (Visual Artist, Director of Al-Wasiti Cultural Center, Palestine) Omar Masri (Office Manager, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Washington, DC) Mohammad Mazloum (Poet, Iraq) An Muylaert (Medical Doctor & Activist for Palestine, Belgium) Kathem Mohammad (Writer, Iraq) Ziad Mouna (Writer & Publisher, Syria) Kathem Al-Moussawi (Iraqi Writer & Journalist, London) Kaiser Moustafa (Prof., Algeria) Hassan Musa (Sudanese Artist & Writer, France) Patricia Musa (Oral History Researcher & Teacher, France) Shakir Mustafa (Asst. Prof., Modern Langauges, Boston Univ., US) Karma Nabulsi (Academic and Writer, Oxford Univ., UK) Najwa Najjar (Film Producer, Palestine) Ali Nassar (Film Director, Palestine) Jamal Nassar (Managing Dir. & Activist, Dubai) Lama Nassar (Research Manager, US) Ahmad Al-Nassari (Journalist, Iraq) Ibrahim Nawar, (Journalist, Arab Press Freedom Watch, UK) John Newton (Writer & Journalist, Australia) Moustafa Nuwaysir (Prof., Algeria) In'am El-Obeid (Birzeit Univ., Palestine) Sufian Obeidat (Lawyer, Jordan) Hamid Oqabi (Yemeni Film-maker, France) Azzeddine Qanun (Theater Director, Tunis) Khalid Qattamesh (Artist, Palestine) Ekram Quraan (Palestine) Malek Qutteina (Health Worker, Palestine) Ussama Qutteineh (TV Correspondent, Jordan) Nasser Rabbat (Agha Khan Professor of Architecture, MIT, US) Wissam Rafeedi (Researcher & Lecturer, Birzeit Univ., Palestine) Maya Al-Rahabi (Doctor & Social Activist, Syria) Naji Rahim (Poet, Iraq) Amina Rashid (Prof., Egypt) Ramzi Rihan (V-P, Community Outreach, Birzeit Univ., Palestine) Farouk Sabry (Kurdish-Iraqi Playwright, New Zealand) Ali Safar (Poet & Film-Maker, Syria) Hana El-Sahly (Palestinian Physician, US) Khairallah Said, (PhD, Researcher in Arab-Islamic Heritage) Mahmoud Said (Iraqi Novelist, US) Fakhri Saleh (Literary Critic, Jordan) Simon Samoeil, Curator of the Middle East Collection, Yale Univ. Library, US) Aseel Sawalha (Prof., Anthropology, Pace Univ., New York) Amima Sayeed (Educational Researcher & Evaluator, Pakistan) Abdelaziz Al-Sayyid (Writer, Jordan) Mouneer El-Shaarani (Artist & Calligrapher, Syria) Sabah Ali Al-Shahir (Iraqi Writer & Novelist) Bassem Sharaf (Writer, Theater Director, Egypt) Leila Sharaf (Senator, Jordanian Senate) Deema Al-Shawa (P-R & Media Director MUSAWA) Muzna Shihabi (Graduate Student in Intl. Studies, Palestine) Jammal Sidki (Screen-Writer, & Political Activist, Egypt) Ahdaf Soueif (Novelist, Egypt & UK) Abdallah Soufan (Researcher, Netherlands) Judith Stevenson (School Teacher & Social Activist, Los Angeles, US) Abdallah Sufan (PhD Candidate, Leiden Univ, Holland) Baha’ Taher (Novelist, Egypt) Vera Tamari (Visual Artist, Lecturer, Birzeit Univ., Palestine) Nawal Tamimi (Palestinian Pre-School Teacher, USA) Virginia Tilley (American Prof., Political Science, Human Sciences Research Council Pretoria, South Africa) Chris Toensig (Editor, MERIP, Washington DC) Leila Tubal (Stage Actress, Tunis) Salim Vally (Prof., Education, Wits. University, South Africa) Ronald Van de Sompel (Curator, UK) Carlos Varea (Prof., Anthropology, Madrid Autonoma University, Spain) Ahmad Al-Wasl (Poet & Writer, Arab-Saudi) Livia Wick (Graduate Student, MIT, USA) Mary Christina Wilson (Prof. of History, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, US) Jessica Winegar (Prof., Anthropology, Fordham Univ., New York) Lisa Wynn (Prof., Population Studied, Princeton Univ., USA) Ibrahim Yassir (Ambassador, Political Analyst, Intl. Lawyer) Samar Yazbek (Media Figure & Novelist, Syria) Ibtihal Younis (PhD, Egypt) Hanif Yusif (Syrian Poet, Sculptor, Netherlands) Wissam Al-Zahawi (Secretary General, Arab Thought Forum, Jordan) Aziza Zaidane (Moroccan Journalist, Geneva) Fatima Zaidane (Moroccan-American Researcher, Vienna Univ., Industrial Development Consultant to the UN) Osama Al-Zain (Film Director, Palestine) http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=601 Return to the article list 4 comment(s) Add a new comment printer friendly version

