Member of the WSU Board of Governors Defends Apartheid Israel!

ARA was in attendance today as public radio station WDET 101.9 fm hosted a public forum on the future president of Wayne State University. The audio is available here. 58 minutes into the program, ARA got a chance to make its demands for a new president of WSU known. We posted those demands on our blog earlier today.

Board of Governors member Eugene Driker responded to our demands that the university recommit itself to the its urban mission by crying poverty. Driker complained that the university just didn't have the money to maintain programs that provide access to Wayne State to community members that need it most. Ironically, Driker had only minutes prior to these assertions praised recent fundraising efforts that netted $800 million for the university. In addition, the entire panel of current and aspiring representatives of official society, including Driker, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, journalist Cindy Goodaker and student council president Cindi Chidi, had just finished discussing how Wayne State was an oasis of sustained economic growth in the impoverished wasteland of Detroit. So which is it? Does WSU have $800 million as a result of fundraising drives and does it stand at the epicenter of burgeoning economic growth in Detroit, or does it not even have the couple hundred thousand dollar pittance required to maintain the Interdisciplinary Studies department and other programs that have recently fallen victim to Reid and the Board's ruthless attacks on Detroiters?

In addition, Driker once again affirmed the university's support for white supremacy and imperialism, noting that he was actually proud of Reid's decision to maintain investments in apartheid Israel. In fact, Driker had the nerve to flippantly ask us if we had any suggestions on where to come up with money to fund these programs. It just so happens that the solution we advocate for Israel would do wonders for underfunded programs at WSU. When ARA last filed a Freedom of Information Act regarding the university's investments in companies doing business with Israel, we found that the university has millions of dollars invested in such companies. Given a financial crisis in one area, and millions of dollars invested in morally reprehensible stocks elsewhere, the answer should be clear: divest from Israel, invest in the Wayne State community! Reinstate all the programs the university has cut. Fund them with the blood money of occupation and apartheid in Israel.

However, we in ARA didn't disagree with everything Driker said. We wholeheartedly agreed with his call to publicly debate ARA. We also enthusiastically greet WDET's proposal to arrange and host such a debate using their facilities. In fact, we encourage all our supporters to call and write Eugene Driker and the Board of Governors, as well as WDET and Detroit Today, encouraging them to engage in this important debate.

Driker's email address is as1223@wayne.edu. The board of governor's Executive Secretary is Teresa Boczar, who can be reached at 313-577-2034 or teresa.m.boczar@wayne.edu

WDET can be reached at detroittoday@wdetfm.org or by phone at 313-577-4146.

WSU Students Say No to racism!

On Monday, October 8th, Wayne State students sent a message to all those who seek to govern in the name of white supremacy and imperialism: We will not stand for it, and we will fight back. In the face of police with real guns and not taser guns, in the face of an administration that would prefer to remain neutral but is forced to take sides, in the face of no less than an advisor to presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, WSU students fought racism, and refused to back down. All students of conscience, all anti-racists, all those who oppose imperialism from Palestine to Afghanistan and back again, can be proud of themselves on this day.

We began our resistance with a brief rally in front of Wayne State's undergraduate library. There, students and faculty made clear that they would not stand for racist speakers at Wayne State. The purpose of the rally was to draw attention to an event that supporters of Israel had organized, and it was a tremendous success. The event was a lecture entitled, "The Threat to Israel's Existence: Why It's Back, What It Means" given by Zionist ideologue, Daniel Pipes. Many students who didn't know the event was happening decided to go when they found out who Pipes was and what he was going to say. After finding out, many decided to ditch class, so important was it to them to confront a racist and show that hate speech is not welcome on our campus.

ARA and others fired up the crowd with speeches describing the event, denouncing one onlooker for wearing an Israeli Defense Forces t-shirt, and explaining ARA's goal of one democratic Palestine where Jews, Arabs, Muslims, and Christians are equal citizens. The crowd was captivated. As the speakers spoke, ARA passed out fliers informing people of the event beginning shortly. In these personal conversations, people were stunned that the university would allow a racist on campus. Many were thankful that ARA had helped organize against it, and excited to fight back.

Around 12:45, we made our way into the Bernath auditorium to ensure that we got good seats and be ready to ask questions when the time came. The march of students heading toward the Bernath auditorium was truly an inspiration. At one point, almost 30 students marched determinedly toward the doors together. Some saw friends and relatives and encouraged and cajoled them to attend the event in order to show support for Palestine and make sure Pipes didn't get a free pass. Electricity was in the air, and the crowd was very excited.

