CAMPUS WATCH, a project of the Middle East Forum, reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students. Campus Watch fully respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on its own freedom to comment on their words and deeds.

The Latest on Campus

Quote of the Month (past quotes)

"If there is to be a resolution of the Palestine problem, it depends on the Palestinians' understanding the massive disadvantages they labor under in fighting a struggle for liberation against the heirs of the victims of the Holocaust, in the growing shadow of worldwide Islamophobia."

Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arabic Studies at Columbia University, in "Palestine: Liberation Deferred," which appeared in The Nation, May 8, 2008. (link to source)

A Closer Look at Obama [incl. Rashid Khalidi]
July 2, 2008 - Family Security Matters

Truth About Islam in Academia?
July 2, 2008 - FrontPage Magazine

J-McAuliffe in the (President's) House [on Jane Dammen McAuliffe; incl. Middle East studies]
July 2, 2008 - The Bi-College News (Bryn Mawr & Haverford Colleges)

London University Names First UK Professor of Israel Studies [on Colin Shindler]
July 2, 2008 - The Jerusalem Post

A Pariah In Exile [on Norman Finkelstein]
July 2, 2008 - The Jewish Week

The Esposito School: Islamic Apologists in Action, or Who is the "Near Enemy"? [incl. John Voll, Natana Delong-Bas, the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding]
July 1, 2008 - Sharia Finance Watch

Controversy Continues to Dog the Deal to Move Iraqi Archives to Hoover Institution [incl. Kanan Makiya]
July 1, 2008 - The Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog

Why More Jews Won't Be Voting Democrat this Year [incl. Rashid Khalidi]
July 1, 2008 - The Jerusalem Post

Obama Can't Go to China [incl. Rashid Khalidi]
July 1, 2008 - The New York Observer

Co-Conspirators of Hate [incl. Ingrid Mattson, Tariq Ramadan]
June 30, 2008 - FrontPage Magazine

Blog

Campus Watch Interviews ASMEA

By Cinnamon Stillwell | Wed, 2 Jul 2008, 12:14 PM | Permalink

In light of Campus Watch's efforts to bring objective scholarship and intellectual diversity back to the field of Middle East studies, the emergence of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) is cause for optimism.

I interviewed ASMEA public affairs director Patrick Creamer to find out more about the organization's founding, its inaugural conference in April, 2008, and its future. The interview is posted today at Frontpage Magazine and it begins like so:

While the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) has long dominated the field, its highly politicized leadership's inability to withstand criticism, inattention to radical Islam, and apologetic approach towards the West's foes has left many Middle East studies scholars feeling unwelcome by their umbrella professional organization.

Enter the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA). Founded last year by Professors Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami, ASMEA offers an alternative to MESA's post-colonialist biases and a venue for studying those elements of Islam and the Middle East that MESA's leaders ignore or downplay.

To read the entire interview, click here.

Photos from the "How Free is the University?" Conference

By Cinnamon Stillwell | Sat, 21 Jun 2008, 10:09 PM | Permalink

Democracy Broadcasting News offers up a brief report and a number of photos from the "How Free is the University?" conference that took place in Los Angeles last weekend.

Photos of the Middle East studies panel that included Middle East Forum director Daniel Pipes and myself (speaking on behalf of Campus Watch) can be seen by clicking here, here, and here.

For an earlier post on the subject, click here.

KVIE Segment Features Campus Watch, Prof. Al-Qazzaz

By Cinnamon Stillwell | Sat, 21 Jun 2008, 4:37 PM | Permalink

KVIE, a Sacramento public television affiliate, aired a segment last month as part of its ViewFinder series titled, "Songs of Hope." The title refers to a Sacramento Philharmonic performance of the same name that featured three musicians of Egyptian/Muslim, Arab-Israeli/Christian, and Israeli/Jewish persuasion, respectively.

In the process, the show's producers sought to answer the question: "How does someone outside the Muslim faith get an accurate glimpse of Islamic faith when those leading the effort to educate (Middle East studies professors and the lobbying group, CAIR, Council on American Islamic Relations), have come under constant criticism?"

In a laudable effort to include a variety of viewpoints, "Songs of Hope" features interviews with CAIR-Sacramento executive director Basim Elkarra, founder of CAIR Watch and Chairman of Americans Against Hate, Joe Kaufman, California State University, Sacramento sociology professor Ayad Al-Qazzaz, and me (Campus Watch Northern California Representative Cinnamon Stillwell). Professor Al-Qazzaz, it may be remembered, was the subject of a Campus Watch article about his role in approving the biased and controversial textbook, History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond, for use in California public schools.

Although the segment it not available in its entirety at the KVIE website, the transcript has been posted at Campus Watch and several unedited videos, including my own, can be viewed here.

Campus Watch Update: Setting the Record Straight

By Cinnamon Stillwell | Fri, 13 Jun 2008, 6:24 PM | Permalink

In December 2007, we alerted readers to a new website feature: Setting the Record Straight. It was set up to correct the numerous smears and false allegations directed at Campus Watch.

Since that initial announcement, the following entries (appearing in chronological order and with original titles) have been added:

Neo-Con Conference Pushes for War on Iran
Globalresearch.ca
June 1, 2008

Anti-Racist Blog Shuts Itself Down
Paul Abowd's Blog
May 30, 2008

One State for Palestinians and Jews in Palestine
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
May/June, 2008

Campus Watch, SPME vs. Alterman
The Nation
May 14, 2008

Israel's 60th Anniversary: Why are Some People Partying Like it's 1948?
The American Muslim
May 11, 2008

Bigotry and Academic Freedom
Gulf News
May 9, 2008

Motzira-Making on the Right
The Nation
May 5, 2008

Truth or Neo-Consequences
Middle East Online
May 1, 2008

Islam in the Age of Extremism
Global Politician
April 8, 2008

Acting in Ignorance
The Guardian (U.K.)
March 27, 2008

Planting Conservatism on Campuses
Forward America Weblog
March 4, 2008