[antiwar-van] Fw: The case of Jewish pro-Palestinian student Dan Freeman-Maloyand York University

[Paul Browning]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tony Tracy" <tony at riseup.net>
To: <san at masses.tao.ca>
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 9:23 AM
Subject: san: The case of Jewish pro-Palestinian student Dan Freeman-Maloyand York University


> I'd like to draw folks attention yet again to the continuing case of Dan
> Freeman-Maloy, a Jewish undergraduate student at York University who is an
> outspoken supporter of Palestinian self-determination and the right of
> return for Palestinian refugees, and his three year suspension (expulsion?)
> from York University for the dubious crime of using a megaphone on campus.
> 
> Please see http://www.en-camino.org/freespeechyorku/ for more information
> and background on this case.
> 
> The University administration is digging their heels in considerably with
> respect to this case. York University President Lorna Marsden, who
> unilaterally issued a notice of suspension (and threat of trespass charges
> should he enter the York U. campus at any point in the next three years)
> without any form of prior process, has made several statements to the media
> in defence of her position on Freeman-Maloy's suspension, which she called
> "rustication, an old academic form of discipline." She said the student had
> twice used a megaphone during protests on the campus. "You can't disrupt
> the
> academy," Marsden stated to a National Post reporter. "It's all written
> down
> in rules that are very, very old. The decision comes to me. He cannot
> appeal." 
> 
> An annotated version of the letter of suspension that Freeman-Maloy
> received
> from York President Marsden is available online at
> http://www.en-camino.org/freespeechyorku/april26_2004marsden.htm
> 
> On Friday, President Marsden released a public statement, issued to the
> press and displayed on York's website at
> http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/index.asp?Article=2784 which justifies
> the
> bizarrely lengthy suspension of Freeman-Maloy by repeating the mis-truth
> that he refused to meet with university officials to discuss his case and
> indicating that therefore his "utter disregard for the rest of the academic
> community here at York warranted this unusual measure".
> 
> It is urgent that letters are sent to York President Marsden opposing the
> three year suspension of Freeman-Maloy.  Please write to President Lorna
> Marsden at presidnt at yorku.ca (no "e" between "d" and "n") and copy your
> message to freespeechyorku at yahoo.ca. 
> 
> Letters can also be postmarked to: 
> 
> Office of the President 
> York University
> 4700 Keele St. 
> Toronto, ON 
> Canada M3J 1P3 
> 
> or faxed to: 416-736-5641
> 
> (please email freespeechyorku at yahoo.ca with copies of any letters that you
> post or fax on this issue).
> 
> Below is an article written recently by Dan Freeman-Maloy with respect to
> his case:
> 
> --------
> 
> Musings of a Rusticated Student 
> 
> Daniel Freeman-Maloy, May 9, 2004 
> 
> Over the past week, I've come to a startling revelation: the President of
> York University doesn't like me very much. It's a harsh reality, but one
> that I'm being forced to come to grips with. She has me pegged as "the lead
> protagonist in two highly confrontational and disruptive protests," and
> seems set on submitting me to "rustication, an old academic form of
> discipline." Rustication, for those without an old dictionary on hand, is a
> sort of rural time-out. At the very least, she's declared that for the
> three
> years following May 1, 2004, I will "have no purpose on campus." Whether
> she's old-school enough to ensure that I live a rustic life throughout this
> period isn't yet clear. 
> 
> Now Lorna Marsden is no hero of mine, but I've really always admired her
> prudent, business-like approach to administration. Her tireless efforts to
> convert our campus into a factory for the knowledge economy have, in
> particular, been noteworthy. But alas, the respect doesn't appear to be
> mutual. And so I've been thrown into the difficult process of coming to
> terms with the fundamental deterioration of our relationship. When I first
> received notice that I was being expelled from York University on Friday,
> April 30, I didn't want to jump to any conclusions prematurely. True,
> President Marsden had written me a letter claiming definitive "authority
> over the conduct of students"; true, she'd threatened me with charges of
> trespass if I come on campus. (I had used "an unauthorized sound
> amplification device" at two unauthorized demonstrations, she explained,
> and
> would have to be punished.) But I remembered looking through the shelves of
> the first office I ever entered at York University, and seeing books by or
> about Rosa Luxemburg every other foot. Could the head of such a progressive
> school really be so authoritarian? It just didn't make sense. 
