In reply to Beverley, a commenter at the FrontPage Magazine post Leftist Professors and Double Standards Part II, who notes that the same professors who didn't sign Dr. Fred Gottheil's Statement of Concern Calling for Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians "did not have any trouble reading and signing the documents accusing Israil of human rights violation. Where there is a will there is a way."
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While it was also written by a college academic, the Israel petition was posted online by a human rights organization that the prospective signers could Google to find out more about. (While there may've been an e-mail campaign as well--with a "sender" address from a personal friend (via a "tell your friends" link) or from the human rights group directly, rather than from an individual stranger--the bulk of those who signed the Israel petition went to it, rather than having it come to them.) It was not a "cold call" e-mail campaign by a single professor they never heard of who had no history of dealing with Muslim rights issues.
While I want to hear from the people who did/didn't sign before jumping to any conclusions, I believe it quite likely that the vast majority of Dr. Gottheil's e-mails were tossed out without ever having been read, and that many more weren't signed because they had no idea who he was or the interest he was representing.
Should later facts prove my theory wrong, perhaps I'll come to agree with you, but the way it stands at present, I'm not prepared to indict the whole academy based on the fact that the majority of college professors who signed a petition on a human rights org website failed to read/respond to a different petition that showed up in their received e-mail from an individual stranger.
For the record, I've sent two e-mails to Dr. Gottheil in the past 48 hours, and he hasn't responded to either of them. How long do I have to wait before accusing him of not caring about my concerns regarding this issue--an issue that he himself put into motion? (Granted, he's never heard of me or anything, and I have no media or academic credentials, but I fail to see why that should matter...) If Fred Gottheil does not reply to my unsolicited e-mails, I declare it to be obvious proof that he does not really care about this issue.
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UPDATE, 9/23/10, 10:10 AM: While I was writing another post, Dr. Gottheil did in fact reply to one of my e-mails, and in fact credits me with his decision to release his Statement (which I must say, I think is kinda groovy.) I'm sending him an e-mail requesting to quote that private e-mail here, and will post another update in 24 hours/when he replies. (Whichever comes first.)
UPDATE, 9/23/10, 11:30 AM: I received permission to quote Dr. Gottheil's e-mail to me. Here is what we said:
Gottheil, Fred M wrote:
1) if you Google "900 academics sign ..." you'll get the Lloyd list. I think it's still up. 2) because only 27 responded positively, the idea of making their names public -- I certainly expected more -- would, I believe, be unfair to them. You may think otherwise. 3) three said no and told me what they thought of me, not very flattering. 4) one Lloyd signer first replied with "yes" then emailed asking to have her name removed. Peer pressure? 5) Stunt? Why would you think my effort was a stunt? If 600 would have responded positively, would that have made it a non-stunt? 6) follow up by actually calling the 675? Some might consider that harassment. Anyway, I thought the email service actually works. 7) some would delete it because they didn't know the source? Quite possible but consider: They signed the Lloyd petition and mine was directly related. You read it. To delete it does give us some real information. 8) I did mention your email (not your name) to frontpagemag.com (along with a few others) and thought it was a good idea. So did frontpagemag.com. Thanks.To which I replied:
Thank you for your reply, and I'm glad I influenced your decision.And finally, Dr. Gottheil's permission to post and required statement (the latter required inclusion being the only reason I posted my e-mail to him... Context.):
I had posted this as a comment at frontpage (part 2), as well as on my own blog and, as I would like for some aspects of your reply to be public, I am writing to request you to post the same reply at those sites, or give me permission to quote this private e-mail and do so myself. (Otherwise, I will summarize what you said in my own words--obviously, I'd prefer to use your words to discuss what you said, rather than my interpretation of them.)
Here are the links:
http://whatdisay.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-reply-more-questions-for-fred.html
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/09/22/leftist-professors-and-double-standards-part-ii/
I'll hold off until I hear from you, or 24 hours, whichever comes first.
