To bring you updated information on such struggles, to keep you informed of developments in Ward Churchill’s lawsuit against the University of Colorado (scheduled for trial in March 2009), and to better respond to your queries, we’re launching a new website (right here) in late August.

We’ll be featuring a column written by Ward, blogs, an updated calendar, news, and easier access to documents about CU and their corporate cronies.

Stay tuned.  As always, you can contact us at wcsn@wardchurchill.net.

In the wake of Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins’ (R-ME) alarmist report, “Violent Islamist Extremism, the Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorism Threat,” the Senate may be moving towards passage of the Orwellian “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007″ (S. 1959).

A companion piece of legislative flotsam to the House bill, “The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007″ (H.R. 1955), the Democrat-controlled Congress seems ready to jettison Constitutional guarantees of free speech and assembly. The bill passed the House by a 404-6 vote in October. Twenty-three congress members abstained, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers.Under cover of studying “violent radicalization,” both bills would broaden the already-fluid definition of “terrorism” to encompass political activity and protest by dissident groups, effectively criminalizing civil disobedience and non-violent direct action by developing policies for “prevention, disruption and mitigation.” . . . .    click here to read the rest of the story.

“I began to think of these examples as ‘historical echoes’ – not proof that someone influential in the administration had studied the details of mid-twentieth-century fascism and totalitarianism, but certainly suggestive.

What was it about the image of a mob of young men dressed in identical shirts, shouting at poll workers outside of a voting center in Florida during the 2000 recount, that looked familiar? What resonated about the reports that Bush supporters in the South were holding organized public events to burn CDs by the Dixie Chicks? (CDs are actually quite hard to burn and produce toxic fumes.) What seemed so familiar about an organized ideological group shaming an academic for saying something unpopular—and then pressuring the state government to get the university president to fire that professor? . . .

These events may seem to have historical echoes because they actually are mirrored in history.

No one can deny the skill of fascists at forming public opinion.”

Naomi Wolf, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot (2007).

“Wanted: Someone Who Knows Nothing About the Job”

New York Times Op-Ed Feb. 24, 2008

In one of those ironies that make life interesting, the University of Colorado, which dismissed controversial professor Ward Churchill because of doubts about his academic qualifications, has appointed a president who doesn’t have any. . . .

click here to read the entire article.

I will not sit quietly by, while State forces terrorize my people. . . . .

So let’s look at what this whole Terrorism thing means. What exactly is terrorism and who are we talking about when we call people terrorists? . . . .

Mr Speaker, when a member of this House characterizes terrorism as the importation of deadly diseases, the murder of innocent civilians, and the wholesale theft of a people’s lands and territories, is he referring to the terrorism of the colonial invasion of Aotearoa, because you’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see those very terrorist activities in our own history? . . . .

The Mâori Party is no apologist for the regimes of either the Taliban or Saddam Hussein Mr Speaker, but neither are we so blind as to vote for a Bill clearly designed to punish those who would challenge injustice in Aotearoa. . . . .

This country is faced by the terror of silence; those who would silence the voice of radical protest, of vocal dissent and of genuine opposition; those who would tell us “wait, just wait, the police know what they’re doing.”. . .

Do you really think it’s acceptable behaviour for the state to use armed and masked gunmen to blockade communities, smash into people’s homes, hold innocent people at gun point, frighten children with guns, arrest and hold people without bail, and suppress all information on those cases? . . . .

We are not dumb; we are not blind; we are not deaf; and we will not be silenced. . . . .

The Mâori Party will oppose terrorism in all its forms, be it international terrorism or state terrorism, and we will stand alongside our people whenever our lands, our communities, and our people are threatened.

Click here to read entire statement.

As you may have heard, in late August of this year, The University of Michigan Press, after receiving a series of complaining and threatening emails and letters from an ultra-Zionist group called StandWithUs, an offshoot of Campus Watch, withdrew from distribution Prof. Joel Kovel’s book Overcoming Zionism, published by Pluto Press in London, United Kingdom.
Since then, following numerous protests by fellow academics and scholars, The U. of M. Press Executive Board has restored the book to its distribution listings.  But, ominously, the Board has indicated its intention to reconsider its contract with Pluto Press in mid October.

Overcoming Zionism is a serious, well researched work espousing a humanistic resolution. It is a valuable addition to the growing debate, in and out of American academia, that is re-examining longheld assumptions about the sources of conflict in the Middle East. It should be discussed - supported or refuted ¬ but not suppressed.

But even more serious is the University’s threat to cancel its distribution contract with Pluto Press. Pluto is a valuable and unique intellectual resource, publishing progressive books of a consistently high quality. It provides an alternative viewpoint essential to discussion and debate of important social issues, such as those concerning Israel/Palestine and the Middle East. The cancellation of Pluto’s contract with the University would be a serious blow to the principles of pluralism, academic freedom and free speech.

We urge you to add your voice to those of the many professors and authors that have vigorously protested these actions. We ask that you send a letter or, better yet, an email to U. of M. Press Executive Board Chair Peggy McCracken with copies to University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, Dean Janet A Weiss; and Provost Teresa Sullivan, demanding that the University of Michigan Press continue its contract with Pluto Press. Further, we ask that you forward this request for support and suggested support letter to those on any list that you may maintain or have access to.

We attach a sample letter, below, along with email and postal addressees, for your convenience. Please send this immediately, or feel free to compose your own. Time is of the essence so please act quickly.

Thank you for your kind support.

Sincerely,
Howard ZinnFor the Committee for an Open Discussion of Zionism:
www.codz.org
FOR SAMPLE LETTER & ADDRESSES:
www.codz.org/send-letter.html#one