Dissident Veteran For Peace

Published yesterday by the Palestine Chronicle:

The vitriolic attack questioned the University's relationship with Pluto generally and denigrated Overcoming Zionism.

By Roger van Zwanenberg
PalestineChronicle.com

About three weeks ago Pluto books and the University of Michigan Press - our US distributor - came under attack by Stand With Us (a Zionist lobby group) who were objecting to the publication of Overcoming Zionism by Joel Kovel which resulted in the book being withdrawn in the US. The vitriolic attack questioned the University's relationship with Pluto generally and denigrated Overcoming Zionism.

Since then the Executive Board of the University has considered the matter and issued a public statement. Joel's book has now been reinstated but they plan to review the ongoing relationship between Pluto and UMP in October.

Pluto Press's importance and presence in the US is under threat.

Joel is setting up a network to rally support for Pluto as we are determined to defend ourselves. We hope you will help and support our efforts in the US by writing to Joel and Kathy who are co-ordinating the campaign jskovel@gmail.com and Ellajaja@aol.com.

If you have your own networks, please first go through Joel and Kathy, as they are co-ordinating the campaign

In the meantime we intend to get the UK media to take notice of these events.

Warmly

Roger van Zwanenberg (Dr)
Chair & Commissioning Editor www.plutobooks.com
Pluto Press
345 Archway Road
London N6 5AA
Tel 020 8374 2192 ( Direct line)
0044 20 8374 2192 from Outside UK
Company No 4770976

For other posts on this ongoing story click here and then scroll down.

Labels: censorship, hasbara, Joel Kovel, Pluto Press, thoughtcrime, Zionism

The attack on Syria by the Israeli air force using American-supplied jets two weeks ago has been decidedly downplayed out in the mainstream American media. Just yesterday I had a friend challenge me on the veracity of the story. Perhaps, the Israelis and US Zionists were trying to pull a Cambodia. Everyone in the world knew that the US military was bombing the hell out of Cambodia, in 1969-70, the Cambodians sure knew it. Only Americans--blinded by a stupid faith in the government and the collusion of the mainstream media--were in the dark.

Today, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reports: "The political and defense establishments reacted with fury on Thursday to opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu's apparent confirmation of an Israeli operation in Syria two weeks ago." It continues: "Army Radio Labor Party secretary-general, Etan Cabel, called Netanyahu's words 'an outburst that is severe, stupid and irresponsible.' "

The attack was reported by the Syrian Arab News Agency on the day it happened. It was in the European press at least a week ago and on September 11th Syria filed a formal complaint with the United Nations.

Syria has lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations over a “flagrant violation” of its airspace last week by Israeli warplanes, which dropped munitions on its territory, AFP reported.

Syria’s UN envoy Bashar Jaafari said on September 11 that his government was “drawing attention to this flagrant Israeli violation of its airspace and to its aggression against Syrian territory”.

In identical letters to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and French Ambassador to the UN Jean-Maurice Ripert, who is currently president of the Security Council, Jaafari said the Israeli planes had crossed Syria’s northern frontier last Thursday and dropped “some munitions without managing to cause any human casualties or material damage”.

The Syrian letter, obtained by AFP, said the Jewish state had deliberately committed “other similar crimes including the bombing of Syrian civilian facilities in 2003”.

Israel and Syria remain officially at war after peace talks collapsed in 2000 over the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981.

“If the international community persists in disregarding these Israeli actions in breach of international law, it is likely to subject the region and international peace and security to serious consequences that may be difficult to control,” Jaafari noted.

The Washington Post says Israel's "silence is shrewd" and explains: "It has allowed Syria to avoid a military response and every other Arab state to pretend that nothing happened" but this is simply ridiculous Syria has not been silent and Arab and other states have no plausible deniability here. Perhaps the mission was a failure. One report says, "Syria said only that warplanes entered its airspace, came under fire from anti-aircraft defenses and dropped munitions and fuel tanks to lighten their loads while they fled." Or, perhaps, Zionists think it better to downplay another example of Israeli aggression.

See also: "Why Did Israel Attack Syria?" by Jonathan Cook.

Labels: Israel, Syria, War, Zionism

Labels: Islam

More than two weeks after it first broke on this blog, the mainstream media has now picked up the story of the University of Michigan Press' collusion with Zionists in suppressing intellectual and academic freedom in this country. Inside Higher Ed (IHE) ran the story on September 11th with the New York Sun, Michigan Daily, and the Ann Arbor News chiming in a day later. I think IHE and the Daily had the best coverage and that's not just because they were only ones to credit this blog. The good news is that UM Press is once again selling Overcoming Zionism. The bad news is that more than 550 book titles are still in serious danger of losing their only American distributor.

Concerning the e-mail from UM Press Director Phil Pochoda, wherein Pochoda first characterizes the book as "hate speech," the IHE story notes that they did reach Pochoda and he "declined to comment on the e-mail, but Kovel said it was accurate." The Daily writes:

In a statement, the University Press's executive board said it has "deep reservations" about "Overcoming Zionism," but because its contract calls for it to distribute all of Pluto Press's books, it wouldn't break the contract for that book alone.

"Such a course raises both First Amendment issues and concerns about the appearance of censorship," the board said. "As members of the University community dedicated to academic freedom and open debate among differing views, the Executive Board stands firmly for freedom of expression, and against even the appearance of censorship."

