X-Post: Dr. Fred Gottheil and Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians: A Statement of Concern

This stands a good chance of being my last post about Dr. Fred Gottheil and his role in fighting discrimination against women, gays and lesbians in the Middle East, or his role in attacking academics (by which I think he means liberals) for not replying to an e-mail he sent them, and thus standing up against said discrimination. That's not to say I won't respond to other posts on the subject, or that I'll stop trying to collect signatures on Dr. Gottheil's Statement of Concern, posted and hosted at the following link: Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians Petition (If you're reading this post--and we both know you are--and haven't yet read/signed the Statement of Concern at the PetitionOnline site, I respectfully request that you pause at the end of this paragraph and go take care of that now. The remainder of this post will still be here when you get back. OK, go. Thanks.)

For those who aren't familiar with the story: Dr Gottheil, an economics professor at the University of Illinois, stumbled across a petition written by Dr. David Lloyd back in January, 2009, which was critical of certain policies of the Israeli government, and was signed by about 900 academics, including many from the US, and even a few who taught at Dr Gottheil's university. (900 US, other Academics: "divestment and pressure" against Israeli "apartheid" - Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid). Displeased, he got to wondering whether these same academics who were so willing to criticize Israel would also be willing to criticize countries in the muslim Middle East for their violations of human rights. So, he wrote up his Statement of Concern, a four page document criticizing various human rights abuses perpetrated against women, gays and lesbians in the Middle East, and e-mailed it to 675 American academics culled from the 900 who had signed the "Israeli Apartheid" petition, asking them to reply back to him with the word "YES," indicating that they supported his Statement. The results were disappointing. 27 professors sent back a "yes," 3 or 4 more sent back "no"s (as well as nasty words about Dr Gottheil, he says), and the rest failed to reply at all. Dr Gottheil attributes the lack of response he received to anti-semitism and "sanctimonious bigotry."

From the outset I found aspects of his story questionable. First off, the initial stories were posted on far right fringe sites like FrontPage Magazine, that I've never found particularly credible. These are people who see Islamofascists and communists throughout much of our population, including in our government. They obviously don't live in the same America I do. I take everything they say with big grains of salt and a whole lotta skepticism.

And then there was the story, itself...
Why didn't the first stories about what happened include links to either petition, rather than thumbnail descriptions of each by Dr. Gottheil?
Why is it that he never released the names of the 27 academics who did sign his statement?
What about the list of people he was accusing? Rather than this vague slander of academics (which I'm pretty sure, is being used here as a code-word for "liberals")? Before jumping to any conclusions, shouldn't we try to get their side of the story, allowing them to explain why they didn't sign the statement? (Still curious about that, I intend to start writing these folks, to see if anyone on Dr Gottheil's likely list wants to speak for themselves.)
What about his methods, and how they may've affected the return rate? How did Dr Gottheil contact these 675 academics? How does he know they received and read what he sent? Did he follow up with them, and if so, how?
Since he was comparing his return rate to that of Dr Lloyd and his "Israel divestment" petition, why isn't there any discussion how either man gathered their signatures, or how long and hard each man worked on the gathering process? Did either of them enlist any help? (Fellow professors, a human rights or sociopolitical education organization, or even a public website)? What about each man's history of working on these issues? Had either of them gathered signatures, written anything, or otherwise been involved with divestment in Israel/human rights in the Middle East before? What is the history of the issues, themselves? How much infrastructure is already out there (knowledge about the issue, campaigns already in place, ???)?

In short, I thought that Dr. Gottheil's/FrontPage Magazine's/the rightwing blogosphere's explanation of "sanctimonious bigotry" and a double standard, as well as any suggestion that there could be no other explanation, was short-sighted and foolish, and displayed a willingness to accept that correlation proves causation (cum hoc ergo propter hoc), no matter what.

The questions above--many of which have not been answered, to this day--show that there are many possible reasons why these academics might not've returned Dr Gottheil's e-mail, and that there is insufficient evidence (at the very least) to show that the circumstances surrounding the gathering of signatures on each petition were sufficiently similar to make a valid comparison between the two. Signing one petition but not the other is NOT evidence that one cares about one issue more than the other. There are many reasons why one might've done that that have nothing to do with anti-Semitism, anti-imperialism, or support for Muslim dictatorships (e-mail ended up in spam folder, unread, e-mail thrown away unread by recipient, because they didn't recognize sender address, e-mail thrown away by sender after reading as hoax, or spam, or right-wing trick, or belief that private e-mail campaigns with no public website are ineffective, or... well, the possibilities are endless...) And, there are many explanations for why one petition might've received more support than the other that involve the way the signatures were solicited, rather than any animosity toward Jews, or love of third world citizens. (by a friend vs by a stranger, via e-mail vs in person or via a website, backed by a human rights organization and/or political educator group vs backed by no one, gathered by several people vs gathered by one person, petitioners asked to sign repeatedly (if necessary) vs only being asked once, with no follow-up, ... the list goes on and on...)

Unless Dr Gottheil or any of the right wingers propagating this meme can eliminate or at least account for all of the other variables, or can at least compare two sufficiently similar petitions and circumstances, they cannot claim that anyone has shown any double standard in this story.

Just the same, I also conducted an experiment. In the last week, I contacted just about every blog I could find that covered this story, and tried to post a comment at the post discussing it, asking that the bloggers and their readers sign onto Dr Gottheil's Statement of Concern, which I had posted on PetitionsOnline.com. These were bloggers who obviously cared about this issue, because they had posted about it. And because the comment would be posted on their blogs--and in a good number of cases, had to be approved by them, as blog moderator, BEFORE it would appear), it was highly likely that they would see the comment inviting them to sign.

This is the comment I posted (It did vary occasionally, based on the content of the post or other comment(s), but this is the text I used as my template):

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

Of course, we'll be counting on everyone here to reply to this request.

Here's how I did:

Blogs that posted my comment (alphabetical order by blog name):

01) Media Backspin: An Experiment Exposes Academia's Double Standards Against Israel (Moderated)

02) BarkGrowlBite: LEFTIST DOUBLE STANDARDS (Moderated)

03) Look No Further - Big Citizen (Moderated)

04) Leftist Professors and Double Standards - THE BLACK KETTLE

05) Love of the Land: What Kind of Academic Signs These Anti-Israel Petitions? (Moderated)

06) SEE MUSLIMS..MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE CATCHING ON TO YOU…. - Canadian Kuffars (Moderated)

07) carnage and culture: Australian Muslim cleric calls for a beheading. Who cares?

08) An empirical test for academic hypocrisy

09) American Thinker: What Kind of Academic Signs These Anti-Israel Petitions? - Comments (Moderated)

10) What bias? Contrary

11) An experiment in Academia | Wolfville watch (Moderated)

12) Elder of Ziyon: A unique experiment on anti-Israel academics

13) Shameless hypocrisy watch: “What kind of academic signs anti-Israel petitions?" - Los Angeles Middle Eastern Policy - Examiner.com

14) Leftist Professors and Double Standards - First Thoughts | A First Things Blog (Moderated)

15) Leftist Professors and Double Standards - FrontPage Magazine

16) Leftist Professors and Double Standards Part II | FrontPage Magazine

17) fousesquawk: An Academic Petition You May Never Have Heard Of (Moderated)

18) GeeeeeZ!: Larry Elder REALLY tells it like it is.........