Thanks again for your reply.
You have my permission to quote this exchange IN FULL, WITH THE FOLLOWING RESPONSE. Frankly, I am surprised by the tone of your reply. You give me "24 hours" otherwise ... ? Why didn't you wait the 24 hours and email me again to remind me, as you suggest I should have done with 675 emails? Or is your exchange with me -- to use your words -- only a stunt? That said, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are really interested, as I am, in the issue of human rights violations in the Middle East. Good luck.***
First I'll address his initial reply:
1) if you Google "900 academics sign ..." you'll get the Lloyd list. I think it's still up.Indeed, I found and posted a link to it. 900 US, other Academics: "divestment and pressure" against Israeli "apartheid" - Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid
2) because only 27 responded positively, the idea of making their names public -- I certainly expected more -- would, I believe, be unfair to them. You may think otherwise.In fact I do. Their signatures were not dependent on how many signed the Statement, but on the text of the Statement itself. Dr. Gottheil committed to posting his Statement of Concern, and they made a comittment to speak up against oppression in the Middle East by signing it, fully aware that he intended to make his statement and their signatures public. They held up their end of the bargain, and Dr. Gottheil ought to uphold his.
(Alternatively, Dr. Gottheil could e-mail them again, letting them know the situation, and giving them the opportunity to stand up and be counted, or to back down. As there are so few, he could probably even call them all, I'd imagine.)
3) three said no and told me what they thought of me, not very flattering.I'm most sorry to hear that. I expect better from people... But then, in every group, there's bound to be a few nuts...
4) one Lloyd signer first replied with "yes" then emailed asking to have her name removed. Peer pressure?I don't know, but I'd certainly like to ask her...
5) Stunt? Why would you think my effort was a stunt? If 600 would have responded positively, would that have made it a non-stunt?It only becomes a stunt if Dr. Gottheil fails to keep his end of the bargain, and instead continues to excoriate "the liberal academy" for not replying to his e-mail. (I mean, obviously, there will be some who believe that his whole intent was to highlight the hypocrisy of his fellow professors--that while they're willing to criticize Israel, they're not willing to criticize muslim countries--and that he doesn't really care much about the plight of women and gay folks in the Middle East, and never intended to release this statement. By not releasing it as he said he would in his original e-mail, I believe he gives them further ammunition to make that charge.) Obviously, if this is an issue Dr. Gottheil sincerely cares about, there is much more that he can do to collect signatures (from everyone, including his friends and fellow conservatives this time, perhaps) and otherwise make his voice heard. I'd suggest beginning with a website, rather than a cold-call e-mail campaign, and that he cast a wider net than just a group of academics who signed one particular petition several months earlier. Starting up or joining together with a legitimate human rights organisation might help, as well. (An established organisation would take him much further. I can assure him that Dr. Lloyd did not collect his 900 signatures by mounting a cold-call e-mail campaign to strangers all by himself.)
6) follow up by actually calling the 675? Some might consider that harassment. Anyway, I thought the email service actually works.It would be alot of calls to be sure, but obviously Dr. Gottheil was mistaken about the value of the e-mail service, alone... (Perhaps that is the lesson we ought to be taking from this, rather than the one FrontPage and American Thinker are pushing...) As he'd only be making one call to each professor, I can't imagine that anyone would accuse him of harassment. (But in retrospect, a website and having a legitimate human rights organization with a history of work in the region behind him would likely trump even the calls... ...and surely the e-mails.)
