Penn State hands Jihadists another victory

gwayneco · Apr 23, 2006

They should re-name themselves the Nitwit Lions.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/04/04-21-06tdc/04-21-06dnews-13.asp

PSU censors exhibit

By Jessica Remitz
Collegian Staff Writer

For Penn State student Josh Stulman, years of hard work ended in disappointment yesterday when the university cancelled his upcoming art exhibit for violation of Penn State's policies on nondiscrimination, harassment and hate.

Three days before his 10-piece exhibit -- Portraits of Terror -- was scheduled to open at the Patterson Building, Stulman (senior-painting and anthropology) received an e-mail message from the School of Visual Arts that said his exhibit on images of terrorism "did not promote cultural diversity" or "opportunities for democratic dialogue" and the display would be cancelled.

The exhibit, Stulman said, which is based mainly on the conflict in Palestinian territories, raises questions concerning the destruction of Jewish religious shrines, anti-Semitic propaganda and cartoons in Palestinian newspapers, the disregard for rules of engagement and treatment of prisoners, and the indoctrination of youth into terrorist acts.

"I'm being censored and the reason for censoring me doesn't make sense," Stulman said.

Charles Garoian, professor and director of the School of Visual Arts, said Stulman's controversial images did not mesh with the university's educational mission.

The decision to cancel the exhibit came after reviewing Penn State's Policy AD42: Statement on Nondiscrimination and Harassment and Penn State's Zero Tolerance Policy for Hate, he wrote.

Garoian could not be reached by The Daily Collegian for further comment by press time yesterday.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon wrote in an e-mail message that "there are other issues involved in the display that has caused a problem, issues that have nothing to do with the content of the painting." Mahon wrote that he did not know all the details.

"We always encourage those who are offended by free speech to use their own constitutional right to free speech to make their concerns known," Mahon wrote. "This is an educational institution and people should embrace opportunities to inform one another and the public. ... We don't have a right to hide art."

Stulman said the exhibit, which is sponsored by Penn State Hillel, aims to create awareness on campus about the senselessness of terrorism and drew inspiration from images that have appeared in the public through newspapers and television.

He said he was shocked at the university's decision to cancel the exhibit and that he has tried to meet with Garoian on numerous occasions to discuss his artwork.

"It's not about hate. I don't hate Muslims. This is not about Islam," Stulman said. "This is about terrorism impacting the Palestinian way of life and Israel way of life."

Stulman said advertisements for the event were defaced in the Patterson and School of Visual Arts buildings, one of which had a large swastika on it.

Stulman, who is Jewish, said he felt threatened and abused by the Nazi symbol and is concerned for his artwork and his personal well-being.

Garoian also wrote that exhibit space in the School of Visual Arts is reserved for students and faculty, not groups with a particular agenda.

Stulman said he created his paintings on his own and he approached Penn State Hillel in February to help with advertising costs and food for the opening. He said the School of Visual Arts did not object to his earlier exhibit, also sponsored by Hillel.

Tuvia Abramson, director of Penn State Hillel, said while Hillel sponsored the Stulman's exhibit, the group had nothing to do with his message or content.

"We don't have a political agenda except to support the voice of Jewish students," he said.

Abramson said Hillel is exploring other venues for Stulman's exhibits to ensure his message does not go unnoticed.

"It's about opening eyes and challenging viewpoints," Abramson said. "Artistic expression is the basis for creativity -- but here, it was blocked."

--Collegian staff writers Meaghan Haugh and Devon Lash contributed to this article.
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wizkid83 · Apr 23, 2006

I agree that censorship is wrong and fully support the guys art to be seeing because that's what it is. Art is suppose to seen, create controversy and debate. But I don't think gwayneco should've said Jihadist in his title since it's inflamatory and is used only to bait others into harmful discussions.