19) An Empirical Test for Academic Hypocrisy - Grendel Report (Moderated)

20) Hummers & Cigarettes: Academia: Sanctimonious Leftist Professors (Moderated)

21) I Beg to Disagree: Academic Criticisms of Israel: 96% Hypocritical (Moderated)

22) The Day In Israel: Mon Sept 20th, 2010 : Israellycool

23) Academic Bigotry: Israel and the Social Justice Farce - The Lesbian Conservative (Moderated)

24) Leslie S. Lebl: Disrobing the Left (Moderated)

25) Lumpy, Grumpy and Frumpy: "They are sanctimonious bigots at heart" (Moderated)

26) True Catholic : Re: AUSTRALIAN MUSLIM CALLS FOR BEHEADING - WHO CARES?? SUCH A DOUBLE STANDARD!

27) The Fall of Human Rights | No Left Turns

28) Reverend Rubicon: Leftist Professors and Double Standards

29) XDA: Thoughts of the Day

30) “Fellow academics” call prof “master of the obvious.” | Right Wing News

31) Prof calls fellow academics ‘sanctimonious bigots’ | San Francisco Examiner (Moderated)

32) What's the difference between a highly educated bigot and a lowly uneducated bigot?

33) Stones Cry Out - If they keep silent… Social Justice Advocates vs. Israel (Moderated)

34) Our Man in Palestine - The Daily Beast

35) Considerettes - Conservative commentary served up in bite-sized bits - Social Justice Advocates vs. Israel (Moderated)

36) Leftist Professors and Double Standards Part II - THERESE ZRIHEN-DVIR, Regard d'un Ecrivain sur le Monde

37) Australian Muslim Cleric Calls for Beheading -- Who Cares? - Larry Elder - Townhall Conservative

38) Trees For Lunch: A Form of Bigotry You Seldom Hear of

39) Villainous Company: Quantifying the Hypocrisy of Lefty Academicians

40) Prof calls fellow academics ‘sanctimonious bigots’ | Washington Examiner (Moderated)

41) Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Not Everyone Likes the Jews
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Blogs that failed to post my comment, or actually deleted it from their blog:

1) American Power: 'Sanctimonious Bigots' – Leftist Professors and Double Standards - 9/25 - *** Dr. Douglas has added several posts to his blog since I submitted my comment, so I reluctantly have to assume that he has rejected my comment asking he and his readers to step up and sign Dr. Gottheil's Statement of Concern. As he is both a conservative and an academic in the field of political science, I'm most disappointed in his obvious lack of concern for the human rights of women, gays, and lesbians in the Middle East. Given the chance to reply (figuratively, anyway) to Dr Gottheil's e-mail plea--a plea we can be almost certain Dr Douglas received and read--he chose not to step up, just like those "leftist" (and likely "nihilist" or "demonic," too) professors that he posted about failed to do. Double standard? You decide. ***

2) The Baltimore Reporter: Sally Quinn: Obama Went to Church Because Americans Are Bigots - 9/27 - *** - The Baltimore Reporter (blog) fails to approve my comment. Apparently, standing up for human rights in the Middle East is more of a rhetorical bit of self-indulgent pleasuring themselves than an actual, y'know, ideal that they strive to live up to. Meaninglessly denouncing the "evils of liberalism" for being hypocrites on this issue, while similarly being hypocrites themselves is just so much easier. And, in refusing to post my comment, they not only do nothing about the issue of human rights abuses in the Middle East themselves, they don't allow their readers to make the choice to do anything, either. Nice going, wingnuts. ***

3) DUFF & NONSENSE!: Humbug and humbuggers! *** Disappointingly, as of 9:20 AM on 9/25/10 (less than 12 hours later), this blogger seems to've deleted my comment, as well as the Blogger backlink to this post. How should we judge that, when evaluating this conservative's commitment to human rights? Duff sure seemed to care when it was liberal academics who weren't stepping up, but when it's his turn to speak out, he chooses not to do so himself, or to allow any of his readers the opportunity to do so, either. Hypocrisy? You decide. ***

4) It’s all about the hypocrisy Full Metal Cynic - 9/28 - *** - Given that there is a new post at this site, and my comment is still being held for moderation, it's lookin' like the chances of it's getting posted are pretty slim. It is indeed, all about the hypocrisy, I guess... ***

5) American academia: Condemn Israel, love Muslims | Liberty Pundits Blog *** 9/26 *** - It seems that Liberty Pundits here flagged my previously posted comment for review. Y'all see what I posted at all these sites... Is a comment asking folks to sign s Statement of Concern about human rights in the Middle East, at a post about that very same Statement, critical of the fact that a whole lotta previous folks didn't sign onto it, somehow off topic or offensive? Or is it that Liberty Pundits hates liberals (and/or muslims) more than they love supporting God given natural rights for all mankind? Hypocrisy? You decide. ***

6) Prof calls fellow academics ‘sanctimonious bigots’ - 9/25 - *** Rachel at 'Thoughts From A Conservative Mom' here, obviously doesn't really care much about the rights of muslim women or gay folks, because she chose not to allow my comment about signing Dr Gottheil's Statement of Concern to appear. Not only didn't she reply to Dr Gottheil's plea (very much like those "sanctimonious, bigoted" academics failed to do), she doesn't want her readers to reply, either. Let human rights be someone else's problem, I guess... Sanctimony and hypocrisy walk hand in hand, sometimes... ***

7) education teacher : As if we needed more proof that liberal academics are usually hypocites and bigots

While I did do pretty well on the comment end of things -- Of 48 conservative blogs/bloggers total, 41 posted vs 7 who refused -- I didn't do so well on gathering signatures from these conservatives (or their readers, even)... As of this post, I have a total of nine signatures. And one of those nine belongs to me. Very disappointing.

Now by the same logic that says folks who sign a statement critical of Israel but do not sign a statement critical of muslim countries are hypocrites and are showing a double standard, what are we to make of right wing bloggers who publish posts critical of leftwing folks who don't sign a petition, when they themselves also fail to sign the very same petition? Are they hypocrites? Are they showing their own double standards? Is this proof that right wing bloggers don't care about the human rights of women and gay folks in the Middle East?

No, of course not. Just as with the academics, there are all kinds of possible reasons these right wing bloggers failed to sign, that have nothing to do with bigotry, or not caring, or double standards of any kind.

And that's the point.

Guess who else failed to sign the statement online? Dr Fred Gottheil. That's right, the man who wrote and e-mailed the statement to these (liberal) academics--but none of his friends, co-workers, or fellow conservatives--refused to sign his own statement here online, where everyone could see it. He also refused to distribute the statement to anyone else, or do anything further in support of the issue he claimed to care so much about in his statement. What are we to make of that, I wonder? What was his motivation for writing the statement in the first place, and how do you think his motives might've affected how he conducted his experiment--methods that I've already called into question above (research bias), and how he interpreted the results he received (Was there confirmation bias)?

Had Dr Gottheil really wanted to gather signatures opposing human rights abuses in the Middle East--rather than "proving" the rhetorical point he came in with--he could've and would've done a far better job trying to get those signatures than to send out a single "cold call" e-mail to a bunch of strangers and not even do any follow-up to make sure they received and read what he sent them. It seems to me that he wanted these academics to fail his little test, and wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, they did. The only surprising thing about it is that anyone is trying to attribute these facts to causes other than Dr Gottheil's methods and motivations, and that they're presumably trying to do so with straight faces.
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My previous posts on the subject:
9/21/2010 - Wingnuts & Moonbats: Dr. Gottheil, Where's Your Petition? - My initial questions on first reading Dr Gottheil's story.