7) some would delete it because they didn't know the source? Quite possible but consider: They signed the Lloyd petition and mine was directly related. You read it. To delete it does give us some real information.Still, there are those who don't sign stuff when they are unfamiliar with the author or his motivations. Like it or not, it's just a fact. Even more don't even read unsolicited e-mails from unfamiliar addresses. (Again, that's why having an organisation behind Dr. Gottheil would be so helpful. Folks are far more likely to accept. read, and sign a petition from "MidEast Gay RightsWatch.org" than they are from "Gottheil, Fred M (fgotthei@REDACTED)" (While Dr Gottheil's e-mail address is in the public domain, I'm not comfortable publishing it here in this post. Those who feel strongly about e-mailing him, pro or con, can find it the same way I did.) As an aside, folks might remember an old Steve Martin routine about banking, and how much more likely the public is to put their money into "National Loan and Federal Reserve" than they are "Fred's Bank." The same principle applies here.)
Yes, Dr Gottheil wrote a good Statement of Concern, and I'm fully supportive of it. But I only read it because of the controversy. Had it been a random e-mail in my box from "fgotthei@REDACTED," I can't promise I would have, because I would have no clue who "Fred M Gottheil" was... (Now me, I prolly would've signed it, had I actually read it... But I don't have much of a public reputation to consider, should Dr Gottheil turn out to be a crackpot soliciting names under false pretences or something... I'd imagine that a good number of his target signatories are more careful than I'd likely be, having more of a public reputation than I to consider...)
8) I did mention your email (not your name) to frontpagemag.com (along with a few others) and thought it was a good idea. So did frontpagemag.com. Thanks.Dr Gottheil is quite welcome. (Should he take more of my suggestions, and perhaps become a leading spokeman in the cause of human rights for Middle Eastern homosexuals and women, I'll be even more pleased to've done my small part to set him on his way. One can only hope...)
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And, the required extra response:
You have my permission to quote this exchange IN FULL, WITH THE FOLLOWING RESPONSE. Frankly, I am surprised by the tone of your reply. You give me "24 hours" otherwise ... ? Why didn't you wait the 24 hours and email me again to remind me, as you suggest I should have done with 675 emails? Or is your exchange with me -- to use your words -- only a stunt? That said, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are really interested, as I am, in the issue of human rights violations in the Middle East. Good luck.The reason I didn't give him any longer is that I don't need his permission to summarize an e-mail sent to me. (Technically, I didn't need his permission to quote it, either, but I prefer to have that when quoting words sent to me in private. Whether or not it's necessary, I believe that asking the permission of the person who sent the e-mail is the right thing to do, whenever possible. In fact, I believe it so strongly that I did not intend to quote him, without it.), and also because I had received the initial e-mail from him less than an hour earlier, so I was hoping he was still near his computer.
The situation with the 675 folks who didn't reply is a different situation. There, he would be following up a second time, giving them a second opportunity to give something that he believed they would be willing to give in the first place, assuming they received his message.
I knew my initial message had been received, and thought it likely that the one I was sending asking for the permission to quote would be received, as well. And again, I did not need his permission to summarize his reply, only to quote him. The 24 hour limit was for his benefit, not for mine. (I wanted to post right away, of course... ...but I preferred to do so using his actual words, rather than my paraphrase of them.)
I'm not quite sure how my exchange with him could be characterized--or actually used--as a stunt, but I can only assure Dr Gottheil this is an honest exchange of ideas. While I disagree with his conclusions about what happened, I'd like for the truth about it to come out, whatever it may be, and all I've written has been in furtherance of that goal.
Additionally, I'd like to see more folks, left and right, speaking up in favor of Dr Gottheil's cause. Whatever you think of his motivations before or after the fact, gay folks and women in the Middle East are suffering discrimination--in some cases, violent discrimination. And I see no reason not to sign Dr Fred Gottheil's Statement of Concern Calling for Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians, regardless of what you think of the Left, the Right, Israel, Muslims, Dr. Gottheil, or me.
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To peruse all my other commentary on this subject, previous and since, click the "GOTTHEIL" label, below.
Also, Dr. Gottheil's Statement of Concern is now posted at PetitionsOnline.com, and is accepting signatures from anyone willing to speak out against human rights abuses in the Middle East. As you're obviously interested in the story, I urge you to step up and sign it: Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians Petition
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