Mr. Brightside · Apr 23, 2006

In hindsight, Osama really did defeat Dubya.

tigermission1 · Apr 23, 2006

Damn! And I thought we had broken the Jihadist win-streak

halfbreed · Apr 23, 2006

tigermission1 said:

Damn! And I thought we had broken the Jihadist win-streak
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We should fire JVG!!!

tigermission1 · Apr 23, 2006

halfbreed said:

We should fire JVG!!!
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Yes, Phil Jackson is our only hope, he can use his Zen skills to manipulate and defeat the Jihadists.

FranchiseBlade · Apr 23, 2006

How lame. The university is setting a horrible example here. Censorship is as wrong as it can be.

SamFisher · Apr 23, 2006

Jihadists RPI = infinity

CreepyFloyd · Apr 23, 2006

Good to see that the Jihadists are back on the winning track

If he wanted to show terrorism in Palestine/Israel maybe he should've shown both sides and been a bit more objective and then the university might not have cancelled his exhibit, because there's a lot more Israeli terrorism against Palestinians than the other way around.

BabyClutch · Apr 23, 2006

CreepyFloyd said:

Good to see that the Jihadists are back on the winning track

If he wanted to show terrorism in Palestine/Israel maybe he should've shown both sides and been a bit more objective and then the university might not have cancelled his exhibit, because there's a lot more Israeli terrorism against Palestinians than the other way around.
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It shouldnt matter if the exibit is one-sided. Thats art. It shouldnt have to be objective and the university shouldnt have canceled his exibit, even if he does have some sort of hatin agenda (like gwayneco).

CreepyFloyd · Apr 23, 2006

BabyClutch said:

It shouldnt matter if the exibit is one-sided. Thats art. It shouldnt have to be objective and the university shouldnt have canceled his exibit, even if he does have some sort of hatin agenda (like gwayneco).
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I'm not saying what the university did was right or wrong, they got the right to make their own decisions...I was just pointing out that if the student wanted to get his exhibit shown, the university probably would've let him go through with it if it had been more balanced...whether you agree or disagree with that is not my concern, I was just discussing how he could've increased the chances of getting his exhibit shown since there was some apparent controversy surrounding it

No Worries · Apr 23, 2006

Stulman, who is Jewish, ...

A shocker!!!!!!

gwayneco · Apr 24, 2006

Now this is interesting:

http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10233

Muslim Students at Penn Sponsor Nazi
By Jonathan Calt Harris

FrontPageMagazine.com | October 9, 2003

This week the University of Pennsylvania’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) is celebrating its “Islam Awareness Week.” For the keynote address on Thursday, October 9, the MSA invited “Reverend” William W. Baker, a former chairman of a racist and anti-Semitic organization, the Populist Party.[1]

Baker, the founder and director of Christians and Muslims for Peace (CAMP) will be one of two invited speakers and the first non-Muslim ever invited to speak at this annual week-long event.[2]

Baker’s selection as speaker is bad enough, but the use of university funds to pay for it is a scandal; the Office of the Chaplain and the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life helped MSA come up with nearly $5,000 for the week-long program.[3]

Baker was in the news in 2002 when he was fired by Rev. Robert Schuller of Crystal Cathedral Ministries,[4] following an exposé in the Orange County Weekly, for his ties to neo-Nazism and his anti-Semitic writings. (Schuller’s California-based Crystal Cathedral is perhaps best known for its nationally syndicated television program “The Hour of Power.”)[5]

The weekly’s investigation revealed that Baker had served as the Populist Party’s chairman in 1984 and organized its convention that year. The Populist Party was an initiative of Willis Carto, the well-known neo-Nazi figure also known for founding the Institute for Historical Review, a group devoted to Holocaust denial,[6] and publisher of the nation’s foremost anti-Semitic newspaper, The SPOTLIGHT (now reorganized as the American Free Press).