9/21/2010 - What'd I Say?: An Open Letter to Dr. Fred Gottheil, regarding his "Statement of Concern" - More questions for Dr Gottheil.

9/22/2010 - What'd I Say?: More questions for Fred Gottheil, regarding his Statement of Concern - After the release of the Statement of Concern at FrontPage Mag, repeating the questions Dr. Gottheil failed to answer.

9/23/2010 - What'd I Say?: "If Fred Gottheil doesn't reply to my unsolicited e-mails, it's proof that he doesn't care about this issue." - My initial theories, and the transcript of a three part e-mail exchange I had with Dr. Gottheil, based on my e-mailing him the previous two posts.

9/23/2010 - Wingnuts & Moonbats: A Statement of Concern Calling for Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians - Dr. Fred Gottheil - My first attempt to get people to sign onto Dr Gottheil's Statement of Concern, posted on my blog. Many visits, but no comments, either in support or opposed.

9/23/2010 - What'd I Say?: Dr. Fred Gottheil and the "sanctimonious bigots" commenting at the Washington Examiner - More theory, and my first realization that all these rightwing folks complaining about the "academics" haven't actually done anything about this issue themselves, except bitch about folks not like them, and claim to be superior.

9/23/2010 - What'd I Say?: Attn Conservatives: You've (figuratively) "received the e-mail" from Fred Gottheil... How have YOU replied? Kinda the same post as above, better written, and submitted to a different blog.

9/24/2010 - What'd I Say?: In Reply: Why Dr Fred Gottheil's "experiment in Academia" didn't yield valid results - My first thoughts about comparing the number of signatures on the two petitions, and theories/facts regarding why one got more replies than the other.

9/24/2010 - What'd I Say?: Was I really unfair to Dr Gottheil? - My response to the suggestion that I'm being unfair to Dr Gottheil. No one has as yet tried to explain how... (including the blogger who accused me) ...but you're welcome to give it a shot, if you'd like.

9/24/2010 - What'd I Say?: Dr. Gottheil's "Statement of Concern" is now posted at PetitionsOnline.com... - The announcement of the PetitionOnline.com posting of Dr Gottheil's Statement of Concern Calling for Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians, and where I kept track of it all.

9/26/2010 - What'd I Say?: Still talking about Dr. Gottheil, at GeeeeeZ! (blog), this time

9/28/2010 - What'd I Say?: In Reply: Did Dr Gottheil's motivations taint his methodology? - Experimenter bias, confirmation bias, correlation/causation fallacy

10/1/2010 - This post, which will hopefully be the final one. I'll keep trying to collect signatures on the online petition, but I feel confident that I've pretty much buried any notion that Dr Gottheil actually proved anything about the Left, or the Right. (If ya ask me, all he proved is that he's either not particularly good at the scientific method, or he's a propagandist. I leave that for each reader to decide for themselves...)

Those who still wish to buy into his "results" anyway, ignoring all the facts to the contrary, are welcome to do so. There will always be some with perfectly good eyes who nevertheless refuse to see... They are likely beyond my helping...
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Miscellaneous Links:
900 US, other Academics: "divestment and pressure" against Israeli "apartheid" - Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid

Democratic Underground - Here is the text of the Statement of the Concern - Democratic Underground

FrontPage Magazine
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Wingnuts & Moonbats x-post

To peruse all my other commentary on this subject, previous and since, click GOTTHEIL label, below.

In Reply: Did Dr Gottheil's motivations taint his methodology?

In reply to: Trees For Lunch: A Form of Bigotry You Seldom Hear of

As far as Israel, I think Froggie's correct about it's age having something to do with folks taking issue with it. While it's founding is in many ways not all that different from other countries--very few nations are populated now by the same people who've always populated them, and many stories of conquest and political maneuver include sad stories about the side that lost "their" land--it's different when there are people still alive who can personally recall when they lived there. Wars have consequences, and Israel is a fact--and has as much right to remain a fact as America, Australia, Mexico or any other country--but if you're one of those people who feels a little sympathy for or sense of injustice about the people who lost their land as a result of war or politics in the first place, the story of Israel, being so relatively recent that there are folks still alive today who used to live on that land, seems a little more sad and unjust. And yeah... That it's founding is at least in part based on a Bible story doesn't help, especially if the Bible doesn't happen to be your Sacred Text.

As far as Dr. Gottheil, I have some serious questions about both his methodology and his motivations (and whether his motivations tainted his methodology, and thus his results.) Had he really wanted to gather signatures opposing human rights abuses in the Middle East--rather than "proving" the rhetorical point he came in with--he could've and would've done a far better job trying to get those signatures than to send out a single "cold call" e-mail to a bunch of strangers and not even do any follow-up to make sure they received and read what he sent them. It seems to me that he wanted these academics to fail his little test, and wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, they did. Anyone interested can further explore my thinkin' on the subject here.

I did like Dr. Gottheil's Statement of Concern, however, and that's the real reason I dropped by. I posted it at PetitionOnline.com, and I'm trying to do a better job collecting signatures on it than Dr Gottheil managed to do. To that end, I'm hoping that you folks here (and anyone who comes along and reads this comment later) will follow the link, read it over, and consider adding your name.: Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians Petition. It may not do much good, in the overall scheme of things, but it may get people thinking and talking about the issue, and something worthwhile ought to come out of this story.
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Posted September 28, 2010 5:36 AM (Trees for Lunch blog time)
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To read the rest of my commentary on this subject, previous and since, please click the GOTTHEIL label, below.

In Reply: Still talking about Dr. Gottheil, at GeeeeeZ! (blog), this time

In reply to: GeeeeeZ!: Larry Elder REALLY tells it like it is.........
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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

Obviously, we'll be counting on everyone here to reply to this request.

And hey... Thanks for the shout-out there, Ducky.

I wouldn't say Dr. Gottheil punked out, exactly... ...but the methodology by which he tried to garner rhetorical support for anyone's human rights in the Middle East by collecting signatures (to the extent that such a thing actually was his goal, in the first place) was pretty sorely lacking...

And any comparison between the two campaigns to gather signatures that doesn't discuss in the slightest the methods by which each petitioner went about trying to get those signatures, seems kinda short-sighted and ultimately destined to be a failed experiment. (I mean, does anyone really believe that Dr. Lloyd (of the Israel divestment petition) sent out 900+ unsolicited e-mails to strangers one time, all by himself, with zero follow-up and no human rights or sociopolitical education group, history of work in the region, or so much as a website to back him up, the way Dr. Gottheil did? If so, it's bridge buying time, and I've got some real beauts over desert waters... ...cheap. But you have to hurry, they're goin' fast....)

As far as I'm concerned, counting the number of people who didn't respond to a single unsolicited e-mail from a stranger, that may or may not've even made it into their "IN" box (spam filters, don'cha know), is hardly the best way to determine who does and does not care about the rights of women or gay folks in Middle Eastern countries. YMMV, obviously...

Anyway... Please sign the petition. Whatever one thinks of the way Dr. Gottheil went about it or his motivations for doing so, his Statement of Concern is pretty sound, and somebody ought to get some actual use out of the thing.

Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians Petition
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Had some issues actually getting this bit of commentary to show up over there on GeeeeeZ, but I'm hoping the proprietess there will get it all straightened out. If not, I'll go on back there and try to post it again, later, perhaps by just posting a link to this post, here. (I'm thinkin' it's a spam folder thing, though. I left a comment there about that, too --see below-- but I'm not altogether sure that that showed up on the blog, either. As with everything else, though, it was in my e-mail.)

