John Yoo and the torture memos - a case about academic freedom, or protecting a war criminal?
Torture protests at UC law school ceremonies, San Fransisco Chronicle.
The Green Light, by Philippe Sands, Vanity Fair.
Professor John Yoo Has Blood On His Hands!, Reggie Dylan, Revolution.
The Torture Memos and Academic Freedom, Christopher Edley, Jr.; Dean, UCB School of Law.
Torture and Tenure, Inside Higher Ed.
John Yoo: Spearhead or scapegoat?, by Glenn Greenwald, Salon.
Fire Yoo & Try for War Crimes, National Lawyers Guild.
There Were Orders to Follow, Editorial, New York Times.
Should John Yoo Be Fired?, Chronicle of Higher Education.
What Should UC Berkeley Do?, Brad DeLong.
What to do with Yoo, Henry Farrell
Yoo, Boalt, and Academic Freedom, Marty Lederman.
Once More Into the Academic Freedom/John Yoo Fray, Brian Leiter.
Call for Dismissal and Prosecution of John Yoo, Center for Constitutional Rights.
John Yoo's war crimes, by Glenn Greenwald, Salon.
Torture “Almost Choreographed” by the White House, Revolution.
The Memo, by Jane Mayer, New Yorker.
Deconstructing John Yoo, By Scott Horton. Harper's




Defend Critical Thinking is back on-line, at our new address!
We will have new updates and content shortly, as we get back up to speed. In the meantime, here are some articles to read:
Legislators in Arizona want to literally ban dissent in academia, The Arizona Republic.
Academic Freedom and Student Rights in Politicized Institutions, by Aaron Barlow.
The Petition: Israel, Palestine, and a Tenure Battle at Barnard by Jane Kramer (on Nadia Abu el-Haj; pdf file) The New Yorker, April 14, 2008.
Academic Freedom in the Wired World, Robert M. O’Neil interviewed by Inside Higher Ed.
Professors Fight 'Academic Freedom' Bills That Question Science in 4 States, Chronicle of HIgher Ed.

Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week II was (supposedly) held April 7-11, 2008. Did anyone notice? Did anything actually happen? Despite claims by David Horowitz (pictured on the right from his days when he supported what he now calls "Islamo-fascism") that 100 schools were involved, there's little evidence that anything of significance happened. There was no mainstream media coverage, and very little mention even in the newspapers of the campuses allegedly involved. Even the websites and blogs which relentlessly promoted the first IFAW were silent. The list of speakers had few of the big names featured last time. IFAW II, it seems, was still-born. Did you see or read anything about IFAW II? If so, let us know (criticalxthinking [at] yahoo.com). The non-existence of IFAW II may be related to the recent announcement that the White House was banning the use of the term "Islamo-fascism" by its diplomats and spokespeople.


"Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" to be held next Spring.
There are plans to hold Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week again next Spring, April 7-11, 2008. This makes it even more imperative to understand as much as possible about the week - what kinds of tactics did IFAW use, how effective were they, what impact did they have, and what was the the overall impact of our efforts - and those of many others - to expose, oppose, and politically defeat IFAW. We urge everyone to read up on IFAW and contribute your own thoughts on how to continue meeting this dangerous threat to dissent and critical thinking in academia. (READ MORE)
We've collected some of overall summations of IFAW below. The rest of the IFAW material will be moved from this page to an archive soon.
“Islamofascism”: The Failure of a Concept, Gary Leupp.
CONTROVERSIAL 'AWARENESS WEEK' DRAWS CRITICISM, The Heights, Boston Colleg.
David Horowitz, Feminist? by Katha Pollitt, The Nation.
Remembering Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, COMOPS Journal.
Scapegoating Campus Feminists, American Prospect.
Thank You, David Horowitz: So Much for Islamo-Fascism Awareness, Alexander Cockburn, Counterpunch.
Against “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week”— LET THE FERMENT CONTINUE, Revolution.

02/05 Update: DePaul Academic Freedom Conference
Organizers of the National Project to Defend Dissent and Critical Thinking in Academia attended the DePaul Academic Freedom Symposium last weekend. This was an exciting and stimulating event, and the students at DePaul are to be commended again for their work in this area. We will have more on the event in the near future, and the AFC has said they will be posting the talks on their site. Here are links to comments by two of the participants in the symposium:
Marcy Newman: academic freedom & jewish supremacy
Peter Kirstein: Excerpts of Professor Kirstein Presentation at DePaul University Academic Freedom Conference

01/26 Update: DePaul Academic Freedom Conference next week
1-2 February 2008
DePaul University, Lincoln Park Student Center - 2250 N. Sheffield Ave. Chicago, IL