At the door, we were forced to endure the humiliation of having our bags subjected to lengthy and extensive searches by uniformed police officers. Fitting, since Pipes himself advocates racial profiling of this sort. It was at this point that we found out that Pipes was actually scheduled to speak at 1:30. On the Stand with Us website, the time is listed as 1 p.m. In order to ensure that Pipes was successfully confronted, ARA took it upon itself to announce to the crowd that the event had been pushed back. We speculated that perhaps Pipes and company were intimidated by the vocal resistance we had already showed, and therefore had decided to start the event at 1:30 after all. ARA encouraged all those in attendance to have a little patience and practice sumud, or "steadfastness." In Palestine, holding onto one's home is itself a form of resistance. We encouraged those in attendance to hold onto their seats just as Palestinians hold onto their homes. Soon, our time would come.

Finally, the time came for Pipes to speak. He was introduced by Tova Schreiber, a vocal member of Students for Israel prone to falsely accusing ARA of everything from the mundane (that ARA tore down fliers for an event we were actively encouraging as many people as possible to attend) to the surreal (that ARA is an anti-American terrorist group, when in fact our resistance to racism and our insistence on self-government for all people is as American as apple pie and Chevrolets). Schreiber made a point to note that Pipes has a Ph.D. and is "an expert in his field." Pipes' standing as a "scholar" and "expert" would come up again and again during his talk, especially when students challenged his interpretations and assertions. At the end of the event, it was clear that his Ph.D. wasn't worth the paper it was printed on, as he supported US imperialism around the world and Israeli apartheid.

Pipes talk was short and to the point. He made two related arguments. First, he argued that since the Oslo peace talks, Israel had abandoned deterrence and begun pursuing appeasement with regard to Palestine. This had caused the threat to Israel's existence to re-emerge. Second, in order to once again ensure Israel's existence, Israel had to "crush the Palestinian will to resist." That is, in its pursuit of deterrence, it had to enact the harshest measures possible in order to make the cost of resistance unbearable to Palestinians. Such openly vicious recommendations are rare from policy makers, so, in a certain sense, Pipes candor was refreshing. However, no amount of forthrightness can excuse the fact that Pipes mercilessly sides with and advises for the barbarism of American empire.

The moment everyone had waited for arrived when Pipes finished up his talk and opened the floor to questions from the audience. The first two came from active members of ARA. The following 20 came from outraged anti-racist students at Wayne State, with the exception of 2 questions from poorly informed supporters of the apartheid state.

The first question provided a short and to the point answer to the topic Pipes had come to address. Why is the threat to Israel re-emerging? Because Israel is an apartheid state, and apartheid is doomed. Further, the ARA member asked why Pipes was siding with colonialism and white supremacy. Since the battle in Palestine/Israel is being fought over whether or not Israel has the right to colonize and occupy Palestine, why is Pipes siding with an idea that has been discredited for over 40 years? Pipes had no answer. When he was challenged, he appealed to his handlers (SFI), "I thought we agreed - no interruptions." When he was again and again challenged, he again and again appealed to the police and the university administration. Finally, Pipes refused to continue speaking until the adamant pro-Palestine advocate was removed. So much for debate! With all those fancy degrees and books to his name, Pipes can't handle one-on-one debate with a humble bookstore clerk! What a joke!

The second question related to a blog entry on Pipes' website where he proudly recommends razing entire villages in response to rocket attacks. This is what deterrence means to Pipes: collective punishment, including mass arrests, evictions, and demolishing entire neighborhoods, sometime with only a moment's notice. When questioned about that in the Q&A session, he cleverly evaded his own words, too ashamed and too cowardly to admit to such a hostile crowd what he proudly boasts of on his website and, indeed, recommends to top policy makers in Washington every day.

As the Q&A session continued, Pipes was attacked again and again with hostile questions. Soon, his cool demeanor and detached academic facade gave way to condescending disdain and outright contempt for WSU students. He called one sister ignorant for referring to the historical details of the Palestine/Israel conflict as "mumbo-jumbo" and yet denied that such copiously-documented "historical details" as the massacre of Deir Yassin ever happened! Clearly Pipes only has time to master the details that support his bigoted agenda, while callously dismissing those that prove the barbarism of the Zionist project.

In addition, he insulted the audience's intelligence by asserting that Muslim folks are less morally repulsed by slavery than Christians or Jews. Pipes acted like slavery was a uniquely Muslim phenomenon, as if the 300-year history of slavery in the United States was not carried out by Christians! And yet Pipes doesn't try to say that all Christians are predisposed to sympathize with slavery. Thus his white supremacy and anti-Muslim fanaticism reveals itself!