Below: After part/all of my messages didn't show on the blog, and ALL of 'em showed up in my e-mail, I (tried to) post the following (As I said, I'm not sure this one made it, either. In comment view (Blogger: GeeeeeZ! - Post a Comment), it was there, but in post page view: (GeeeeeZ!: Larry Elder REALLY tells it like it is.........) it wasn't. Go figure...:

hmmm... Somethin's up here (spam filter, is my bet)

I got error messages, (and no message here) so I kept trying to post... Finally I (thought I) got both parts to post (though as I look now, part 1/2 isn't here). ALL of 'em (including the ones to which I got error messages) showed up in my e-mail, though...

Bottom line, sorry about any excess commentary anyone gets...

Z, please get one full copy of what I (tried to) say showing, and delete the rest, with my apologies to all for the wasted time/trouble. (If you wish, you can ditch this comment as well, once you get me posted as I intended.)

And then feel free to let me have it for whatever it is you disagree with in my words... 8>)

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UPDATE, 9/26, 6:55 PM: Successfully posted full comment at GeeeeeZ! blog, Part 1, 6:48 PM, Part 2, 6:51 PM.
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To peruse all my other commentary on this subject, previous and since, click the "GOTTHEIL" label, below.

Dr. Gottheil's 'Statement of Concern is now posted at PetitionsOnline.com...

The comment, posted to as many sites as I could find that covered any portion of the Dr. Fred Gottheil story this week:

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

Obviously, we'll be counting on everyone here to reply to this request.

Here are the blogs that I found that covered the story, and to which I posted/submitted the comment.
The first seven allowed the comment to appear immediately. I saw the post, and wherever possible, the link I posted is to the comment, rather than the blog post:

1) carnage and culture: Australian Muslim cleric calls for a beheading. Who cares? - 9/24 - Blogger signed petition, and left a reply comment letting me (and the rest of his readers) know.

2) Leftist Professors and Double Standards Part II - THERESE ZRIHEN-DVIR, Regard d'un Ecrivain sur le Monde

3) The Fall of Human Rights | No Left Turns

4) Elder of Ziyon: A unique experiment on anti-Israel academics

5) DUFF & NONSENSE!: Humbug and humbuggers! *** Disappointingly, as of 9:20 AM on 9/25/10 (less than 12 hours later), this blogger seems to've deleted my comment, as well as the Blogger backlink to this post. How should we judge that, when evaluating this conservative's commitment to human rights? Duff sure seemed to care when it was liberal academics who weren't stepping up, but when it's his turn to speak out, he chooses not to do so himself, or to allow any of his readers the opportunity to do so, either. Hypocrisy? You decide. ***

6) What bias? Contrary

7) XDA: Thoughts of the Day

The remaining 12 blogs are moderated. I will report back as the comment at each is approved (or new posts/comments appear at the blog, indicating the the moderator has been there, and likely rejected my comment for publication.):

8) Prof calls fellow academics ‘sanctimonious bigots’ | Washington Examiner - On 9/25/10, I was finally successful in getting a version of the comment above--sans link or .com attribution--to appear in the comments. (I'd tried several variations, adding this and removing that, before hitting on the right combination of info, without including what WashEx obviously considers "too much info" for their readership to handle. Like actual links.)

9) Hummers & Cigarettes: Academia: Sanctimonious Leftist Professors - 9/25 - Comment posted

10) American Power: 'Sanctimonious Bigots' – Leftist Professors and Double Standards - 9/25 - *** Dr. Douglas has added several posts to his blog since I submitted my comment, so I reluctantly have to assume that he has rejected my comment asking he and his readers to step up and sign Dr. Gottheil's Statement of Concern. As he is both a conservative and an academic in the field of political science, I'm most disappointed in his obvious lack of concern for the human rights of women, gays, and lesbians in the Middle East. Given the chance to reply (figuratively, anyway) to Dr Gottheil's e-mail plea--a plea we can be almost certain Dr Douglas received and read--he chose not to step up, just like those "leftist" (and likely "nihilist" or "demonic," too) professors that he posted about failed to do. Double standard? You decide. ***

11) Stones Cry Out - If they keep silent… Social Justice Advocates vs. Israel - 9/27 - Comment approved and posted. There's even a subsequent comment from "Doug," who wrote the post, thanking me for the pointer. (Although as of this writing, no one named Doug has signed the Statement, as yet...)

12) Lumpy, Grumpy and Frumpy: "They are sanctimonious bigots at heart" 9/24 - Comment has been approved and posted.

13) I Beg to Disagree: Academic Criticisms of Israel: 96% Hypocritical - 9/27 - Comment approved and posted

14) Leslie S. Lebl: Disrobing the Left - 9/24 - Posted comment above within an hour or so of my submitting it, but will not sign the petition because she feels my introductory blurb is "unfair" to Dr. Gottheil. As of this posting (9/24), she has not approved a subsequent comment. - 9/25 Subsequent comment was approved. No response or link to "clean" petition, however.

15) fousesquawk: An Academic Petition You May Never Have Heard Of - 9/24 - Posted comment within a half hour of my submitting it.

16) Love of the Land: What Kind of Academic Signs These Anti-Israel Petitions? - 9/25 - Comment posted.

17) It’s all about the hypocrisy Full Metal Cynic - 9/28 - *** - Given that there is a new post at this site, and my comment is still being held for moderation, it's lookin' like the chances of it's getting posted are pretty slim. It is indeed, all about the hypocrisy, I guess... ***

18) Prof calls fellow academics ‘sanctimonious bigots’ | San Francisco Examiner - 9/24 - Comment approved and posted at this site.

19) An experiment in Academia | Wolfville watch - 9/24 - Left a longer comment at this blog, based on an exchange posted in the comments. Not approved for publication, as of this writing. - 9/25 - Comment approved, posted, and positively replied to by blogger.

Obviously, the way these rightwing blogs and the individuals associated with them deal with my comment and the petition could prove interesting (*** in a rhetorical sense, anyway... Just as I don't buy into the theory that not reading/replying to a stranger's unsolicited e-mailed petition doesn't "prove" anything about an academic's beliefs about human rights as concerns any/all countries in the Middle East, I don't believe that the way a rightwing blogger or blog reader responds to a petition or a comment about a petition doesn't speak to their human rights cred, either. Not even if they suggested that the unreturned e-mails, did.) And, while it's only been a few hours, the response to the petition so far has been unsatisfying... Hopefully, it'll pick up...
---

9/25/10 Additional sites:

Posted:

20) Reverend Rubicon: Leftist Professors and Double Standards

21) True Catholic : Re: AUSTRALIAN MUSLIM CALLS FOR BEHEADING - WHO CARES?? SUCH A DOUBLE STANDARD!

22) The Day In Israel: Mon Sept 20th, 2010 : Israellycool

23) Our Man in Palestine - The Daily Beast

24) American academia: Condemn Israel, love Muslims | Liberty Pundits Blog *** 9/26 *** - It seems that Liberty Pundits here flagged my previously posted comment for review. Y'all see what I posted at all these sites... Is a comment asking folks to sign s Statement of Concern about human rights in the Middle East, at a post about that very same Statement, critical of the fact that a whole lotta previous folks didn't sign onto it, somehow off topic or offensive? Or is it that Liberty Pundits hates liberals (and/or muslims) more than they love supporting God given natural rights for all mankind? Hypocrisy? You decide. ***

25) What's the difference between a highly educated bigot and a lowly uneducated bigot?