administration

Overwhelming Positive Response to KABC, National Review; How To Contact Our College

Yesterday and today I received over 100 emails from alumni and everyday citizens concerning the story I wrote for National Review and the radio appearance on KABC (audio file to come) I made discussing Professor Frangieh's views. More than one hundred "shared" the story on Facebook and the story continues to climb on National Review's popularity index, which isn't too bad for someone who isn't a professional journalist and isn't writing about Wisconsin.

I can't possibly hope to respond to all of the emails and pass my midterms, but I wanted to let the supporters know that I hear them, that I have heard that the college hears them, too, and that you can continue to make your voice heard on this matter by using some of the information presented in this email. If you would like to make your letter open and to the wider public, please cc me when you write it.

If you want to communicate more with President Pamela Gann, Bassam Frangieh, Richard Rodner, Dean Greg Hess, here's the appropriate information for you, found very readily from the school's website, lest anyone accuse me of giving away anyone's personal information. Perhaps you'll have more luck getting one of them to speak on record.

President Pamela Gann
pamela.gann@claremontmckenna.edu 

Bassam Frangieh
Email: bfrangieh@cmc.edu, or bassam.frangieh@cmc.edu
Phone: 909 607-3484


Richard Rodner  (the PR VP who censored Wikipedia)
richard.rodner@claremontmckenna.edu

Dean of Faculty Greg Hess
Email: gregory.hess@claremontmckenna.edu
Phone: 909 621-8117

Here are some common responses that you will get from them as well as quick rebuttals:

• That Frangieh is beloved by the students which is why he won a prize for teaching. They will leave out that no students knew of his radical views then and that he's known on campus for being a very easy grader, which might explain why the program has grown so quickly. Since then, a lot of students have told me that they would reconsider voting for him in light of these charges. You might also bring up what relevance his charm has with his radical views. If anything, it's evidence that he is duplicitous -- saying one thing in Arabic and saying another in English. 

• That Frangieh doesn't support terrorism. If Frangieh believes, as he has stated that Hezbollah and Hamas ought to be legitimate governments of Lebanon and Palestine, respectively, it follows that he doesn't not view their targeting of civilians as terrorism. This is a common dodge that supporters of these terrorist organizations have used in the past. Terrorism is a tactic, not a goal. What we really want to know is does he support those organizations' ends: the extermination of Jews world-wide; denials of the Holocaust; the obliteration of Israel. Will Frangieh act on boycotting Israel has he has promised? Shouldn't it bother us that he has said nothing since these views were exposed and that he won't come out and say that he condemns Hezbollah and Hamas?

• That Frangieh is not a Muslim. I'm not sure why this is coming up over and over again, especially given that I have written repeatedly that he is a Christian, but I have a few plausible theories. First, it is meant to discredit me sub silentio. If Frangieh is a Christian and not a Muslim as some have thought, then it follows that I must have other facts not in order. Of course I do have all my facts in order, but the college wants to wiggle out of this, so they'll dissemble if they need to, especially given the close relationships that the college is developing in the Middle East. I wonder, though, if, as the college has implausibly claimed -- that Frangieh was vetted before he arrived on campus -- does this mean that someone who was a Muslim and held these views would not be hired by the college? If so, isn't this some kind of double standard? If so, isn't that a form of bigotry? 

• That I am "obsessed," "just some conservative kid," or on a "crusade" (funny choice of words, no?) against Frangieh. (These are various things that have been relayed back to me by various alumni or parents.) Unfortunately, the college wants to make the story about me, rather than the really serious charges I am leveling and the support for terrorism that I have exposed.