9-27-2019 Student Response to Title VI Notice on UNC-Duke -Concerned Middle East and Islamic Studies Graduate Students

 https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/40034/Student-Response-to-Title-VI-Notice-on-UNC-Duke

 

On 25 September 2019, UNC issued an official response to the DoEd by providing a clinical assessment of its standing as compliant with Title VI. While we as graduate students at UNC endorse this statement, we would like to speak to the underlying premise of the notice—that UNC-Duke is violating the edicts of "national security" upon which Title VI is predicated. So, as students of Islamicate studies and Middle East studies, we address the main accusations, both stated and unstated, in this order. 

Accusation 1. Middle East programs privilege Muslims over analysis of Jews, Christians, Kurds, Baha'i, and other minority groups in the Middle East….Accusation 2. UNC-Duke does not place enough emphasis on Middle East/North African language courses….Accusation 3. UNC-Duke use Title VI funds for classes and events not relevant to Title VI….Accusation 4. University Middle East Studies programs are unfairly critical of Israel….

As graduate students involved in the Duke-UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies, [we].stand against all forms of discrimination—racial, religious, gender, sexuality, class, age, ability, and otherwise—in particular as a result of state vision and rhetoric. We will not support imperialism, jingoism, and military hegemony, and we do not support the idea that these are necessary for maintaining peace in any nation, including the US.

 

Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2-19-2020 ‘We gave up on historic Palestine in exchange for nothing’ Bassem Tamimi, who has led popular protests in Nabi Saleh for more than a decade, says the two-state solution is 'no longer an option.' - Oren Ziv +972

https://www.972mag.com/bassem-tamimi-one-state/   …"Why did [his 16 year old daughter] Ahed slap that soldier?" Tamimi asks rhetorically, in a meeting with journalists from Israel. "Because I didn't. That's the reality: We need new ideas, and we cannot expect different results if we continue on the same path. We need to be focused on a goal and change our methods accordingly, not the other way round.   "We don't want to live in an illusion," Tamimi continues. "The peace process began in Madrid in 1992, but the 'Deal of the Century' finished that process off. But the current situation is better than what they're proposing [in Trump's plan], which offers no right of return and no territorial contiguity — just population transfer, and total control for Israel."… T amimi, a longtime Fatah member, now believes that a one-state solution is the only way. ...
Read more

4-2-2014 House warns Palestinian aid may be cut - Julian Pecquet Al-Monitor

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/palestine-un-aid-cuts-peace-talks-abbas.html# US lawmakers are threatening to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if President Mahmoud Abbas goes through with his stated intention to sign on to 15 UN treaties.   Congress sought to tie funding for the PA to preservation of the status quo at the UN in this year's omnibus spending bill. While it's not clear Abbas' decision violates the letter of the law, appropriators have made it clear they think its spirit has been trampled on.... Maen Areikat, their ambassador to Washington, said the PA agreed to put its UN applications on hold in exchange for Israel releasing 104 Palestinian prisoners, some of them accused of deadly attacks against Israelis, as called for under Kerry's peace talks framework. When Israel reneged on releasing the last batch of 26 prisoners...
Read more

3-18-13 Responding To Critics Of "On Questioning The Jewish State" - Joseph Levine The Daily Beast, Open Zion

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/18/responding-to-critics-of-on-questioning-the-jewish-state.html [The critics say that] 1.  I focus on Jewish nationalism, and Israel, and do not raise similar complaints about other nations.

2.  I am wrong about the character of Israeli democracy: Israel does not in fact politically oppress its non-Jewish, mainly Palestinian citizens. While there are obvious inequalities between Jewish and Palestinian citizens, this doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with the very structure of Israel’s national institutions.

3.  I ignore the history of the conflict.

4.  I am confused about the relation between self-determination for individuals and for collectives.  [After addressing all 4 in order] I’d like...
Read more