26) Leftist Professors and Double Standards - THE BLACK KETTLE - (This one was actually posted on 9/24, but missed in the previous list. A subsequent commenter there notes that the Middle East (aside Israel) is awash in discrimination. While I've read a few reports that suggest Palestinians (and others, including a few young American jewish women, like Rachel Corrie and Emily Henochowicz ) may feel differently about discrimination in Israel than this commenter does, that's the reason for the Statement of Concern, and why as many people as possible should sign it. Whatever is/isn't going on in Israel, what's going on in the rest of the Middle East is more widespread and systematic. And there's no reason not speak up in opposition, even if you do believe there are problems in other places, as well.)

Moderated:

27) education teacher : As if we needed more proof that liberal academics are usually hypocites and bigots - 9/27 - *** - Doesn't look good for this blog, either. There are a whole lotta new posts at the site, and my moderated comment still hasn't appeared. On the other hand, this whole blog seems kinda suspect. While it did publish this story, which seems to have a pretty rightwing slant, other posts seem to have just as liberal a slant. It's almost as though they're robotically cut and pasted, all based on having certain educational keywords in them... The links in the sidebar mostly link to education/college topics concerning Punjab or India. And none of the posts I've seen there have any comments. Perhaps I'll give this one another day or two, and keep evaluating just who/what this blog represents, if anyone... I'm beginning to wonder whether it isn't some kinda ghost site where items are (re)posted based on those keywords alone. (If there were links, I'd think it was one of those spam sites/comments/e-mails that "borrow" random bits of text (and look like they are not written by people who speak English) to get you to click the links. While they're "borrowing" whole posts revolving around a specific topic in this case, it's the same kinda soulless/creepy...) ***

28) The Baltimore Reporter: Sally Quinn: Obama Went to Church Because Americans Are Bigots - 9/27 - *** - The Baltimore Reporter (blog) fails to approve my comment. Apparently, standing up for human rights in the Middle East is more of a rhetorical bit of self-indulgent pleasuring themselves than an actual, y'know, ideal that they strive to live up to. Meaninglessly denouncing the "evils of liberalism" for being hypocrites on this issue, while similarly being hypocrites themselves is just so much easier. And, in refusing to post my comment, they not only do nothing about the issue of human rights abuses in the Middle East themselves, they don't allow their readers to make the choice to do anything, either. Nice going, wingnuts. ***

29) Media Backspin: An Experiment Exposes Academia's Double Standards Against Israel - 9/27 - Comment approved and posted at Media Backspin

30) An Empirical Test for Academic Hypocrisy - Grendel Report - 9/27 - Comment approved and posted at Grendel Report

31) Prof calls fellow academics ‘sanctimonious bigots’ - 9/25 - *** Rachel at 'Thoughts From A Conservative Mom' here, obviously doesn't really care much about the rights of muslim women or gay folks, because she chose not to allow my comment about signing Dr Gottheil's Statement of Concern to appear. Not only didn't she reply to Dr Gottheil's plea (very much like those "sanctimonious, bigoted" academics failed to do), she doesn't want her readers to reply, either. Let human rights be someone else's problem, I guess... Sanctimony and hypocrisy walk hand in hand, sometimes... ***

32) I also sent an e-mail to Dr Gottheil himself earlier today, asking him to formally sign his Statement at the petition site. I'll post here letting everyone know when he's done so. (While he answered my previous e-mails pretty quickly, I'd imagine he's a busy man. I told him I'd follow up with him again by e-mail in a week or two, if I hadn't heard from him by then.) - 9/27 - *** - Sadly, Dr Gottheil has declined to formally sign his own Statement of Concern on the Petition site or do anything further to stand up for the human rights of women, gays and lesbians in the Middle East, believing that his authorship of the initial statement was enough. Folks reading this can make of that what they will, but personally, I'm very disappointed in him, and further question both his motivations and his methodology, in light of these newest facts. I'll keep pushing for signatures for awhile longer, regardless, because I believe he wrote a good Statement, in spite of of his reasons for doing so... ...but I have to say, given both Dr. Gottheil's reply and the paltry degree of positive response from the very same rightwing bloggers championing his story (especially the number of 'em who either wouldn't post the comment, or went so far as to remove it from their blog posts), I think the point about rightwing hypocrisy has been made, here... It's one thing not to reply to a "cold call" e-mail from a stranger that may or may not've even made it into your "IN" box, asking you to reply to an issue you've perhaps never spoken about. It's another to fail to reply to an issue that you yourself were critical of others not replying to. To me, that is more hypocritical. ***

09/26/10 - Yet more invitations for folks to sign up to Dr Gottheil's Statement of Concern

Current number of signatures as of the start of this day (including my own): 6

Posted:

33) GeeeeeZ!: Larry Elder REALLY tells it like it is.........

34) Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Not Everyone Likes the Jews

35) “Fellow academics” call prof “master of the obvious.” | Right Wing News

Moderated:

36) Look No Further - Big Citizen - 9/26 - Comment approved at Big Citizen.

37) Villainous Company: Quantifying the Hypocrisy of Lefty Academicians - 9/26 - Not actually moderated, and another that I'd posted (and forgotten to list) back on September 24, 2010 (02:41 PM comment, since there's no permalinks to commentary there) Unlike most of the blogs on this list, other commenters here (conservatives, from what I can tell) were already asking questions about the methodology and motivations of Dr. Fred Gottheil's "experiment" and results thereof... Also the only blog where I got a friendly welcome from the proprietress... 8>) (Don't see any familiar names from here on the petition, however... ((Actually, that goes for all but one name/blog, thus far... Kinda makes me wonder why...))

9/27/2010:
Current signature count, as of start of day (including my own): 7

Further addition(s) to the list of blogs/blog readers invited to stand up against human rights abuses in the Middle East by signing Dr Gottheil's infamous Statement of Concern:

Moderated:

38) SEE MUSLIMS..MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE CATCHING ON TO YOU…. - Canadian Kuffars - 9/28 - Comment approved and posted, here. (Of course, one of the enlightened there left a comment in reply that said the following, in part: "Human rights for Middle Eastern women has to come from their own educated, “enlightened” women to cleanse themselves from the tyranny imposed by their paedophile sex maniac mohd. Apparently, the women themselves do not want it." This in turn received a comment in praise from the blogger who made the original post. It's a scary, scary world...)

39) Leftist Professors and Double Standards - First Thoughts | A First Things Blog - 9/27 - Comment approved and posted at First Thoughts.

40) HuffPo: W James Casper: After giving this whole issue a whole lotta thought, and - 9/27 - Comment approved and posted at HuffPo.

41) Academic Bigotry: Israel and the Social Justice Farce - The Lesbian Conservative - 9/28 - Comment approved and posted at The Lesbian Conservative.

9/28/10
Current signature count at start of day: 9

New additions to the list today:
Posted:
42) Trees For Lunch: A Form of Bigotry You Seldom Hear of

43) Shameless hypocrisy watch: “What kind of academic signs anti-Israel petitions?" - Los Angeles Middle Eastern Policy - Examiner.com

Moderated:
44) BarkGrowlBite: LEFTIST DOUBLE STANDARDS - 9/29 - Comment approved and posted at BarkGrowlBite.

