Formerly-free Fish seems farm-raised in his view of I/P

Stanley Fish, a scholar known for his leftish independent views, becomes boring and conventional in a New York Times column on political correctness on campus. See that Fish aligns himself with a new book published by the American Enterprise Institute when it comes to Israel/Palestine. Notice the crude caricature of the new generational leftwing campus position on Israel/Palestine as delusional, and Fish’s solemn concurrence with the conservative position. Notice his belief that one-staters would "dissolve" Israel into a "regional nation-state," when one-staters only mean to acknowledge historical Palestine as the borders, given that an expansionist Israel has made these the de facto borders. And yes I wonder if Fish, who is said to be Jewish, has Zionist indoctrination in his background. Take it away, Stanley:

He [Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors] counsels that we should “stop seeking to be agents of the victims of the first rank,” for “the price we pay otherwise is that identity politics and its effects rule our professional decisions.” Witness, for example (it is his example), the fact that “the only socially and politically acceptable stance for some people in academia is that Israel has no right to exist, has no moral or political legitimacy, and must be dissolved into a larger regional nation-state.” The tendency to tie “program planning, hiring, and tenure decisions” to ones [sic] position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will, Nelson warns, make those matters “impossible to negotiate.” (Already happening.) We must recognize, he concludes, “that the dangers to critical thinking on campus come not just from the organized right outside the university, but also from internal intolerance and self-delusion.”

Wise words (which mirror the concession made by the A.E.I. authors)…

About Philip Weiss

Philip Weiss is Founder and Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net.
Posted in Beyondoweiss, Israel/Palestine, US Politics

{ 5 comments... read them below or add one }

  1. Please stop casting aspersions before researching.

    Is he a Jewish “Fish”, or the old Yankee “Fish” family?

    Also, please stop the red-baiting of accusing someone of “Zionist” indoctrination.

  2. Gellian says:

    Fish’s characterization of the climate at universities as being anti-Israel is laughable. I know, I work at one and have worked at others in the past. If anything the taboo runs the other way, people self-censor on Israel/Palestine all the time. It’s the one subject where expressing a liberal (i.e. pro-Palestine) opinion can get you fired. Fish must know this. So why does he say the opposite?

  3. Fish is on this list of “nonjewish people with Jewish ancestry”:

    link to nndb.com

    I’m not sure what it means, but it sounds like he’s up to no good.

  4. KatinPhilly says:

    Yikes! Cary Nelson is arguing in his book (NOT the AEI one) from the “liberal” perspective on PC issues, Phil, which is why I found the comment especially risible, and not in a good way.

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