Although unwilling to directly debate Bret Stephens regarding Stephens’ purported “pinkwashing,” Professor Schreier offered his thoughts in a closed session “talk back” two days later and in his recent opinion piece in the Miscellany News. (09.28.16: “Bret Stephens’ ‘Pinkwashing” Ignores Israeli State Violence.”). For those of you who find it difficult to follow Prof. Schreier’s tortured logic, here is his message in distilled form:
“Dear LGBTQ Community: Although those of you living in the Arab Middle East and many other Muslim-dominant countries are at constant risk of imprisonment, torture and death (including by such choice means as being tossed off roofs or hanged from cranes), not to worry. I am doing my best to convince students and future leaders of the world that it is racist even to mention such things. Indeed, I am pushing them to focus instead on demonizing and vilifying the one nation in the Middle East where you can live openly and be true to yourselves, Israel. And I do this because of all the horrible things that Israel does to Palestinians–you know, the big bad security fence (that almost eliminated the suicide bombings that plagued Israel in the Second Intifada) and the usurping of Palestinian water (never mind that due largely to Israeli efforts, the Palestinian water supply in the West Bank has become much more abundant and technologically advanced than it was prior to 1967). And of course, there is that “low-octane genocide” accusation that I have been known to fling–notwithstanding that the Palestinian population continues to grow exponentially. Nope, not to worry. After all, who knows, someday the Arab and Muslim-dominant nations might change their homophobic ways and, if not, I am sure you don’t mind being sacrificed for the greater good of eliminating the world’s only Jewish state.”
It would indeed be funny were it not so terribly sad that at Vassar, Professor Schreier is the only faculty member teaching courses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Amen.
OutstandIng! Bravo for undressing the popular lie. Vassar is all the worse off for enduring such nonsense by its “esteemed” faculty.
The pinkwashing accusation is an insult to true academic debate. It is akin to the schoolyard logic of a 10 year old bully who knows he has lost the argument. So he retreats to such brilliant retorts as “I know you are but what am I,” and “I’m rubber you’re glue.” It reflects badly on the academy that tenured academics like Puar and Schrier practice this infantile form of truthwashing.
Excellent response to the extremely one-sided propaganda of the professor.
Vassar’s reputation in the real world is suffering miserably as a result of the continual coverage of the de-evolution of free thought on campus.
All sides are entitled to their say. However, the school seems to have lost is way, no longer working to have students think through their positions or research from first hand sources.
Laurie Josephs’ letter is right on the mark. No one who boasts that his class is not designed to present an objective view of a two-sided conflict deserves to to teach the only course at Vassar College that directly addresses the mid-East conflict. Schreier is not an academic, he is an advocate and a cowardly one at that.
Vassar has a great drama department; perhaps Schreirer could be an advocate in residence. There, he could present his gross distortions and loathing of the Jewish State in the form of a fictional drama, without fear of being confronted by anything inconvenient, like historical facts.
As long as Schreirer is allowed to preach and not teach about the mid-East conflict, with no competing views presented in the classroom to refute his blatant biases, Vassar will continue to have the dubious distinction of being among the top 10 anti-Semitic colleges in the country.
Megan Tallmer
Class of 1973