9/29/10
Current signature count at start of day: 9 (Looks like the folks at these links are about done caring about the human rights of women and gay folks in the Middle East. That was so last week, when they had a rhetorical point to sell. That's over now... On to the next bit of ginned up "OUTRAGE!!!"...) I'll keep trying, however...

9/30/10
Current signature count: Still 9, which is kinda disappointing...

At least we've received a comment however (see the comment section, below), and from a blogger I had managed to miss, no less (see link directly below, to Doug's moderated blog, where I hope he'll approve my invitation... ...for his readers, if not for himself...):

45) Considerettes - Conservative commentary served up in bite-sized bits - Social Justice Advocates vs. Israel - approved and posted by Doug at Considerettes (blog)
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To peruse all my other commentary on this subject, previous and since, click the "GOTTHEIL" label, below.

Was I really unfair to Dr Gottheil?

Can you explain how, exactly?

In reply to Leslie S. Lebl: Disrobing the Left, and in particular, the following comment:

Leslie Lebl said...
I went to PetitionOnline, as repsac3 recommended, but did not sign the petition because I didn't like it. I agree with the idea of protesting human rights violations in the Middle East, but the text criticized Prof. Gottheil in a way that I consider very unfair. I would be very happy to sign another, clean version, and to recommend that my blog readers do same.
---

Since mine is the only version currently posted (which pretty much provides evidence of one of my issues, if ya think about it), I can only request that you (or perhaps someone else who regularly reads your site) post your own version, then.

Here is the link to do so: PetitionOnline.com - Petition Submission Form

(Feel free to copy the text from my petition, or from FrontPage Magazine.)

I'm sorry you felt I was unfair to Dr. Gottheil, but that is the way I see the situation up to now.

Thanks for trying, in any case, and let me know if you post your "clean" version. (I'd certainly be willing to provide links to both versions when soliciting signatures, in future.)
---

Submitted for moderator approval 9/24/10, 9:20 PM? (or so, WIS blog time)
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For context, here is what my "unfair" text says:

The following text was originally written by Dr. Fred Gottheil, from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign He e-mailed it to a small group of fellow professors (675, in all) who had signed a different petition months earlier. Though Dr. Gottheil did not receive a very good response (perhaps because he cast his net too narrowly, sending a single "cold call" e-mail to 675 strangers, not soliciting signatures from anyone he knew or came into contact with personally, politically or professionally, or posting it online for the general public to read and sign, and taking no further action on this issue when his e-mails failed to achieve satisfactory results, other than to release the statement, and cast aspersions on those who did not reply to his e-mail), the Statement of Concern that he wrote is worthy of support. I'm hoping that by posting it here, we can make the statement that Dr. Gottheil intended, regarding discrimination in the Middle East against women, gays, and lesbians.

I'm not sure what Leslie believes to be untrue or otherwise unfair about what I said, but if anyone here agrees with her (or if she herself happens to drop by), I'd be most interested in hearing your (or her, or even Dr Gottheil's) thoughts on the matter.

In any case, the petition is here (in it's current "unfair, dirty" form. I'll let you know if anyone produces one that "whitewashes" Dr Gottheil's involvement in a way that's acceptable to Leslie and those who agree with her.): Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians Petition. As you're obviously interested in the story, I urge everyone reading these words to step up and sign it... ...no matter what you think of the Left, the Right, Dr. Gottheil, Leslie, or me.
---

To peruse all my other commentary on this subject, previous and since, click the "GOTTHEIL" label, below.

In Reply: Why Dr Fred Gottheil's "experiment in Academia" didn't yield valid results

In reply to An experiment in Academia - Wolfville watch, after reading several comments discussing unknown factors that may've skewed the experiment, giving Dr. Gottheil the results he got (and was looking for? Maybe.)
---

Of course, you also have to know the methodology by which each petitioner tried to collect their signatures.

It's my understanding that Dr. Lloyd was one of quite a few professors involved in the Israel petition, and that there were several years of divestment work put in by human rights organizations and liberal educators, both in this country and elsewhere, prior to this petition even being written, and that the signatures were collected via a website self-selected by many of the professors. (In other words, the petition didn't so much come to them, as they searched it out and went to it.)

Dr. Gottheil, on the other hand, sent "cold call" e-mails to strangers one time, and cannot account for how many ended up in spam folders or tossed from "IN" boxes unread because they came from an unfamiliar name/address. He had no organization behind him, no website explaining his intent or ability to make any difference, and no discernible history dealing with human rights in the Middle East. He did not contact any of his personal, professional or political friends and colleagues to solicit their signatures, and did not do any followup to his one e-mail with the people who didn't reply the first time.

We also don't know how long Dr Lloyd and those working with him took in trying to gather their signatures, after their petition was composed... ...though I'd imagine it was likely longer than it took Dr Gottheil to send out his 675 e-mails. (And that's assuming he didn't send them in bulk, which, though faster for him, would greatly increase the likelihood of ending up in a spam filter.)

As far as I'm concerned, counting the number of people who didn't respond to a single unsolicited e-mail from a stranger that may or may not've even made it into their "IN" box is hardly the best way to determine who does and does not care about the rights of women or gay folks in Middle Eastern countries. YMMV, however...

In any case, 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

Obviously, we'll be counting on everyone here to reply to this request.
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Sumbitted for moderator approval 9/24/10, 8:37 PM (Wis blog time)
---

To peruse all my other commentary on this subject, previous and since, click the "GOTTHEIL" label, below.

Attn Conservatives: You've (figuratively) 'received the e-mail' from Fred Gottheil... How have YOU replied?

In reply to: Townhall - Australian Muslim Cleric Calls for Beheading -- Who Cares?, and this section in particular:

Dr. Fred Gottheil is an economics professor at the University of Illinois. He calls himself a "Keynesian-type economist" who is "not afraid of deficit spending" -- not exactly Reaganesque.

In January 2009, some 900 academics signed a four-page petition calling for a U.S. abandonment of the support of Israel. Gottheil learned that many of the petition signatories belonged to faculty from women's and gender studies departments. He decided to conduct an experiment.

Would the same professors sign a "Statement of Concern" over the anti-human rights, anti-gay, anti-woman practices in the Muslim Middle East? Gottheil composed a four-page document citing evidence of atrocities, along with the names of Muslim clerics and scholars defending these violations of human decency. He e-mailed his statement to 675 signers of the anti-Israel petition.

What happened? "The results were surprising," Gottheil said, "even though I thought the responses would be few. They were almost nonexistent."

Bottom line: Barbarity in the name of Islam is not even remotely condemned to the degree that the West condemns insensitivity by cartoonists, politicians and anti-Islam clerics. Why? A denunciation of Muslim practices suggests a superiority of American values and culture. The left finds the very notion objectionable.

Gottheil put it this way: "If leftist 'progressives' really cared about women, gays and lesbians, then they would be fighting for their rights in places where such rights are really violated -- like under Hamas in Gaza and under the mullahs in Iran. But doing so would legitimize their own society and its values and therefore completely cripple their entire identity and life purpose, and so their purported concern for women, gays and lesbians has to go out the window."
---

I don't know about this Gottheil thing... I mean, Dr. Gottheil sent his Statement to these 675 professors as a private e-mail from his college account. (It's unclear whether he sent them individually, or as mass-mailings, likely to get caught in spam filters.) There is no indication of how many actually received his unsolicited missive (vs the spam folder) or how many of the folks who did actually see it in their in box tossed it away before even reading it because they had no idea who he was. Even among the folks who did receive and actually read it, there's no saying how many saw that this was one lone professor with no human rights organization or website behind him, and tossed it away as being unproductive. (And that's only one possible reason that a person who got as far as reading it may've chosen not to reply...)

