DePaul University College of Law Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni is scheduled to deliver the keynote address to a gathering of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations February 26 at the Islamic Foundation of Villa Park, 300 W. Highridge Road.
The Council describes itself as the U.S.’ largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. Bassiouni is the director of DePaul’s International Human Rights Law Institute.
M. Cherif Bassiouni is a distinguished research professor of law emeritus at DePaul University College of Law and president emeritus of the law school’s International Human Rights Law Institute. He also is president of the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences in Siracusa, Italy, and honorary president of the International Association of Penal Law in Paris, France.
Bassiouni has served the United Nations in a number of capacities, including as co-chair of the Committee of Experts to draft the Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of Torture (1977); member, then chairman, of the Security Council's Commission to Investigate War Crimes..
DePaul University Political Correctness Faces Trial
EXCERPT:
... DePaul University in Chicago is one of the fastest growing universities in the country. It has become the largest Catholic—affiliated university in America. Muslim and Arab students are one of the segments of DePaul's student population that has seen the greatest increase in numbers in recent years. Although no figures are available, these students are an important source of revenue for the University, and many may well pay full tuition, making their attendance particularly lucrative.
Klocek has lost his teaching position and school—paid health insurance benefits, and faces a bleak future due to his chronic health problems. He is guilty of a thought—crime, challenging the pro—Palestinian, anti—Israel mindset which has come to dominate the DePaul campus Klocek's challenge to this new campus orthodoxy occurred in a cafeteria during a student activities fair last September. For 15—20 minutes, Klocek, who is Catholic, not Jewish, confronted a group of 8 students manning two tables for the groups Students for Justice in Palestine, and United Muslims Moving Ahead. Klocek says he argued that the materials the groups were disseminating were one—sided. On this, he is indisputably correct. Neither group pretends to provide balanced information on the Israeli Palestinian conflict. That of course, is perfectly understandable and acceptable. These are advocacy groups.
Klocek says the discussion was heated at times, and he admits to raising his voice. He says he told the students that Palestinians were Arabs who lived in the West Bank and Gaza — that they had no unique national historical identity. He challenged one student's assertion that Israel was behaving like the Nazis. He stated that while most Muslims were not terrorists, pretty much all terrorists these days were Muslim. This statement had originally been made by the manager of an Arab news channel, and had recently been quoted in the Chicago Sun Times. It has the incidental merit of being true.
Clearly, the students were not used to such a challenge. DePaul in fact has gone out of its way in recent years to make the campus dialogue 'safe' for Muslim and Arab students. The University administration warned the campus community after the September 11th attacks that offensive speech hostile to Muslims would not be tolerated...cnt...