University Insulted by Holocaust Views

[The Retard]

University Insulted by Holocaust Views (http://www.foxchicago.com/_ezpost/data/35340.shtml)

University Insulted by Holocaust Views

(02.07.06- AP) — Northwestern University's president says he's embarrassed by statements from one of the school's professors denying that the Holocaust ever happened.

Engineering professor Arthur Butz recently commended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent assertion that the Holocaust is a myth.

Butz has made similar statements in the past.

Northwestern President Henry Bienen called Butz' statement and his previous remarks denying the Holocaust "a contemptible insult." But Bienen says Butz has a right to free speech. But he says Butz' views don't represent the school's beliefs and that he's never discussed them in class.

[The Retard]

Butz’s denial of Holocaust irritates NU (http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vnews/display.v/ART/43e844a80421a)
Tenured professor’s views anger students, faculty, but no action can be taken

by Jasett Chatham

February 07, 2006

A Northwestern professor’s support for the Iranian president’s denial of the Holocaust is angering students and faculty across the university.

McCormick Prof. Arthur Butz recently backed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in comments published by several Iranian news agencies. Calling the Holocaust a myth, Ahmadinejad said Israel should no longer exist as a country. The remarks are causing global controversy.

“I congratulate him on becoming the first head of state to speak out clearly on these issues and regret only that it was not a Western head of state,” Butz said. His comments were reprinted in Saturday’s Chicago Tribune.

Butz’s statements circulated campus through student listservs, includes ones through Hillel Cultural Life and Shepard Residential College. One widespread e-mail asked students to sign a petition calling for the university to take action and prevent Butz from causing future embarrassment.

Butz did not return phone calls or e-mails asking for his comment.

In a statement released Monday, University President Henry Bienen said the university cannot take action against the tenured professor because Butz has kept his views out of the classroom and unaffiliated with the school.

“We cannot take action based on the content of what Butz says regarding the Holocaust — however odious it may be — without undermining the vital principle of intellectual freedom that all academic institutions serve to protect,” Bienen wrote.

Stuart Loren, a Weinberg sophomore, created the petition against Butz on Saturday after reading the professor’s statements in the Tribune. The petition has about 200 signatures.

“The importance of the petition is not so much whether he is fired or not, but to make a loud response from the Jewish community and the university as a whole,” said Adam Dorsky, a Communication freshman who signed the petition.

Loren said he hopes the petition will encourage NU to clarify its standard of conduct for faculty and make wiser decisions when giving tenure to professors.

“Northwestern should not serve as a forum or haven for the spread of hatred or historical inaccuracy,” Loren said.

Butz’ stance is nothing new. In 1976, just two years receiving his tenure, he published book denying the Holocaust titled “The Hoax of the Twentieth Century.” Since, his views have been published through various articles and speeches.

His latest statements have reverberated beyond NU’s campus. Since Saturday, Loren has received e-mails from NU parents, alumni and a Holocaust survivor.

“I think we’re forming a respectful and civilized platform to hold a dialogue on,” Loren said. “I’m glad people are being respectful.”

For many, the appropriate limits of free speech remain the salient issue. Some, like Chabad House Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein, define the professor’s message as “hate speech.”

“The pain and hurt associated with this is beyond words,” Klein said. “I just want to sit down and cry every time I think about it.” Rabbi Josh Feigelson from the Fiedler Hillel Center has also issued a response condemning Butz’ comments.

Aside from signing the petition, some Jewish students in McCormick also refuse to take courses that Butz teaches.

“I would never take a class with him; it would be very uncomfortable to take a class with someone who denies the Holocaust,” said Alex Thaler, a McCormick sophomore.

Students have taken action against Butz roughly every five years since he first published his book, said Prof. Peter Hayes, chairman of NU’s German department. Hayes, who teaches History of the Holocaust, describes Butz as “a crank and a fool.”

“I just hope people will not overreact to this,” Hayes said. “He loves the attention and why should we give it to him? This is how he publicizes his crazy views and we should just treat them with the contempt they deserve.”

A community forum on Holocaust denial will take place tonight at 8 p.m. in room 212 of the Fiedler Hillel Center.

[Starr]

butz. That sounds like a possible jewish name.

Since he has even written a book about this in the past I am shocked the guy still has a job.(because he is a jew, making this a little more acceptable, somehow?:confused: )

His latest statements have reverberated beyond NU’s campus. Since Saturday, Loren has received e-mails from NU parents, alumni and a Holocaust survivor.

A holocaust survivor. but of course! They are always there when they are needed. Very convienient, itz.
Loren said he hopes the petition will encourage NU to clarify its standard of conduct for faculty and make wiser decisions when giving tenure to professors.

In other words they need to make clear what are acceptable views for someone to hold not only while they are on the job, but also outside of it as well. Does ANYONE at the school have a problem with that line of thinking? We are only hearing about the usual people who oppose this guy. Are there also people who do not, that just don't get mentioned, as they usually don't in article like this. Are they afraid to defend a, gasp, holocaust denier, do they not care?

The pain and hurt associated with this is beyond words,” Klein said. “I just want to sit down and cry every time I think about it.” Rabbi Josh Feigelson from the Fiedler Hillel Center has also issued a response condemning Butz’ comments.

Yeah, it makes me want to cry too. It makes me want to cry that someone wouldn't tell this kike to STFU, and that they are tired of the neverending violin. What the hell is he whining about anyway, people are "outraged by the hate" I guess like a typical jew it is just difficult to get through an entire day without bitching and crying about some type of hate they are facing.:rolleyes:

[The Retard]

Does ANYONE at the school have a problem with that line of thinking?

Yes.

Stuart Loren, a Weinberg sophomore, created the petition against Butz on Saturday after reading the professor’s statements in the Tribune. The petition has about 200 signatures.

That is a lot, yes?

[Berianidze]

This isn't a surprise at all; I had a classmate in a lecture of about 350+ students, in which one presented a rather satisfactory holocaust denial presentation, and he the professor explicitly told him to shut up and sit down. I'm not a holocaust revisionist, but I know how irksome it can be to have your ideas and beliefs marginalized in a liberal democratic society; while I would concede that it's considerably more difficult being a National Socialist in America, both radical left and right wing advocates have been marginalized and basically ostracized from participating in any serious political discussion within the mainstream American political culture.

[Jimbo Gomez]

How odd that while every day there are fewer warvets left, more holocaust survivors appear to turn up.

[Olin D. Johnston]

How odd that while every day there are fewer warvets left, more holocaust survivors appear to turn up.

It makes you think! With so many supposed "Holocaust Survovors", how many jews could the Third Reich have possibly killed?

[il ragno]

How odd that while every day there are fewer warvets left, more holocaust survivors appear to turn up.

It's a growth industry - where've you been, man?

Besides, this is nothing. Wait a few decades, when we start hearing from the 135-year-old Holocaust survivors. And will their memories be crystal-clear on even the tiniest details!

[Arthur Daley]

Its enough to fundamentally unsettle me that any historical event simply because of the action of rebuttal is immediately flooded with destructive rancour to the total exclusion of any sense of logic. Or to the extent that common sense is treated with contempt...

[Crowley]

It's a growth industry - where've you been, man?

Besides, this is nothing. Wait a few decades, when we start hearing from the 135-year-old Holocaust survivors. And will their memories be crystal-clear on even the tiniest details!

That would be children of holocaust survivors.
:rolleyes: