- A resolution against Israel is being voted on by the general membership of the Modern Language Association. It exhorts the US State Department to "contest Israel’s denials of entry to the West Bank by United States academics who have been invited to teach, confer, or do research at Palestinian universities."
- Professor Jonathan Marks (@marksjo1) reports in the Chronicle of Higher Education that a partial transcript of the MLA listserv where the resolution is debated contains anti-Semitic comments by some MLA members. For example, Professor Elizabeth Jane Ordonez of MSU Denver (who creepily refers to Edward Said as "our beloved late leader") complains of being pressured by "Zionist attack dogs". Basem L. Ra'ad of Al Quds University in Jerusalem calls out those "who control and twist the media" and "even pushed the US to wars for Israel's sake".
- Most direct is former Rutgers TA and Temple University Adjunct Assistant Professor of Italian Alessio Lerro, who offered this rationale for his support of the MLA resolution: "This resolution rightly targets only Israel given the humongous influence that Jewish scholars have in the decision making process of Academia in general."
- Professor Lerro has made other problematic comments about Jews. On Facebook, he seemed to express skepticism about the figure of 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
- UPDATE: Here is the direct link to Professor Lerro's Facebook comment: on.fb.me/1jaqo0a
- UPDATE: Here is the screenshot of Professor Lerro's comment:
Temple U Professor Questions 6 Million Holocaust Dead?
The Modern Language Association Seeks to censure Israel. Some members rally, including anti-Semites. One of them seems skeptical of the Holocaust.
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John-Paul Pagano1,461 Views
John-Paul Pagano1,461 Views