The bottom line is, counting the number of people who didn't respond to a single unsolicited e-mail from a stranger that may or may not've even made it into their "IN" box is hardly the best way to determine who does and does not care about the rights of women or gay folks in Middle Eastern countries. (If you ask me, the real discovery here is the ineffectiveness of Dr. Gottheil's methods in taking action for human rights.)

While the fact is that very few professors replied, it'd be foolish to assume any particular causation from those facts alone, especially when there are so many other possibilities...

Besides... An argument could be made that if Dr Gottheil really cared about the women and homosexuals of the Middle East, he would've cast a wider net than to only send a single e-mail to one small set of professors who'd signed one obscure petition a year and a half earlier. If he really cared, he'd've followed up with the people he solicited e-mails from. And if he really cared, he would've done something--anything--regarding this issue since.

And by the way, the same goes for every person reading this comment (all of whom obviously have "received the e-mail" about the human rights abuses Dr Gottheil wrote about, and have done... what? ...about it since...)

Maybe it's time to stop feeling smug and superior to all those lib'rul professors, and instead start talking about what YOU'VE done about this issue since reading the story about Dr Gottheil and his Statement of Concern...

I'm just sayin'...
---

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

Dr. Fred Gottheil and the "sanctimonious bigots" commenting at the Washington Examiner

In reply to: Prof calls fellow academics ‘sanctimonious bigots’ - Washington Examiner
---

Dr. Gottheil sent his Statement to these 675 professors as a private e-mail from his college account. There is no indication of how many actually received his unsolicited missive (vs the spam folder) and how many of the folks who did actually see it in their in box tossed it away before even reading it because they had no idea who he was. Then there are those who did read it, but saw that there was no rights organization affiliated with the e-mail, and ignored it as being unproductive.

The bottom line is, counting the number of people who didn't respond to a single unsolicited e-mail from a stranger that may or may not've even made it into their "IN" box is hardly the best way to determine who does and does not care about the rights of women or gay folks in Middle Eastern countries. (If you ask me, the real discovery here is the ineffectiveness of Dr. Gottheil's methods in taking action for human rights.)

What has Dr. Gottheil done for his cause since, other than excoriate his fellow professors for "their" lack of concern (obviously forgiving himself for his own lackluster effort to actually obtain those signatures.)?

What has American Thinker, FrontPage Magazine, or the Washington Examiner--or any member of their writing staff, readership, or sycophants done to help?

What have YOU done to help?

Has anyone here (or at any of those sites) posted Dr. Fred Gottheil's Statement of Concern Calling for Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians online and solicited signatures from their own readership and from the general public--right and left, liberal and conservative, muslim, gentile, atheist, or jew--rather than the relatively small subgroup that Dr Gottheil initially targeted with his piss-poor "cold call" e-mail campaign--a group who'd signed one relatively obscure petition over a year and a half earlier?

It's one thing to whine and complain and then consider yourselves so much more "moral" and "right" than the other side, but perhaps folks would take the lot of you more seriously if you actually did something yourselves regarding the issue, rather than bitch about what "they" didn't do, and what that says about "them." Perhaps it's time that some of you folks took a look in the mirror, instead.

I'm just sayin'...
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Submitted for Washington Examiner moderator approval 9/23/10, 2:46 PM (WIS blog time)
Reposted without links (and thus, without moderator review) 4:35 PM or so.
---

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

X-Post: A Statement of Concern Calling for Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians - Dr. Fred Gottheil

While the majority of those who read this post will likely not be academics from American campuses who offered your names last January to a list petitioning President Obama to reconsider our relationship with Israel, I'm curious... ...liberal, conservative or otherwise, and whatever your career and position in life; would you sign this statement?

A simple "YES" or "NO" will do, though if you're willing, I'd be most interested to find out who would/wouldn't, and why/why not.

I look forward to any/all replies...

A Statement of Concern
Calling for Support Regarding Discrimination in the Middle East against Women, Gays, and Lesbians.

This document is not a petition. It is, instead, a statement of concern addressing the problem of human rights abuses that appears to be pervasive in the Middle East. Having offered your name last January to the list of academics on American campuses who petitioned President Obama to reconsider our relationship with Israel, we ask that you now join us in expressing your concern about human rights abuses practiced against gays and lesbians and against women in many of the Middle Eastern countries, including the territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority. There are other gender-based human rights violations in the region but by concentrating on these particularly egregious ones, we will be able to focus support for the victims of these abuses, and perhaps in this way help change the environment that fosters such long-practiced violations.

This statement of concern, along with its list of academic signatories, will be put in the public domain; to be made available to our colleagues, to members of Congress, to government people in the Middle East, and to the media. To repeat: It does not call upon any persons, organizations, or governments to take specific action.

The information offered below is meant only to highlight the ideas held and practices condoned by people in authoritative positions in the Middle East. Documentation is derived from sources as widespread as United Nations agencies, survey research units, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, academic journals, NGOs such as Asylum-Law and Human Rights Watch, and from media reporting offered on the Internet, such as BBC.

Discrimination against Gays and Lesbians

Allegations and evidence of discrimination against gays and lesbians is compelling. Asylum-Law, an organization aiding asylum-seeking persons worldwide reports that treatment of gay men in Arab countries is particularly distressing. Punishment for acts of homosexuality varies. In Saudi Arabia, capital punishment – beheading – applies. Syrians convicted of practicing homosexuality serve three years’ imprisonment. Most other sources describe the physical abuse of and long-terms prison terms for gays in Egypt, the West Bank and Gaza. Specific laws against homosexuality exist in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Algeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, and Libya. The 2001 amendment to Iraq’s 1990 Penal Code made homosexual behavior between consenting adults a crime. The 1991 Iranian Constitution allows execution for sodomy. Specifically, Articles 108-113: “Sodomy is a crime, for which both partners are punished. The punishment is death if the participants are adults, of sound mind and consenting; the method of execution is for the Sharia judge to decide.” A documented testimony from a 19-year old Palestinian homosexual claims that he had been pressured by the al-Aqua Martyr’s Brigade to become a suicide bomber in order to purge his moral guilt.

Religious authority supports and even promotes these practices. According to prominent Muslim clerics, Sharia law mandates the death penalty for homosexuality. Among such authority, Cleric Sheikh Ali Amar offers that “Muslims believe that homosexual behavior is an offence against Islam and anyone who behaves this way should be sentenced to death without compassion.” Egyptian scholar Shaykh Dr. Yusuf Abdahhal al-Qaradawi, director of the Sunna and Sira Council, Qatar, cites Sharia law to declare that a Qatari Prince, ousted from political office on grounds of homosexuality, should be stoned to death. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraqis’ Shitte Muslims concurs. Kuwaiti cleric Dr. Sa’d al-‘Inzi cites article 203 of the Kuwaiti Penal Code as sanctioning death: “According to Islamic law, a homosexual should be thrown from a tall building.”

Gender Discrimination

Gender discrimination – wife beating, honor killing, and genital mutilation – against women is sanctioned by both legal and religious authority and has been planted in varying degrees into cultural habits and institutions. The legitimacy and justification for wife beating is found in the Surra 4:34: “Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others … good women are therefore obedient … and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them.”

