Harvard must give back tainted money

[cherryperry]

AGAINST THE BACKDROP of Arab anti-Semitism -- the most virulent Jew-hatred since the Hitler years -- the closing of a single anti-Semitic institute in the Middle East barely registers as a blip on the screen. But it's a blip worth noting, for it shows what can be achieved when one gutsy individual decides to push back against bigotry. The story begins in July 2000, when Harvard's Divinity School accepted $2.5 million from the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan. The money was to endow an academic chair, the Sheik Zayed Al Nahyan Professorship in Islamic Religious Studies. It was a welcome shot in the arm for the divinity school, one of Harvard's smallest and least affluent. The university expressed its gratitude, and praised Zayed for his liberality with an article in the Harvard Gazette.

<snip>

The sheik was also the funder and namesake of the Zayed Center for
Coordination and Follow-up, a think tank established in 1999 in his capital,Abu Dhabi. Describing itself as "the fulfillment of the vision of Sheik Zayed," the center quickly became one of the Arab world's leading arenas for anti-Jewish and anti-American poison. Examples mushroomed. In 2002, the Zayed Center published a report on the Holocaust that said Zionists -- not Nazis -- "were the people who killed the Jews in Europe." It hosted a lecture by Saudi professor Umayma Jalahma, who was famous for claiming that Jews celebrate the holiday of Purim by killing innocent victims and eating pastries baked with their blood.

The Zayed Center honored French author Thierry Meyssan, whose book "The Appalling Fraud" says that US military officers staged the 9/11 attacks. It published an Arabic translation of the book, and hosted a lecture in which he said the "legend" of the 19 hijackers "was not true" and that no plane had crashed into the Pentagon. Yet another guest was Sheik Ikrama Sabri, the mufti of the Palestinian Authority known for such vile sermons as the one
in which he pleaded: "Oh, Allah, destroy America, for she is ruled by Zionist Jews." In the opening speech of a conference last August, the director of the Zayed Center declared: "Jews claim to be God's most preferred people, but the truth is they are the enemies of all nations." And in one of many anti-Semitic tracts offered on its web site, the center extolled "those who challenged Israel,"
including David Irving and Roger Garaudy, two infamous Holocaust deniers.

<snip>

Divinity school dean, William Graham, who had first heard about the Zayed Center's anti-Semitic and anti-American output in January, told Fish he would have an independent researcher look into the issue. He promised to get back to her within six weeks. Six weeks passed. Graham said nothing. Nor did most of the divinity school faculty -- a faculty that normally prides itself on its social
Conscience and its commitment to human rights. An online petition
(http://www.moralitynotmoney.com/ ) urging the university to decline Zayed's money drew thousands of signatures. But the administration seemed in no hurry to move.

<snip>

:http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles

[GabysPoppy]

1. This link may work better

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/jacoby/

[cherryperry]

2. Thank you! n/t

[tinnypriv]

3. Nutters

Kudos to Ms Fish. :)

WTF does Harvard need an extra year for? Interest? :puke:

[rini]

4. of course

for the money. Money talks and morality walks. I wish I knew how to make it so morally embarrassing for Harvard that they'd have the courage of Mayor Guilliani and tell these hate mongers where to put their money. I haven't seen this anywhere except in "Jewish" publications. I would think that the VFW ect., would be up in arms over this abomination.