Ariel Beery of Columbia writes to emphasize that in his view the problem is not Massad per se, but the entire wildly ideological and intolerant Columbia Middle Eastern Studies Department. Ariel has also started a blog, focusing on the controversy at Columbia, that corrects several errors that have appeared in media accounts of the controversy.
And Ragout finds that Massad’s “scholarship” creates gems like this one: Such practices [as the torture of Abner Louima by NYC police] clearly demonstrate that white American male sexuality exhibits certain sadistic attributes in the presence of non-white men and women over whom white Americans (and Brits) have government-sanctioned racialised power.Perhaps Massad is lucky that he has come under such close public scrutiny–maybe he will succeed in becoming a “free speech martyr” and distract Columbia from basing its tenure decision on his writings.
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