Day 1 - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 6:00pm -9:00pm

Introduction with Keynote Speaker – 6:00 pm
Sara Roy, Harvard University political economist

The Role of the Activist Professor – 7:00 pm
Featuring Panelists:
-Bill Ayers, Professor, College of Education, University of Illinois – Chicago
-Ken Butigan, Ph.D., author, professor and peace activist
-Robert Jensen, Professor, School of Journalism, University of Texas
-Marcy Newman, Visiting Professor at the Center for American Studies and Research at the American University of Beirut and a Fellow at the Initiative for Middle East Policy Dialogue

Day 2 – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm

Academic Freedom and the Way Forward – 11:00 am
Featuring Panelists:
-Marc Ellis, University Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Baylor University
-Peter N. Kirstein, Professor, Department of History, Saint Xavier University
-Joel Kovel, Distinguished Professor, Department of Social Studies, Bard College

Paper Presentations – 2:00 pm
Documentary Film presented by Director:
Landrum Bolling, Director, Mercy Corps

Academic Freedom and Middle East Studies – 5:00 pm
Featuring Panelists:
-As’ad AbuKhalil, Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, California State University
-Juan Cole, Professor, Department of History, University of Michigan;
-Peter Novick, Professor (Emeritus), Department of History, University of Chicago

For more information, visit their website.


01/14 Update
The DePaul Academic Freedom Committee is hosting the DePaul Academic Freedom Symposium - Febuary 1-2, 2008. You can read more about it on their website.
John K. Wilson has an excellent summary of the current threats to academic freedom, "The Political War on Academic Freedom," a paper presented at the MLA conference last month. You can download a pdf of the presentation here. He also notes in his blog that "Democratic Presidential Candidates All Promise to Attack Academic Freedom."
David Horowitz was interviewed by Campus Progress last month.

12/04 Update
Students at USC put together a film about Ann Coulter's IFAW talk there and the opposition to it.

11/27 Update: The Violent Radicalization Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007
Among its dangerous provisions, this bill would create a "Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism in the United States," on an unspecified University campus. Unlike other Centers of Excellence university-based government research centers created by the Department of Homeland Security, the Center established by this bill could have a chilling effect on political activity on campus because of its specific mission to "assist Federal, State, local and tribal homeland security officials through training, education, and research in preventing violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism."
Read articles on it from TruthOut and Revolution.

11/20 Update
The Heights, Boston College: CONTROVERSIAL 'AWARENESS WEEK' DRAWS CRITICISM.
Solomania Blog: Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week at Tufts with Daniel Pipes. Includes photos of protesters.
“Islamofascism”: The Failure of a Concept, Gary Leupp.
Islamofascism speaker misses the point, Brown Daily Herald.
David Horowitz, Feminist? by Katha Pollitt, The Nation.

11/17 Update
Boston Globe on IFAW: A Lazy, Simplistic Analogy.
Worker's World: Call for anti-Islamic hatred on campuses falls flat.
Blak Orchid blog: Islamofascism week at UW.
Northwest Asian Weekly: Muslim students respond to Islamo-Fascism Week, by Jane Mee Wong.
COMOPS Journal: Analysis: Remembering Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.
The Nation: Report From "Islamofascism Awareness Week."
Global Intifada: The Fascist Roots of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.
Rutgers Observer article on IFAW (from SAF).

11/10 Update
Update on Chemerinsky: UC Irvine gave the billionaire donor to its law school a say in dean selection. LA Times.
Peter Kirstein comments on the tenure denial of Mehrene Larudee at DePaul.
Free Exchange on Campus has materials available for its new Campus Voices campaign.
David Horowitz is very upset that AAUP doesn't engage his "analyses of the syllabuses of 200 courses."
A couple weeks ago, the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend the University put a petition on-line. "In recent years, universities across the country have been targeted by outside groups seeking to influence what is taught and who can teach. To achieve their political agendas, these groups have defamed scholars, pressured administrators, and tried to bypass or subvert established procedures of academic governance. As a consequence, faculty have been denied jobs or tenure, and scholars have been denied public platforms from which to share their viewpoints. This violates an important principle of scholarship, the free exchange of ideas, subjecting them to ideological and political tests. These attacks threaten academic freedom and the core mission of institutions of higher education in a democratic society." Article on this at Inside Higher Ed.
Nadia Abu El-Haj Wins Tenure at Barnard College. Chronicle of Higher Ed

11/07 Update
Three radio interviews available on our site: Chris Hedges on WBAI, Reggie Dylan on KPFK and Yifat Susskind on KPFK:

11/04 Update
Free Speech TV has a new hour-long program on Ward Churchill - "When They Came For Ward Churchill."
Against “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week”— LET THE FERMENT CONTINUE, Revolution.

