UCSB College Professor Abuses Authority To Propagandize Against Israel In His Globalization Class

On Martin Luther King Day, January 19, 2009, UC Santa Barbara sociology professor William Robinson e-mailed his Globalization class students an inflammatory anti-Israel article by Judith Stone along with 42 “horrific, parallel” photos of Nazi atrocities and Israel’s purported atrocities in its war against Hamas in December and January. His introductory comments claimed that Martin Luther King would denounce Israel, equated Israel’s military operations in Gaza with Nazi atrocities, asserted that Israel was committing genocide and that the state was “founded on the negation of a people.” (To see Professor Robinson’s e-mail, the article and pictures, click here.)

When one surprised student emailed asking whether this was an assigned reading, Professor Robinson admitted it had nothing to do with the course, but “was just for your interest I should have clarified.”

Two students promptly dropped the class. They later filed grievances, claiming that Professor Robinson had violated the Faculty Code of Conduct: that there should not be “significant intrusion of material unrelated to the course” (II A, 1, b); that faculty members should not use their “positions of power to coerce judgment or conscience of a student” ((II, A, 4); and that faculty should not use “University resources for personal, commercial, political, or religious purposes” (II, C, 3)).

One of many sets of photos Robinson sent his students, is below.  Notice how he juxtaposes Jews waiting to be sent to concentration camps, with so-called Palestinians waiting at a border crossing.

After concerned citizens wrote a letter to the Chancellor of UCSB requesting that he investigate whether Professor Robinson violated the Facility Code, Anti-Israel advocates mobilized to come to his defense -created a website, encouraged numerous people to write, call, and otherwise defend these types of violations of UCSB’s code, and stop the investigation.  On April 27, a petition created by those defending Professor Robinson’s equating Israel to Nazi Germany, and his propagation of this fallacy to his students, had 1,229 signatures from the U.S. and abroad.  Not surprisingly, their letter inverted and distorted the facts of this case.  A written refutation of their false claims can be found here.

The enemies of The West are waging a propaganda war against our children and fighting for the hearts and minds of the future decision makers of our Country – Israel is just a wedge. The administration is going to be under immense pressure from those that support using of our colleges to propagandize our children, and thus are fighting the investigation. We must counter their actions, and let the University know that there exists a once silent majority that won’t stand for it, and who support their decision to investigate this abuse of power.

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Remember that the grievances against Professor Robinson are a plea for academic freedom. The Faculty Code of Conduct guidelines that Professor Robinson is charged with violating were intended to protect academic freedom and to prevent the politicization of academia. They prevent professors from using their positions of authority to promote only one extreme view, thereby stifling students’ ability to debate, critically examine hot-button issues, and form their own opinions.

DON’T JUST SIT THERE!…..WE MUST TAKE ACTION!

Here are just a few ways that you can help:

(1)      Sign The Petition

(2)      Write your own letter.
(3)      Get the word out.
(4)      Encourage your friends, and family to write, call and sign the petition.
(5)      Contact the Chancellor of U.C.S.B.