Finally, Pipes controversially denied the slaughter of 12-year-old Mohammed al-Dura, shot down by IDF soldiers at the outbreak of the Second Intifada. While the controversy continues to rage over what truly happened, Pipes only further proves how little he cares for Palestinian life by insulting al-Dura's memory. The irrefutable fact remains that Israel is murdering thousands of civilians in the Occupied Territories, and that many of them are children. Whatever the fate of al-Dura, the fact that there have been thousands of al-Dura's since his death is irrefutable. Pipes only highlights his own cruelty by dwelling on and even denying the death of al-Dura.

In short, Daniel Pipes came to Wayne State University on October 8th, 2007, to speak about Israel and Wayne State University brought it to Pipes. At every turn, he was challenged, embarrassed, flustered, made a fool of, and exposed as a shameless defender of American imperialism in the Middle East and Israeli apartheid at any brutal cost. The greatest compliment we could have been paid comes from Pipes himself, who recently posted a "Spotlight" on his website called, "Wayne State Univ. v. Daniel Pipes." Truer words were never spoken: the vast majority of Wayne State students opposed Pipes and were not afraid to show it. Wayne State students can be proud of themselves on this day, because they stood up to white supremacy and empire. They showed that racism is doomed, apartheid is doomed, and freedom, liberty, and justice will one day reign in Palestine/Israel.

FREE PALESTINE!

Divestment or Unemployment: Irvin Reid Resigns

President Irvin Reid has announced his resignation from Wayne State University. Much has been made of his record at the university in the last ten years. He has dramatically increased undergraduate enrollment. He has broken ground on several new buildings. But whatever dubious benefit such changes have brought, the fact remains that Wayne State University under Reid's tenure has unleashed a vicious assault on working people and people of color, especially black folks in the city of Detroit.

To begin, Reid and his partners in crime on the board of governors shut the doors on the College of Lifelong Learning in 2002. CLL was committed to providing educational opportunities to non-traditional students, especially working people with families. More recently, that same board dismantled the College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs (CULMA) in 2005. According to Stuart Henry, former head of the Interdisciplinary Studies department at WSU, CULMA was the "only other college explicitly serving adult urban students." By shutting these programs down, WSU has effectively abandoned the urban mission that had been a proud legacy of the rebellious movement for community control of schools during the 1960s.

Just recently, Reid and the Board of Governors voted to dismantle the Interdisciplinary Studies program at the University. This program served non-traditional students from the community, including working people and single parents. Eliminating this program cuts the university off even further from the community it is supposed to serve, as it gets rid of the program's unique open enrollment policy. This policy allowed anyone with a high school diploma access to the university. Although the board of governors hoped to spin this and similar moves as the necessities of budget cuts, others astutely recognized that it was an attack on working people. Ron Aronson, for example, recently noted in the Metrotimes that, "Those who envision a more selective Wayne State University demand the elimination of [Interdisciplinary Studies]."

President Reid's vision for WSU has been demonstrated by his actions. He seeks to transform a largely working class institution into yet another bastion of middle-class professionalism.

As with all career bureaucrats, Reid has no imagination. Thus when it comes to Palestine, he is every bit as reactionary. Last October, in an infamous editorial to the Detroit Free Press, Reid refused to divest from the racist state of Israel. ARA had proposed divestment from apartheid Israel as a unique opportunity for the university to be the first in the nation to take such a step. Doing so would have affirmed the university's commitment to basic human dignity. Reid's refusal to divest, his insistence on supporting apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and the colonial history of Israel, infuriated the surrounding community. The Arab American Forum and Link of October 19 th, 2006, for example, asked the question, "Divestment: It worked in South Africa. Why not in Israel?"

And this was not the first time Reid had made this decision. In 2002, he overturned and ignored the historic resolution by the Student Council to divest from Israel. The students at Wayne State University had the courage to stand against apartheid and white supremacy when they passed their resolution, the first of its kind in the United States. Irvin Reid and the board of governors ignored their decision, demonstrating that all claims to "student representation" or "student power" are rhetorical nonsense. Real power, Reid showed, lies with himself and his board of governors, and they have no interest in commitment of any kind to working people, people of color, or simple principles such as democracy and anti-racism.

To summarize, Irvin Reid has bolstered middle class access to Wayne State University while attacking working people and people of color in the city of Detroit and in the surrounding suburbs. He has also supported white supremacy and imperialism at two different times in his career! ARA says good riddance, and we can only affirm our previous slogan: divestment or unemployment. ARA welcomes the next president of the university with the very same challenge: divest from apartheid, divest from white supremacy and refuse to support imperialism. Otherwise, save yourself time and effort by preparing your goodbyes at the same time that you are preparing your introductory speeches.