11/04 Update
Read reports from Tufts, USC, DePaul, and San Francisco State University.

11/03 Update
(some of these links are to older articles, which were missed earlier)
Students Hold Rally Against Pundit's Speech, Columbia Spectator.
David Horowitz’s Islamophobia Week, Socialist Worker.
Islamo-fascism Awareness Week raised awareness of the wrong kind, The Daily (UW).
Scapegoating Campus Feminists, American Prospect.
Islamo-fascism week causes public uproar nationwide, Temple News.
'Islamo-facism': A Dumb Idea. Columbia Spectator
Anti-Racist Students Blast Fascist Horowitz’s Hate-Mongering, Challenge.
Horowitz Gives Bigoted Rambling Speech at GW, Jihad of Umar blog.
Against Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, Green Party of Washington State
Islamofascism Awaresness Week promotes bigotry. Letter to Collegiate Times.
Islamo-Facism Week: Offensive or Necessary? Cornell Daily Sun.
‘Islamo Fascism’ Week Fails To Gain Traction, Harvard Crimson.
‘Islamo-fascism’ speaker met with controversy, Dartmouth
Beyond Wikipedia: Recommendations for The Primary Source, Tufts Daily, plus a letter to the editor by Gary Leupp.

11/01 Updates
Fox News, November 1, 2007: "Fired University of Colorado Professor Ward Churchill Keeps Teaching on Campus."
Tearing Down the Berlin Wall of the American Campus, by Elliot Resnick (The Jewish Press via Frontpagemag.com. References our poster exposing IFAW).
Confronting Horowitzian Fascists at Berkeley, (Revolution #107, November 4, 2007).
Anti-American Patriotism, Eboo Patel.
Islamofascism Awareness Week is WWIV Propaganda, Abel Tomlinson. (The Arkansas Traveler).
What's Wrong with Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week? Fareeha Movli, UCLA Radio.

10/31 IFAW Updates
Horowitz Disguises Racism as ‘Awareness,' by Nathan Tumazi (UC Irvine).
On campus, Santorum talks about terrorism, Philadelphia Daily News.
Santorum speaks at Terrorism Week event, Daily Pennsylvanian (University of Pennsylvania)

10/29 IFAW Updates
International Herald Tribune, "Conservative author David Horowitz speaks at Columbia."
Welcome to "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" by Khody Akhavi and Ali Gharib.
Neo-Fascism Awareness Week, Harvard Crimson.
‘Awareness’ Week Ends in Opposing Rallies, Daily Californian.
The New McCarthyism, by LARRY COHLER-ESSES (The Nation).

10/27 Summing up IFAW
Send us your thinking on IFAW. Tell us what happened at your campus - we're particularly interested in hearing from students and faculty where there were major IFAW events. Tell us what the IFAW speakers said and did, and how they characterized what happened, and what actually happened, what kind of protest there was. Help us sum up this week.
* Alexander Cockburn, "Thank You, David Horowitz: So Much for Islamo-Fascism Awareness," Counterpunch.
* Danny Postel, "Neocons Embrace Islamic Terror Group." ("Daniel Pipes, one of America's premiere Islamophobes, has a soft spot for one deadly deadly Islamic terrorist organization."
* Esther Kaplan, "The Culture War Descends on Columbia." Nation.
* M. Reza Pirbha: "An Anglo-American Conspiracy Theory: The Wahhabis are Coming, the Wahhabis are Coming!" Counterpunch. ("I submit there is a conspiracy of sorts at play--one of willful over-simplification - but it is not a 'Wahhabi,' or even more broadly 'Islamist,' conspiracy direct against the 'West.' Rather, it is an official Anglo-American and, perhaps, more thoroughly 'Western' ruling-class propensity to obfuscate the political and socio-economic disenfranchisement that drives militancy in the Muslim World.")


10/26 IFAW Updates
* Questions passed out at the Phyllis Chesler event at Columbia.
* Next week at Columbia: Jonathan Cole, John Mearsheimer, Peter Novick, Robert Post, and Joan Scott present: "Freedom and the University." October 30, 2007 from 6:15 pm to 8:15 pm. Columbia University, Morningside Campus, Schapiro Center, Davis Auditorium.
* Report on Joe Kaufman at UCLA.
* An interesting on-line discussion on the University of Washington paper article on IFAW which quotes Reggie Dylan of the National Project.
* Temple University: 'Women in Islam' Teach-In attracts panel of speakers.
* Yifat Susskind's piece, "'Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week': Conscripting Feminism into the War on Terror," was published by Counterpunch.
* Alexander Cockburn: "It's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, Coming to a Campus Near You!"
* Phillosleft of Daily Kos: David Horowitz, Women’s Studies, and Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, and "Open Letter to David Horowitz."
* Minnesota Monitor: "Debunking 'Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.'" In a similar vein, ThinkProgress: "Horowitz Inflates Number Of Schools Participating In His Divisive ‘Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week."
* UC Davis California Aggie: Editorial: Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.
* Anti-war Blog: "David Horowitz Bombs on Opening Night"

