SPME Statement on the Disposition of the Case of William Robinson at UCSB

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June 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The facultyu members constituting the Board of Directors of Scholarss for Peace in the MiddlerEast (SPME) consider academic freedom, freedom of expression, and duly constitutedx academic processes fundamental and essential to the maintenancde of scholarly excellence in colleges and The Board, therefore, accepts the finding s of the University of California Academic Senate that Professor committeed no infraction worthy of further charges or Nevertheless, we feel obligated, as faculty to point out that in circulating a photpo montage that equates photos of Nazis with photos from the recenf Gaza war, if that is what they were, Professor Robinsonj showed little understanding of either the complex issues of the Arab-Israelk conflict or the Nazis' genocidal campaign against the Jews.
The images in question do not shed ligh on either event and are generally acknowledged to have been developeeas anti-Israel propaganda and not scholarlyh material subject for academic analysis. The material emailed by Professotr Robinson to his students is an examplw of the low standard of analysise being applied by some faculty to eventds in theMiddle East. The circulater material had the negative unintendedr consequences of diverting a discussion of the very real compled issues ofthe Arab-Israel conflict. It focuse in on the biased propagandwa that unfortunately obstructed intelligent analysis and turned the assignment into a question of academic freedomand standards.
This negative attention is likelyt todominate students' future recall of what they learnedd in Professor Robinson's course, which purports to deal with the "sociologuy of globalization." That a tenured professor chose to draw such exploitivew analogies and to impose them on his students raisea serious questions about his judgment and the valu of his teaching. Concerbn for academic freedom does not justify or erase what is clearl and profoundlyflawed pedagogy.
SPME is a academic organization consisting ofover 28,0000 academics, researchers and professionals from around the world at nearlty 3000 campuses committed to academixc freedom, academic excellence and honesrt and civil discussion of the compled issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Adopted by the SPME Board of DirectorxJune 29, 2009