Friday, July 28, 2006

DePaul Professor Suspended For "Offending" Muslim Students

Pro-Palestine Muslim student groups, Students for Justice in Palestine (SPJ) and United Muslims Moving Ahead (UMMA) , backed by Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), complained that Professor Thomas Klocek "offended" Muslim students when he participated in heated discussion outside the classroom. Klocek spoke in defense of Christian interests in Israel and disputed that Israeli treatment of Palestinians was akin to the Nazi treatment of the Jews. Klocek was subsequently suspended.
Academic freedom cannot survive when professors who engage in debate on controversial topics are subject to administrative punishment without even the most cursory due process.