- Oct 20, 2013
- 55,610
- 17,639
- 2,250
Brandeis University in Massachusetts announced Tuesday that it had withdrawn the planned awarding of an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a staunch critic of Islam and its treatment of women, after protests from students and faculty.
The university said in a statement posted online that the decision had been made after a discussion between Ali and university President Frederick Lawrence.
"She is a compelling public figure and advocate for women's rights, and we respect and appreciate her work to protect and defend the rights of women and girls throughout the world," said the university's statement. "That said, we cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values."
In 2007, Ali helped establish the AHA Foundation, which works to protect and defend the rights of women in the West from oppression justified by religion and culture, according to its website. The foundation also strives to protect basic rights and freedoms of women and girls. This includes control of their own bodies, access to an education and the ability to work outside the home and control their own income, the website says.
More than 85 of about 350 faculty members at Brandeis signed a letter asking for Ali to be removed from the list of honorary degree recipients. And an online petition created Monday by students at the school of 5,800 had gathered thousands of signatures from inside and outside the university as of Tuesday afternoon.
Thomas Doherty, chairman of American studies, refused to sign the faculty letter. He said it would have been great for the university to honor "such a courageous fighter for human freedom and women's rights, who has put her life at risk for those values."
Bernard Macy, a 1979 Brandeis graduate, sent an email this week to university President Frederick Lawrence and several members of the faculty saying, "Thank you for recognizing Ayaan Hirsi Ali for defending Muslim women against Islamist honor violence."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, said, "It is unconscionable that such a prestigious university would honor someone with such openly hateful views."
I would answer CAIR's pit bull, who as he usually does , argued with Megan Kelly on her Fox News TV show, repeatedly rudely interrupting her, and dodging just about every question she asked. I'd answer Hooper by saying >> It is NOT at all unconscionable for Brandeis to honor someone with such openly hateful views of wife-beating, of physical beating of women and numerous other mistreatments of women, and numerous examples of CRIMINAL behavior advocated by Islam.
CAIR sent a letter to university President Frederick Lawrence on Tuesday requesting that it drop plans to honor Ali, which they then did do. I'm wondering why. Knowing well CAIRs thuggish tactics of the past, here's a multiple choice > A.) Threats of lawsuits B.) threats of smear campaigns C.) threats of you name it.
"This makes Muslim students feel very uneasy," Joseph Lumbard, chairman of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, said in an interview. "They feel unwelcome here."
EARTH TO CHAIRMAN LUMBARD: They SHOULD feel unwelcome. Not just at Brandeis University, but in the United States of America, since they belong to a creed that violates the US Constitution with its supremacism (Article 6, Section 2), violates US Code 2384 with its sedition, and advocates the violation of numerous US laws, and fits into US society like a square peg in a round hole. How else could you see it ?
Brandeis University has done itself a major disservice. Knowing the great defenses of freedom of speech and workplace law that Louis Brandeis fought in the courtroom, both before and after he became a member of the US Supreme Court, I believe if he were alive today, he would not like having his name on a University that caved in to a Muslim Brotherhood group (CAIR), who is in such opposition to those worthy ideals.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/09...-critic-ayaan/
The university said in a statement posted online that the decision had been made after a discussion between Ali and university President Frederick Lawrence.
"She is a compelling public figure and advocate for women's rights, and we respect and appreciate her work to protect and defend the rights of women and girls throughout the world," said the university's statement. "That said, we cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values."
In 2007, Ali helped establish the AHA Foundation, which works to protect and defend the rights of women in the West from oppression justified by religion and culture, according to its website. The foundation also strives to protect basic rights and freedoms of women and girls. This includes control of their own bodies, access to an education and the ability to work outside the home and control their own income, the website says.
More than 85 of about 350 faculty members at Brandeis signed a letter asking for Ali to be removed from the list of honorary degree recipients. And an online petition created Monday by students at the school of 5,800 had gathered thousands of signatures from inside and outside the university as of Tuesday afternoon.
Thomas Doherty, chairman of American studies, refused to sign the faculty letter. He said it would have been great for the university to honor "such a courageous fighter for human freedom and women's rights, who has put her life at risk for those values."
Bernard Macy, a 1979 Brandeis graduate, sent an email this week to university President Frederick Lawrence and several members of the faculty saying, "Thank you for recognizing Ayaan Hirsi Ali for defending Muslim women against Islamist honor violence."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, said, "It is unconscionable that such a prestigious university would honor someone with such openly hateful views."
I would answer CAIR's pit bull, who as he usually does , argued with Megan Kelly on her Fox News TV show, repeatedly rudely interrupting her, and dodging just about every question she asked. I'd answer Hooper by saying >> It is NOT at all unconscionable for Brandeis to honor someone with such openly hateful views of wife-beating, of physical beating of women and numerous other mistreatments of women, and numerous examples of CRIMINAL behavior advocated by Islam.
CAIR sent a letter to university President Frederick Lawrence on Tuesday requesting that it drop plans to honor Ali, which they then did do. I'm wondering why. Knowing well CAIRs thuggish tactics of the past, here's a multiple choice > A.) Threats of lawsuits B.) threats of smear campaigns C.) threats of you name it.
"This makes Muslim students feel very uneasy," Joseph Lumbard, chairman of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, said in an interview. "They feel unwelcome here."
EARTH TO CHAIRMAN LUMBARD: They SHOULD feel unwelcome. Not just at Brandeis University, but in the United States of America, since they belong to a creed that violates the US Constitution with its supremacism (Article 6, Section 2), violates US Code 2384 with its sedition, and advocates the violation of numerous US laws, and fits into US society like a square peg in a round hole. How else could you see it ?
Brandeis University has done itself a major disservice. Knowing the great defenses of freedom of speech and workplace law that Louis Brandeis fought in the courtroom, both before and after he became a member of the US Supreme Court, I believe if he were alive today, he would not like having his name on a University that caved in to a Muslim Brotherhood group (CAIR), who is in such opposition to those worthy ideals.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/09...-critic-ayaan/