Various clerical interpretations of this Surra range from beating doesn’t mean physical, to beating means only open-handed slaps, to beating must avoid delicate parts of the body, to beating is a beating. That clerics differ on this matter is acknowledged, but the legitimacy of and justification for wife beating is nonetheless appreciated. Dr. Muhammas al-Hajj, lecturer on Islamic faith at the University of Jordan argues that the central issue is guardianship of the family and that domination and subordination are properly gender based. Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former president of the Islamic Society of North America, answers the question “Does Islam allow wife beating?” by replying that wife beating is permissible in cases of persistent insubordination.

Algerian-born Iman Abdel Qader Bouziane was expelled from France for advocating wife beating. Professor Sabri Abd al-Rauf of Al-Azhar University argued that the beatings are intended to instill fear. Sheik abd Al-Hamid al-Muhajir explained that the Koran stipulates when a husband can beat a disobedient wife. Sheik Muhmmad al-Mussayar, an Egyptian professor at Al-Azhar University describes what kind of woman may be beaten. Sheik Yousuf al-Badri, member of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, asserts that since wife beatings are noted in the Koran and Sunna, it “means we’re allowed to beat.” Egyptian Cleric Galal al-Khatib is straightforward and blunt: “only a rod would help.”

Advocacy for female genital mutilation commands less of a consensus; its acceptance and promotion stem more from social custom than from religious instruction. But its practice in the Middle East, once thought minimal, is, in reality, widespread and expanding and a matter of much concern. The UN Commission on Human Rights, the World Health Organization, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women report that female genital mutilation has affected the lives of millions of women in Africa and the Middle East.

A 2005 UNICEF report claims an overwhelming percent of Egyptian women have undergone genital mutilation. Other sources report 60 percent for both Yemeni and Kurdish Iraqi women. There is strong circumstantial evidence of its practice in Syria and Jordan. Whether religiously prescribed or not, among rural populations most of the perpetrators and victims of female genital mutilation believe it to be religiously mandated. There is also enough authoritative religious voice to validate that view.

Clerical and government opposition to female genital mutilation is growing in the Middle East. Witness the 2006 conference at al-Azhar university sponsored by 20 esteemed clerics with its president, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qardawi, concluding that the practice “must be considered as a criminal aggression against mankind.” Yet Professor Muhammad Shamaa of the university’s Islamic Research Academy said that “it would take a long time before such an ancient custom disappears,” and admitted about the conference: “We simply did not invite those who disagree with us.”

And many Islamic clerics and educators do disagree; among them, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi who stated that “whoever finds it serving the interests of his daughters should do it, and I personally support this under the current circumstances in the modern world.” Egyptian Sheikh Mustafa al-Azhari believes that the attempt to end the practice is a Western conspiracy. Mufti Sa’id al-Hijawi of Jordan declared female circumcision to be a “noble trait accepted by Islam even though it is not a necessity.” Past rector of Al-Azhar University, Sheikh Gad al-Haq noted that since the Prophet did not ban female circumcision, it was permissible. And Umdat al-Salik, e4.3, a much referred to manual of Shafi’i Islamic law, affirms that female circumcision is obligatory.

Honor killing – murder of a female who has allegedly committed an act that shamed her family – represents yet another form of violent discrimination against women. Male family members are judge and jury. The Islamist party in the Jordanian parliament condones it as part of Islam’s code. Egypt’s Ifta’ Council of al-Azhar University issued a fatwa stating that punishment for adultery should be left to the ruler. The mufti of Gaza, Sheikh Abd al-Karim Kahlut demands the death penalty. Jordanian minister of awqaf – an Islamic foundation – is more lenient arguing that “Shari’a is clear and she should be lashed eighty times. His colleague, Hamdi Murad, advises one hundred lashes for a first offence and death by stoning thereafter. In Saudi Arabia, tenth-grade textbooks teach that it is permissible to kill adulterers. Tarrad Fayiz, a Jordanian tribal leader explains its harshness: “A woman is like an olive tree. When its branch catches woodworm, it has to be chopped off so that society stays clean and pure.”

In Jordan, Syria, and Morocco, specific articles of their penal codes condone honor killing. Morocco’s Article 418 states that murder and beatings by a husband or by his accomplice are excusable if his wife is discovered in the act of adultery. Syria’s Article 548 protects the husband from penalty in cases where his wife or sister engages in adultery. In Jordan, Article 340 states that: “he who discovers one of his female relatives committing adultery and kills, wounds, or injures one of them is exempted from any penalty.”

In 2007, 21 honor killings were reported in the West Bank and 25 in Gaza. Saed Taha, dean of Qalqilya’s College of Islamic Law, criticized these killings on the grounds that they were not administered according to Sharia law. Although articles 19, 22, and 23 of the 2003 revised Constitution of the State of Palestine specify that women shall have the same rights, liberties, and duties of men, article 7 specifies that Sharia law is the main source of all civil and religious matters.

Most Middle Eastern countries adopted the 2006 treaty concerning discrimination against women, sponsored by the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women but with provisos. In the case of Egypt, the proviso addresses the relationship between positive law and the Islamic Sharia: “The Egyptian legal system is based on a number of legislative levels, of which constitutional principles and precepts are foremost, followed by legal principles. The legislative authority is therefore bound to apply constitutional principles when enacting laws. Any violation by the legislative authorities of these principles would be considered as flouting the Constitution. In article 2, the Constitution states that the principles of the Islamic Shariah are the primary source of legislation. They are an obligation by which the legislative authorities are bound when issuing laws.” In substance, then, the proviso undermines the force of the treaty

Express Your Concern

The referenced material offered here is obviously only the tip of the discrimination iceberg. As academics who have already been a signatory to a petition declaring concern for human rights abuses practiced in one country of the Middle East, please exercise this privilege to express your concern now about the widely practiced and condoned discrimination against women, gays and lesbians in the many countries of that same region. Please join us by affirming this call for support. You can sign on to this statement by replying to this email with a one-word reply: YES. Please do so as soon as possible.

Fred Gottheil,

University of Illinois,

Urbana-Champaign

For the record, I'm an unrepentant, unabashed liberal "moonbat," and I fully support this statement with a big ol' YES. I believe there are natural/God-given human rights, and that all people who are able need to speak up in support of them throughout the world. Right is right, and whether abuses are being perpetrated by friend or foe, we have an obligation to speak up and speak out. (For the record, I believe that the relatively less life-threatening--but still very serious--human rights abuses against the rights of women, gays, and lesbians in this country also deserves our voices and our support, and I hope that Dr. Gottheil and his friends at FrontPage Magazine and the American Thinker blog will agree to speak up for them, as well. I'm just sayin'...)

What say you?

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Warning: Failure to reply to my post will be taken (by some--see links above) as proof that you don't care about human rights. (...or that you didn't actually read this post... ...or you don't have the time to reply... ...or maybe that you don't add your name to a stranger's blog, willy-nilly... ...or perhaps that you think it's a stunt designed to "prove" that one side of the political spectrum in America is somehow more "moral" and "right" than the other, and doesn't express much in the way of genuine concern for anyone's human rights... ... ...)

In fact, I really do support it, regardless of where it came from, or why... ...and I'm sincerely interested in hearing what others think. I look forward to any/all replies.
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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

In Reply: "If Fred Gottheil doesn't reply to my unsolicited e-mails, it's proof that he doesn't care about this issue."

See UPDATES, below.

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.

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.

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.):

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...)
***

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