Conflict resolution at UCLA

UCLA is launching a series of public lectures, academic courses and programs aimed at "fostering civil discourse" and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. In the midwest, things aren’t quite this obvious, but at least no one will be shouted down or chased off stage the way it’s done at some Ivy League schools. . . or wait. . . that did happen in 2010.

On one side is professor Saree Makdisi, a UCLA English professor, nephew of the infamous Edward Said, and a well-known anti-Israel ideologue who believes Israel should no longer exist as a Jewish state, and on the other professor David N. Myers, former director of the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and current chair of the history department who argues that 'Statist Zionism,' or a Jewish state, should give way to a 'global Jewish collective,' that Israel should no longer exist as a Jewish state. So where are the two sides?

Looks like there won't be any conflicts to resolve after all, observes Campus Watch, a pro-Israel group. It’s just wonderful how academe solves problems.

Conflict resolution at UCLA

How 100 faculty handled the 2010 disruption of a speaker at Irvine (we were actually visiting there last spring—lovely campus)—sort of sounds like the faculty crowd defending the prostitute against the LaCrosse players at Duke:

“As faculty (David Myers was one) affiliated with Jewish Studies at the University of California, we are deeply distressed by the decision of the District Attorney in Orange County, California, to file criminal charges against Muslim students who disrupted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's speech on the UC Irvine campus last year. While we disagree with the students' decision to disrupt the speech, we do not believe such peaceful protest should give rise to criminal liability. The individual students and the Muslim Student Union were disciplined for this conduct by the University, including suspending the MSU from functioning as a student organization for a quarter. This is sufficient punishment. There is no need for further punitive measures, let alone criminal prosecution and criminal sanctions.”

Rethinking the Jewish Nation by David N. Myers.