> 
> And so the (false) realization hit me: Dr. Marsden must have mistakenly
> thought that April fool's day was at the end rather than the beginning of
> the month! Self-assured, I resolved to credit her for her fine humor, and
> to
> correct the timing of her April fool's day joke for future reference. The
> threat of trespass charges still bore on my mind, however, so I decided to
> try to touch base with her off campus. 
> 
> York's Spirit Rally, scheduled for Monday, May 3, provided just the right
> opportunity. And thus I found myself at the doors of the Duke of York,
> hoping to join other students, faculty and staff at a press conference
> designed to celebrate York's unique spirit and opportunities. But - first
> things first - I wanted to clear things up with our good President. "Dr.
> Marsden," I said, as she walked up the steps of the downtown pub. "My
> name's
> Daniel Freeman-Maloy, and I just received a letter notifying me of a
> three-year expulsion from York." All of the sudden, the same security
> guards
> who sit in on our campus political meetings swarmed us, threatening to call
> the police. "But what about York's uniquely progressive spirit? What about
> your fine joke? Did you know that April fool's day was fully a month ago?
> Was this letter a 'May Day' joke?" My questions went unasked as our
> encounter was cut short; and so my doubts about the letter's friendly
> spirit
> grew stronger. 
> 
> My mind flashed back to the passage in the letter citing her authority to
> expel me: "pursuant to my authority over the conduct of students, I have
> determined that you will not be permitted to re-register". Was this for
> real? Can I really by expelled from my school by executive fiat, with no
> notice, no hearing, no avenue for appeal? Little did I know what she was
> telling reporters in the press conference: I had been rusticated. As in the
> days of old, I would be sent to the country to think about what I had done.
> 
> 
> For those who are poorly-versed in the ins and outs of rustication,
> President Marsden elaborated. "It's all written down," she explained to the
> audience, "in rules that are very, very, very old. The decision comes to
> me.
> He cannot appeal." I've always been bad at arithmetic, but doesn't three
> "verys" equal one "antiquated"? Or should I just be thankful that Marsden
> didn't find any provisions to justify a public flogging? Maybe, taking the
> lead from the public relations campaign kicked off by the press conference,
> I should explore my confusion with reference to the unique spirit of York. 
> 
> York University's mission statement describes our school as "a community of
> faculty, staff and students dedicated to . social justice and accessible
> education." With this in mind, try to understand my confusion. If it's all
> about social justice and accessible education, why am I in the process of
> deciding whether I should take the time to fight the administration's
> political repression, or work to pay off the tens of thousands of dollars
> debt that I've wracked up paying tuition? Why is Marsden so intent on
> converting a progressive school into a pet business project, and on
> treating
> its campus as her political fiefdom? Why, to stick to the immediate issue
> at
> hand, am I being expelled? 
> 
> On this last point, which for the moment is most personally pressing for
> me,
> the truth is that I don't exactly know. For starters, though, let's run
> down
> the specifics of the two demonstrations that I am alleged to have "designed
> [so as] to create threats to students' personal safety." (Such malicious
> intent! No wonder I'm being expelled!) 
> 
> On this first of these days, the administration provided space for "Israel
> Defense Forces (IDF) Appreciation Day," an event at which people sporting
> military paraphernalia congregated in one of York University's principal
> public spaces to celebrate Israeli militarism. The mayor of an illegal West
> Bank settlement led the event, which was attended by many people who have
> served in the forces. Did I help to organize a demonstration to politically
> confront this event? Certainly. I hate militarism, and feel especially
> compelled to oppose its Jewish nationalist variety, given its supposed
> connection to me. But honestly, which strikes you as more threatening:
> anti-nationalist spiels delivered via megaphone, or chanting IDF thugs
> dressed in military garb? 
> 
> That I would be singled out and punished for the events on the second day
> in
> question - March 16, 2004 - is even more puzzling. Which isn't to say that
> the day ran smoothly. In fact, what happened on that day was without
> precedent in my experience. But that I orchestrated it all is really news
> to
> me. 
> 
> The occasion of our demonstration was the first anniversary of the death of
> Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli
> bulldozer as she tried to block it from demolishing a Palestinian family's
> home in the Gaza Strip. Approximately thirty of us set up a mock
> check-point, some dressed as soldiers and some as civilians (in fact,
> unimaginative bore that I am, I had no dramatic role, and was slated to
> leaflet passersby with information about Caterpillar, the company that
> manufactures the three-story bulldozers that demolish Palestinian homes). 