10/25 IFAW Updates
* Letter from an Emory student: "A man sitting beside me asked, "Who raised you people?" Two people who voted for Bush in the last election raised me. Two Christians raised me. Two well educated and well respected individuals raised me. Most importantly, my parents raised me to stand up when I see hate and wrong in the world. They raised me to protest injustice. So I stood. Call me a fascist; call me a barbarian; arrest me. I will continue to stand."
* Op-ed by Yifat Susskind, MADRE Communications Director: "'Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week': Conscripting Feminism into the War on Terror."
* Suggestions for questions to ask at IFAW events.
* Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace statement: Interfaith Group Blasts Horowitz' Islamophobia Promotion Week. "Ironically, the real threat of fascism comes from the authoritarian mind-set – in government and in people -- that substitutes fear and hate for the complex learning about each other that moves us beyond stereotypes. Recent scholars have produced helpful guidelines for identifying fascism but no better definition exists than the behavior, the thinking and verbal expressions of the architects of these hate-fests with their promotion of open hostility to academia and its hallmarks, critical thinking and civilized debate. It is now common for professors and other academics to be bullied and even censored. One of the hallmarks of "real" fascism is its propensity for cultural intimidation and bullying."
* Reports from David Horowitz's talk at Emory yesterday. Check out the Video of event on YouTube, particularly the comments at the end. Leftist Fascists Deny Emory Audience Freedom of Assemby, by Emory College Republicans at frontpagemagazine.com.
* University of Washington paper article on IFAW which quotes Reggie Dylan of the National Project.
* Daily Trojan on Ann Coulter at USC. LA Times on her talk. Photos here.
* Daily Bruin of UCLA on IFAW events there: Lack of dialogue means lack of awareness, and ‘Awareness’ masks discrimination. The Daily Bruin Editorial Board and the Undergraduate Students Association Council have publicly condemned IFAW.
* An article from the Columbia Spectator, actually more of a fawning press release for IFAW.
* George Washington University newspaper: Horowitz readies for speech.
* Penn State University newspaper: Audience challenges Santorum address.
* University of Pennsylvania newspaper: Santorum speaks at Terrorism Week event.
* Free Exchange on Campus has a piece on how ACTA and similar forces "are conflating scholarly and reasoned criticism with political attacks, trying to mask well-publicized attacks against scholars who publish unpopular opinions as legitimate academic debate and then crying foul when faculty members become defensive about the attacks."


10/24 IFAW Updates
* Chris Hedges will be speaking today, Wed. October 24 at 3pm, on the Hugh Hamilton Show at WBAI 99.5 FM. The show is streamed on-line. Sunsara Taylor will also be on the WBAI news Wednesday night at 6 pm.
* “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” Off to a Rough Start, Crooks and Liars.
* Free Exchange on Campus has a couple blogs on IFAW events.
* Anti-IFAW activities in Houston.
* Updates on actions at USC.
* Speakout at DePaul on Thursday, plus report on Monday's events.
* Report from World Can't Wait at UCLA on IFAW there so far.
* ‘Islamo-Facism’ Week Fosters Racism, Hatred, by Mariam Moustafa.
* ‘Islamo-Facism’ Week Ignores Real Enemy, by Professor Mark LeVine.
* KPFK in Berkeley interviewed some youth activists opposing IFAW. Scroll down to the entry for Monday, October 22, 2007. Letter to the Editor of Berkeley Daily Planet. Letter to the Editor of East Bay Express.

10/23 IFAW Updates
* It's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week!, Barbara Ehrenreich. The Nation.
* Not in Our Voice, Progressive Jewish Alliance (Columbia).
* NPR on IFAW.
* IFAW at UC Santa Cruz.
* Islamo-Facism Awareness misfires by targeting professors, Indiana Daily Student.
* Islamo-Fascism very racist concept, Minnesota Daily.
* MSA's Response to IFAW, Muslim Students Association of Penn State University.
* ‘Islamo-Fascist’ moniker meaningless, Wisconsin Badger Herald.
* Bigotry Awareness Week: On the so-called "Islamofascist" Awareness week.
* A collection of links featuring information on Daniel Pipes and Rick Santorum.
* IFAW at UC Berkeley: IFAW attracts opposition; prepares for the fireworks, College Republicans’ Event Kickoff Draws Protest.

10/22 IFAW Updates
* Two additions to our list of spokespeople: Chris Hedges, author of "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America," and Yifat Susskind from MADRE, author of ‘Promising Democracy, Imposing Theocracy: Gender-Based Violence and the US War on Iraq.’
* Sunsara Taylor "David Horowitz Can't Handle the Truth." Counterpunch.
* Faith in Public Life has a number of suggestions for responding to IFAW.
* Four blogs on IFAW: Yaman Salahi, a student at UC Berkeley; Lean Left on IFAW: "Pants-Wetting Bigotry Week," Michael Haupt, and at American Prospect on "Horowitz's latest temper tantrum against the American university system for not recognizing his genius."
* More info on UC Berkeley activities.
* The UCLA Daily Bruin has two articles and an editorial on IFAW.
* "David Horowitz on Slavery: 'Where’s the Gratitude?'" by Reggie Dylan (Revolution #106, October 28, 2007).
* "Every Generation Leaves Its Mark on the World— What Will Yours Be?" by Sunsara Taylor (Revolution #106, October 28, 2007).
* Susan Estrich: "With Ann Coulter, the Problem is the Message, Not the Messenger."
* This site has info about IFAW events in California.
* There is an on-line petition from UCI opposing IFAW.
* There was a response to Gary Leupp's article on IFAW in Counterpunch, and a reply from Leupp.
* The Raging Grannies sang in opposition to an IFAW event at Stanford. (to the tune of O Tannenbaun):
O Horowitz O Horowitz/It seems his brain is is on the fritz
O Horowitz O Horowitz/It seems his brain is on the fritz
Distorts and lies 'bout Muslim rules/Thinks that his audience are fools
O Horowitz O Horowitz/It seems his brain is on the fritz
Update: The Raging Grannies just sent us a song for Ann Coulter.

10/21 IFAW Updates
* Defendcriticalthinking.org has had 100,000 hits so far in October.
* Iranian press on IFAW: University of Columbia students oppose Hatred Week in US. Horowitz's response, a cascading melange of lies, distortions and fabrications, is typical of his methodology. (Update: it turns out that the article was originally from New York Indymedia, making Horowitz's claim that it's a "press release" from Ahmadinejad that much more ridiculous. Horowitz's aversion to truth verges on the pathological.)
* Seattle Times on IFAW: Local Muslims upset by UW campus event
* Campus Progress has IFAW Response Kits available.
* The Progressive Jewish Alliance at Columbia has a petition calling on Hillel at Columbia to denounce IFAW.
* World Can't Wait has a FAQ and other materials on IFAW.
* The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has a press release on IFAW.
* The Revolutionary Communist Party has a "Statement In Response to Lies and Slanders 'from the Desk of David Horowitz.'"
* The Washington Times has an article on IFAW, "Fight Fire With Fire."
* Conservative British historian Niall Ferguson on Islamofascism: “…what we see at the moment is an attempt to interpret our present predicament in a rather caricatured World War II idiom. I mean, “Islamofascism” illustrates the point well, because it’s a completely misleading concept. In fact, there’s virtually no overlap between the ideology of al Qaeda and fascism. It’s just a way of making us feel that we’re the “greatest generation” fighting another World War, like the war our fathers and grandfathers fought. You’re translating a crisis symbolized by 9/11 into a sort of pseudo World War II. So, 9/11 becomes Pearl Harbor and then you go after the bad guys who are the fascists, and if you don’t support us, then you must be an appeaser.”

10/20 IFAW Updates
* URGENT call to support students opposing IFAW at GWU
* Forum at San Francisco State University on Wednesday, 10/24.
* The Committee for an Open Discussion of Zionism has a statement on IFAW.
* Sign a petition here opposing Ann Coulter's visit to Tulane.
* A week of actions opposing IFAW have been announced at UCLA, including a discussion Sunday 2-4 p.m at Bruin Cafe (near Sproul Hall and Covell Commons on the hill) on what Horowitz, Santorum, Coulter, et al. are attempting to push through with this campaign.
* Ann Coulter's talk at USC has been moved to Wednesday, October 24th, 6pm, Annenberg School of Communication – G26.
* News Hounds ("We watch FOX so you don't have to"): FOX provides platform for Horowitz' "Islamo-fascism Awareness" week.
* Feministe website tells Horowitz: "Do not use my movement to prop up your racist bullshit."
* The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has put out a good pdf on speaking out against IFAW.
* In other news: ReVisioning American History With Ward Churchill, an account of the student-organized class being taught by Ward Churchill.

