I wish I could be in Chicago this Friday. A murderer’s row of intellectuals, from Noam Chomsky to Tony Judt to Neve Gordon to Akeel Bilgrami, will be speaking at a forum on academic freedom in a church at the University of Chicago. The discussion stems from the blacklisting of Norman G. Finkelstein at DePaul. He will speak, too. So will John Mearsheimer. I imagine Rockefeller Chapel will be jammed.
Speaking of academic freedom, it seems that U of St. Thomas in St. Paul has reversed field on its craven Desmond Tutu disinvite. The cleric who heads the school says he scoured his conscience and figured out it was wrong not to invite Tutu because of stuff he said about Israel 5 years ago.
Though of course there must be context. And the Lord said, Let there be context!!!
Rev. Dease also said he would convene a "forum to foster constructive
dialogue on the issues that have been raised… The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the
Dakotas has agreed to serve as a co-sponsor of the forum, and I expect
other organizations also to join as co-sponsors."Dease said the
forum would include a "candid discussion about how a civil and
democratic society can pursue reasoned debate on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other emotionally charged issues."
Wow that sounds like a hot panel, huh! I wonder if St. Thomas wasn’t influenced by poet Lucille Clifton, who on hearing of the Tutu blacklisting, nixed her own appearance at the school:
“It is with deep regret that I must cancel my visit. … I have spent my
life trying to be a human of integrity and hope and peace; and I find
it difficult to speak and model these things in light of the situation
concerning Bishop Tutu.”
You go, girl. Maybe the world is inching forward after all…