The board did say that Pluto's decision to publish "Overcoming Zionism" has led it to reconsider the University Press's 4-year-old contract with Pluto. It plans to make a decision later this fall about whether it will continue contracting with the company.

Here's some of what the American Library Association says about censorship:

What Is Censorship?

Censorship is the suppression of ideas and information that certain persons—individuals, groups or government officials—find objectionable or dangerous. It is no more complicated than someone saying, “Don’t let anyone read this book, or buy that magazine, or view that film, because I object to it! ” Censors try to use the power of the state to impose their view of what is truthful and appropriate, or offensive and objectionable, on everyone else. Censors pressure public institutions, like libraries, to suppress and remove from public access information they judge inappropriate or dangerous, so that no one else has the chance to read or view the material and make up their own minds about it. The censor wants to prejudge materials for everyone.

How Does Censorship Happen?

Censorship occurs when expressive materials, like books, magazines, films and videos, or works of art, are removed or kept from public access. Individuals and pressure groups identify materials to which they object. Sometimes they succeed in pressuring schools not to use them, libraries not to shelve them, book and video stores not to carry them, publishers not to publish them, or art galleries not to display them. Censorship also occurs when materials are restricted to particular audiences, based on their age or other characteristics.

If the state-owned University of Michigan succumbs to political pressure and effectively removes Pluto's more than 550 books from the American market because Pluto dared to publish books critical of a foreign state--apartheid Israel--then who can honestly say that this isn't a case of de facto censorship? Human rights activists and civil libertarians need to send a message, loud and clear, that this attack on intellectual and academic freedom is not going unnoticed. Wake up, people! Zionists are trying to restrict your access to ideas and information.

Write and/or call University of Michigan Press Executive Board Chairperson and University President Mary Sue Coleman and ask them to stand up for intellectual freedom and against Zionist thought control by renewing their contract with Pluto Press books. Here's the contact info:

Peggy McCracken
Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Initiatives
Rackham Graduate School
915 E. Washington St, suite 1120
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1070
Phone: (734) 764-5344
Fax: (734) 764-8163
E-mail: peggymcc@umich.edu

Mary Sue Coleman, President
University of Michigan
2074 Fleming Administration Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340
Phone: (734) 764-6270
Fax: (734) 936-3529
E-mail: presoff@umich.edu

See also: State Censorship: Handala & Hasbara

Updates:

• InsideHigherEd did a followup story on 9/12/07, read it here.
• Pluto Press in Trouble Again? & A Critique of Kovel's Book (6/17/08)

Labels: censorship, hasbara, Pluto Press, thoughtcrime, Zionism

UM Press Director Phil Pochoda has said of Joel Kovel's book Overcoming Zionism that "the issue raised by the book is not free speech but hate speech" and StandWithUs-Michigan (SwU-M) has affirmed this reading. So, here's the challenge: Do any of the folks behind these claims have the integrity to put their money where their mouths are? Show my readers up to three examples of your own choosing of "hate speech" in Kovel's book (fifty words or less each and with page numbers) and I will publish them here on this blog unedited for anyone to read. Any examples beyond three I will consider publishing but, hey, you can always publish them yourselves. I predict a definite no-show by Pochoda and although they're reading this blog I also predict a no-show by SwU-M. Accusations are cheap and integrity is rare. E-mails will be sent to Pochoda and SwU-M regarding this challenge.

Labels: censorship, hasbara, thoughtcrime, Zionism

Last Sunday, I alerted you to the one of more recent undertakings of the Zionist thought police--the threatened de facto censorship of Joel Kovel and Pluto Press. I asked you then to contact the public employees involved. Yesterday I received the text below as a comment and today Joel Kovel confirmed for me that it did come from him.

I'm, therefore, happy to report some small bit of good news on this story. Overcoming Zionism is once again available from UM Press although as of this writing the UM Press link to Kovel's book is still dead. As Joel indicates, this matter is still far from resolved but we might just be seeing a turning of the tide back in favor of intellectual freedom. So, keep spreading the word and make sure to contact Phil Pochoda and Mary Sue Coleman and tell them to stand up for intellectual freedom and against Zionist thought control (contact info on earlier blog post here).

Greetings from Joel Kovel.

I appreciate the solidarity, and welcome your help in the struggle against the Zionist Thought Police and liberal collusion therein.

But there has been an important development in this case, which you need to know about. As a result of influences unknown, UMP has somehow "uncaved". It's utterly unclear what is going on, and all the danger signs are there to be taken seriously, but at the moment, Director Pochoda has recanted and OZ is back on their list. To repeat: we are not breathing any sighs of relief, as the operative hierarchy here, from UM Press, to the mid-level UMich figures, to the top officials, to the trustees, and to the Governor of Michigan, with all the shadowy forces around them, not least the Zionist apparatus, are keeping everything very close to the vest. In a word, we know nothing, really, about how this is going to turn out. We intend to organize and fight against these forces, but first they have to reveal themselves.

I would appreciate it if you could foreground this in the blog. Pluto, in particular, is very edgy about the situation, as their survival is at stake.

Thanks,

Joel Kovel

Labels: censorship, hasbara, Joel Kovel, Pluto Press, thoughtcrime, Zionism