10/19 IFAW Updates
* The Columbia Spectator has two articles on IFAW: Aware of Our Words, and David Horowitz Awareness.
* Anti-IFAW organizing at Columbia.
* FrontPageMagazine.com and Horowitz have almost daily tirades against those opposing his fascist moves - read the latest.
* There is a more detailed list of IFAW speakers, with times & locations.
* The Minnesota Daily on IFAW: "David Horowitz intends to spread fear and hatred under the guise of patriotism and freedom."
* The Gonzaga Bulletin also has a column on IFAW: "'Islamofascism Awareness Week' at Gonzaga ripe for embarrassment."
* Azadeh Ensha|, a blogger at HuffingtonPost, wrote "Iran Chosen As Official Poster of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week."
* Continue to send in your plans, ideas and links, so that we can post them and others can learn from what you are doing.

10/18 IFAW Update
* The American Muslim has a good collection of materials and links on opposing IFAW.
* Ad Hoc Committee to Defend the University has been formed and has a petition.
* A forum at UCLA with Peter McClaren, Juan Gomez Quinones and Larry Everest for Tuesday, 10/23 from 1-4. Download a flyer here.
* Jewish Voice for Peace has a statement on IFAW: No to intolerance and Islamophobia!
* Updates on actions opposing IFAW in the San Francisco Bay Area. Download a flyer here.
* A whole week of activities at UC Davis by the Muslim Students Association.
* Academic Freedom is at Risk in America, By Saree Makdisi. Counterpunch.
* Academic Freedom and Islam at Boise State, by Marcy Newman.

10/17 IFAW Update
* Organizing at University of Washington in Seattle.
* Talk by Allen Lang, World Can't Wait -- Drive Out the Bush Regime student organizer, dissects David Horowitz's lies, dishonest methods, and fascist agenda. He exposes how IFAW is part of transforming the role of the American University to eradicate dissent and truths that expose the history of this country and the fascistic and theocratic program of the Bush regime, right at a time when they are more needed than ever. He speaks of the need for a radical student movement aimed at politically defeating this assault on critical thought and at driving out the regime.
* US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation on IFAW: "While some people might dismiss the neo-conservatives as fringe elements who don't impact on U.S. policy, the truth is much more disturbing. They are part of an alliance of forces that work to maintain the war against Iraq, escalate the standoff with Iran into military conflict, and cement Israel's hold on the occupied Palestinian territories and violations of Palestinian human rights through a system of apartheid rule. The stakes are simply too high to ignore, and we should respond to the so-called "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" - and to all such provocations - pro-actively, not defensively.
* Phyllis Bennis on Understanding Why Islamophobia is on the Rise

10/16 IFAW Update
* Download a petition against IFAW for teachers to sign. Put together by organizers at UC Berkeley.
* Adam Kokesh, of Iraq Veterans Against the War has a statement on his blog, Why I Oppose "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week."
* There are additions, and cancellations, in the list of IFAW speakers and events.
* Update on DePaul organizing: "One young woman (who is, as I understand it, culturally Muslim but not very religious) said that her heart sank when she saw the flyer for IFAW- she said that when she saw the flyer, she knew what it felt like to be the black students in Jena when the nooses went up in the tree."
* Daily Californian: Where’s the Awareness? Islamo-fascism Awareness Week polarizes the campus community and keeps stereotypes alive. (Wednesday, October 17, 2007) "These events are reminiscent of the Red Scare Era, when fear of Communism swept across the nation. Many innocent people, targeted because of their jobs, sexual orientation and other miscellaneous reasons, became victims in the infamous witch hunt led by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Islamo-fascism week feeds that same fear, the fear of an unknown or misunderstood entity. The fear that gripped this country during the ’50s has now transformed into a fear of a racial group who practices a peaceful religion. In this country, ignorance and the media have helped maintain the stereotype that a terrorist is Muslim, looks a certain way and is from a certain region. Islamo-Facism Awareness Week only contributes to keeping this wrongful image alive. These events also contribute to the divide and the unnecessary “us-versus-them” mentality."
* Noam Chomsky from his talk at the Academic Freedom Conference at the University of Chicago last weekend:
"The assault on academic freedom has deep roots and ominous portent. It should be reisted with the steadfastness and the courage that has been shown by students of DePaul University who have courageously and honorably protested its manifestations at their own university." "In a free society, there should be zero tolerance for institutions responsible for the indoctrination of the young, or for the rest of the attacks on democracy under the cynical pretext of defending democracy." On Horowitz: "It's pointless to debate such lunacy, but it's wrong to disregard it."
* This blog is dead right about IFAW: "You thought it would stop with Ward Churchill and Norman Finkelstein, but no, this was just fuel on the fire to assault the critical institutions of higher learning."