> 
> Having seen that a crowd of some 150 militant Zionists had congregated
> nearby for the purpose of a counter-demonstration, we'd postponed our
> action
> for about 45 minutes to avoid a clash. But no dice - once we set up, they
> proceeded to rush our display. We were surrounded, vastly outnumbered, and
> for nearly an hour faced physical and verbal intimidation. In this context,
> my role shifted first from pamphleteering to standing in a line designed to
> separate the counter-demonstration from our own; then pre-planned roles
> gave
> way to generalized tumult. In the process, some of our activists were
> kicked
> and spat upon, and one Palestinian woman among us was told that she should
> be raped and killed. 
> 
> Certainly, I spoke and chanted through a megaphone at various points
> throughout this process, as did many others. But perhaps indicative of my
> role in generating all of the noise is the fact that it took myself and
> other organizers fully 10 minutes to walk around coordinating with each
> other to leave and go, as planned, to the local Caterpillar office, since
> no
> speaker could raise their voice above the crowd's noise for a final
> call-out. (York's media relations coordinator, Nancy White, was soon after
> quoted as saying that "People who are participating in this have strongly
> held views on an issue and we do want to encourage them to participate and
> take part in democratic activities. I think we achieved that." The
> administration made no reference to my conduct until I received this most
> recent letter.) 
> 
> All of that said, I don't think the deterioration of my relationship with
> President Marsden's administration can be attributed solely to the events
> of
> these two days - assuming, of course, that this isn't all a prolonged May
> Day joke. After all, it's safe to say that we've been politically at odds
> throughout the year. After Marsden introduced Israeli Minister Natan
> Sharansky as a champion of human rights, I publicly denounced the event as
> racist. After she clapped gleefully for Canadian diplomat Michael Bell's
> speech, I explained to the audience why I thought it was useless. As she
> scrambled to further the role of wealthy investors on campus through the
> York University Foundation, I participated in a campaign to demand that an
> abusively racist employer be removed from its board. And so on. 
> 
> Before my head gets too big, however, it's important for me to draw
> attention to the fact that I'm a political novice, and for this expulsion
> to
> be solely about me seems implausible. I'm an inexperienced organizer and,
> to
> be blunt, this diminishes my political efficacy profoundly. I was attracted
> to York University from the University of Toronto by the dynamism of York's
> social justice community, and this community's more rooted activists, and
> the foundations they have laid, are the real basis for progressive politics
> at York - tumultuous or otherwise. It is absolutely necessary, then, to
> view
> my expulsion in a broader light, situated on an escalating continuum of
> political repression by York's current administration. 
> 
> All of this needs to be framed by York's recent political history in
> general, and last year's major upsurge of student activism in particular.
> Facing a strong anti-war movement on campus last year, President Marsden
> responded fiercely, bringing mounted police onto campus for the first time
> ever, arresting three prominent organizers of a March 5 student strike, and
> beginning to slap prohibitively high "security" fees on progressive
> speaking
> events. This year, her administration has continued with this process of
> repression, moving on to ban tabling and leafleting in various public
> spaces
> on campus and to otherwise stifle student dissent. Her administration also
> intervened heavy-handedly to allow for York's traditionally progressive
> student government to be overrun by the Stockwell Day cheerleading squad,
> who summarily postponed elections. 
> 
> Marsden quite openly wants to convert York into just another elite
> university, freed from the stigma of striking workers, uppity students, and
> challenges to her administration's authority. And it is in this light that
> my expulsion makes perfect sense. The intimidating precedent set by the
> expulsion of a student activist resonates, especially on a campus where the
> most active elements of the student body are non-status students
> particularly vulnerable to repression. It is the threat of this precedent,
> rather than the immediate personal or political effects of my removal from
> campus, that is most importantly at issue here. 
> 
> The setting of a precedent for political expulsion of students would be yet
> another step in the process of creating President Marsden's envisioned York
> Incorporated. And this is why those with a different vision for our campus
> have, I think, a significant stake in blocking it. By now, even if this
> does
> turn out to be joke, it's run on long enough that I have no choice but to
> pursue legal recourse, and am delighted to be doing so with the help of the
> amazing folks at Roach, Schwartz and Associates. As for the political side
> of things, immediately after the York Free Speech Committee publicized its
> email address, we were flooded with messages of support. We appreciate this
> immensely, and hope that the flow of letters of outrage to York's
> administration will continue. We thank everybody for the support they have
> provided, and will keep people posted as the campaign continues. Whether
> for
> bad humor or for rampant authoritarianism, President Marsden needs to be
> called on her conduct. 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> SAN mailing list
> SAN at masses.tao.ca
> https://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/san
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/antiwar-van/attachments/20040510/fe349a1e/attachment.html>