10/15 IFAW Update
One week until IFAW - Saturate your campuses now with exposure of IFAW, Horowitz and what they're really about!
* Updates for organizing at Emory University.
* Organizers at UCLA have made buttons out of our anti-IFAW logo. Click here for a big version of it you can use to make your own buttons.
* Check out videos on youtube, from World Can't Wait on IFAW, and exposing Horowitz.
* Free Exchange on Campus has a discussion on the differences in intent and consequences of scholarly criticism and political criticism.
* Revolution has a new article on IFAW: The Hypocrisy of “Newly Minted Feminists”… And David Horowitz’ Dangerous Agenda. Be sure to check out their poster on IFAW, and their two-part series You Can’t Defeat Fascism By Ignoring It. Part 1. Part 2.
* Finalized plans at Boise State.

10/14 Academic Freedom Conference at University of Chicago
* John K. Wilson at College Freedom has an excellent summation of the talks given at the Academic Freedom Conference at the University of Chicago.
* Read Peter Kirstein's account.
* DePaul Academic Freedom Committee has audio of all the talks:

10/13 IFAW Update
* Area-Wide Planning Meeting to Resist IFAW @ UCLA Sunday.
* Free Exchange on Campus takes on Horowitz's attacks on Women's Studies departments.
* The Society for Cinema and Media Studies Middle Eastern Caucus and Caucus on Class has written an emergency resolution condemning IFAW. Feel free to forward it to individuals and listservs for whom you think the resolution would be helpful.

10/12 IFAW Update
* The Daily Cal at UC Berkeley has an article on IFAW there and the plans to oppose it.
* Horowitz has an attack on those opposing his fascist jihad, accusing them of planning violence against IFAW speakers.

10/11 IFAW Update
* UNC-Greensboro has a whole series of actions and events planned in response to IFAW. Check it out for ideas to bring to your campus.
* Visit the Facebook page for organizers at Emory.
* Gary Leupp has an article on IFAW at Counterpunch: Horowitz's Latest Hate Campaign Heads for Campus: Spreading Awareness or Smearing a Religion?

10/10 IFAW Update
* USC plans in opposition to Ann Coulter speaking there.
* Organizing meeting for Emory University, Saturday, October 13, 1:00 pm, Inman Perk Coffee, 1593 N. Decatur Rd, Emory Village, adjacent to Emory gates.
* Inside Higher Ed had a good piece on IFAW: Are You Ready for ‘Islamo-Fascism Week’? Among the many comments was this: "When David Horowitz came at my invitation to speak at Hamilton College in the fall of 2002
(an invitation he lied about, incidentally, on Fox television, saying he had been invited by students, not faculty), we had a welcoming dinner for him, with the dean of faculty, a member of the government department, a local Republican judge, and myself in attendance. And all of our jaws dropped simultaneously late in the evening when in the midst of a discussion of world politics, Horowitz expressed his glee that the “ragheads” in Iraq were going to get their comeuppance, come the US invasion. (And, yes, David, the other witnesses remember the conversation perfectly well, so don’t go into your usual act, blustering about being victimized by left-wing slander.) Horowitz’ motives in organizing “Islamo-Fascism Week” are transparent — and, as is the case with all of his operations — despicable. Why anyone among respectable conservatives would choose to be seen in his company is a mystery."
* Horowitz et al are really feeling the resistance that is being built in opposition to their Week of Hate: Who's Behind the Censorship of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week?
* East Bay Express has an article on IFAW and resistance organizing at UC Berkeley.

10/09 IFAW Update
* Organizing meeting at UC Berkeley, 8pm, Wed Oct 10 in 123 Wheeler.
* Organizing Meeting at Chicago, Sunday, October 14th at Cafe Mediterra (728 S. Dearborn) 2 pm.
* Plans at Boise State in opposition to IFAW.
* As IFAW steps up their attacks on Women's Studies Departments: Women’s Studies Departments Ignore the Plight of Women in Islam. Ali Eteraz shows how this is a lie (though he unfortunately advocates not actually confronting and defeating IFAW). One aspect of what IFAW is doing is using the co-opting the outrage against the oppression of women under fundamentalist regimes and using it to build public opinion for war against Iran. As Susan Faludi notes in her recent book The Terror Dream, this same tactic was done to build support for the war against Afghanistan. Feminists organizations and scholars who had spoken out for years on behalf of Afghan women and who were brought into that campaign were dropped immediately when the war started.

10/08 IFAW Update
* An article from the Columbia Spectator on the upcoming IFAW event there. Hannity decries the "hate campaign" against IFAW.
* Academic Repression in the First Person: The Attack on Higher Education and the Necessity of Critical Pedagogy, Henry Giroux.
* Laughing at "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week," Ali Eteraz. The Huffington Post.

10/6 Call David Horowitz on CSPAN 2
* Sunday, 10/7, between Noon – 3 p.m. (est). Here are some questions you might ask.

“Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week:” Expose & Defeat This Reactionary Offensive
* David Horowitz has announced “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” (IFAW) for October 22-26, to take place on campuses around the country. Horowitz has enlisted some of the most extreme, and dangerous, ideologues as spokespeople, and is working with Christian fundamentalists, military and veteran’s groups, and the entire range of conservative and reactionary student organizations in an attempt to hold what he says will be the largest conservative university protest in US history.
* This is a move to deepen the already serious chill in academia by bringing together an aggressive social base and unleashing it on what Horowitz calls the “tenured left.” It seeks to unleash a pogromist and hate-filled atmosphere against Muslim students, equate dissent and critical thinking with treason, attack Women's Studies Departments, and build the US “will to fight” more wars of aggression in the Middle East, particularly against Iran. It hypocritically claims to oppose the oppression of women and gays under Islamic rule, while promoting Christian fundamentalists who want to outlaw not only abortion but birth control as well, and argue that homosexuality is a sin punishable by death and women should not work outside the home.
IFAW cannot be allowed to go down unchallenged. It needs to be thoroughly exposed, repudiated and politically defeated. Go to www.terrorismawareness.org for Horowitz’s plans and the list of schools targeted – and visit www.defendcriticalthinking.org for analysis and resources for combatting Horowitz and his dangerous allies.
* Download pdfs of our statement, poster and ad on IFAW.
* Read our statement on IFAW.
* Go to our IFAW page for more.
* Share material, reports and updates on your activities, discussions, and plans. We'll post them so that others around the country can learn from them.

09/15 More on Chemerinsky and UC Irvine
Update - Chemerinsky was re-hired shortly after being de-hired, but questions still remain about what happened.
• An Orange County Republican organized a campaign against Chemerinsky a month ago, saying making Chemerinsky the head of the law school "would be like appointing al-Qaida in charge of homeland security."
• According to the LA Times, UCI is reportedly trying to woo Chemerensky back.
• UCI faculty have initiated an on-line petition protesting the firing of Chemerinsky.

09/14 Chemerinsky and UC Irvine
University of California at Irvine has de-hired Erwin Chemerinsky as dean for its forth-coming law school, allegedly for his liberal views. This has provoked widespread condemnation, including from conservative commentators, as a completely unacceptable infringement of academic freedom.
The LA Times has considerable coverage of this:
Furor disrupts plans for UCI school of law
A letter to UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake
UC Irvine chancellor's admirers are 'at a loss'
Dumped over an Op-Ed
Why I let Chemerinsky go
UC Irvine aborts hiring Chemerinsky as law school dean

For more coverage, check out:
Law School Deanship Rescinded; Politics Blamed (Inside HIgher Ed)
New UC Irvine Law School Hires Chemerinsky as Dean, Then Fires Him for Political Reasons (Brian R. Leiter's blog)
David Horowitz initially said if Chemerinsky was de-hired because of his politics it would be an outrage. Then he found out that Chemerinsky had been involved in a lawsuit on behalf of Rachel Corrie. This makes him part of the "Arab/Muslim genocidal war against the Jews" and thus unfit to be a Dean.

09/11 Defending Dissent and Critical Thinking - What's the Next Step?
Recent events at DePaul, along with the firing of Ward Churchill, have shown that reversing the attacks on dissent and critical thinking in academia is difficult and complicated. We feel that summing up what has happened with the Finkelstein case is important in order to meet the growing threat.

We are asking for your thoughts on this. What do you think about how things went down at DePaul? What are the positive and negative aspects of developments there? What do you see as the next step in defending dissent and critical thinking, what kind of things need to be done, what needs to happen? You can send a message to us at criticalxthinking@yahoo.com or contact us through our website.

One thing is clear - the situation is more dangerous than ever. The day after Finkelstein's resignation, David Horowitz attacked DePaul professor Matthew Abraham, who had very publicly supported Finkelstein. A professor at Barnard, Nadia Abu El-Haj, is facing the same kind of attacks faced by Finkelstein in her quest for tenure. And next month is Horowitz's "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, " which specifically aims to target and intimidate Women's Studies departments and Muslim student groups.

We suggest reading the following articles:
Finkelstein and DePaul Reach Settlement (John K. Wilson, College Freedom)
The Shame of DePaul Administration, The Seeds of Resistance, The Stakes of the Battle to Defend Critical Thinking (Revolution)
Climbing Jacob’s Ladder, One Rung at a Time: Finkelstein’s Legacy at DePaul University (Matthew Abraham, Dissident Voice)
The Next Piece of Housekeeping for DePaul? (Steven Plaut, frontpagemagazine.com)
Fracas Erupts Over Book on Mideast by a Barnard Professor Seeking Tenure (Karen W. Arenson, New York Times).