Baker has a long record of anti-Semitism; for example, his self-published 1982 diatribe, “Theft of a Nation,” called for the dismantling of the “Zionist State.”[7] In a 1983 speech to the racist Christian Patriot Defense League in Missouri, Baker referred to the Reverend Jerry Falwell as “Jerry Jewry” (for his friendliness to Jews), and his disgust at traveling to New York City, getting off the plane to meet, “pushy, belligerent American Jews.”[8]

To accusations of his neo-Nazi ties, Baker responds that he “never supported the views of Willis Carto.” He does acknowledge being chairman of the Populist Party but says it was only for a short time and claims he “publicly resigned due to infiltration from various racist individuals and organizations.”[9]

But this defense is spurious. The Populist platform distributed at 1984 convention included provisions calling for the repeal of sections of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the restoration of segregation laws.[10] Baker appeared as a guest on the Carto-backed “Radio Free America” program.[11] His lecture to the Christian Patriot Defense League in Missouri included numerous citations to the The SPOTLIGHT.[12]

Baker had himself called “Dr. Baker” by colleagues at the Crystal Cathedral for his “graduate study” in Jerusalem and Oxford but the exposé could not confirm he had engaged in any graduate study of any kind. Baker also called himself “professor of ancient history and sacred literature” but all evidence suggested he only taught Christian subjects for three years after he graduated from Ozark Bible College in Joplin, Missouri.[13]

Baker’s most recent book, More in Common Than You Think (1998), claims to map “the common ground between Islam and Christianity” and is promoted by such militant Islamic organizations as the Islamic Society of North America. Stephen Schwartz, an expert on militant Islam, finds it clearly “intended to bring together fringe Christians and extremist Muslims.”[14]

A review of Baker’s work reveals that he often glosses over critical differences between the Christianity and Islam. The CAMP website minimalizes the mistreatment of women in Islam and denies the threat of fundamentalist Islam.[15] Baker’s lectures at Crystal Cathedral so blatantly ignored the divinity of Jesus that it offended several moderate Protestant pastors who attended.[16]

Baker promotes himself as an “inter-faith leader” but his inter-faith work seems to be limited to a close relationship with Ahmad Kuftaro, the grand mufti of Damascus and a functionary of the Assad regime who parrots its line. (Kuftaro, for example, called the war in Iraq an “American, British, and Zionist aggression” and called on all forms of “resistence” from Muslims, “including martyrdom operations.”)[17]

Islam Awareness Week co-chairman, UPenn junior Anjum Cheema, stated recently, “The main purpose is to get a big non-Muslim audience to come out and hear what Islam is all about,” he said.[18] Baker’s purpose would seem to be quite different: misrepresenting both Christianity and Islam in an effort to build an anti-Semitic alliance.
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RocketMan Tex · Apr 24, 2006

Off tackle left
Off tackle right
Incomplete Pass
PUNT!

Jackfruit · Apr 24, 2006

gwayneco said:

Now this is interesting:

http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10233
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Good for The University of Pennsylvania MSA for not backing down to censorship and PC. I'm all for a free exchange of ideas, controversial or not.

Hey Gwayneco...join me in applauding the University of Pennsylvania for not being cowards like Penn State.

FranchiseBlade · Apr 24, 2006

CreepyFloyd said:

I'm not saying what the university did was right or wrong, they got the right to make their own decisions...I was just pointing out that if the student wanted to get his exhibit shown, the university probably would've let him go through with it if it had been more balanced...whether you agree or disagree with that is not my concern, I was just discussing how he could've increased the chances of getting his exhibit shown since there was some apparent controversy surrounding it
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He shouldn't have to comprimise his art to make it more blanaced to get it shown. That is exactly what is wrong with this whole thing. Art shouldn't be required to be nuetral in order to be able to shown to an audience.

insane man · Apr 24, 2006

does frontpagemag really have nothing better to do than go after college activists?

SamFisher · Apr 24, 2006

tigermission1 · Apr 24, 2006

I guess it's better to be safe than sorry...

CreepyFloyd · Apr 24, 2006

FranchiseBlade said:

He shouldn't have to comprimise his art to make it more blanaced to get it shown. That is exactly what is wrong with this whole thing. Art shouldn't be required to be nuetral in order to be able to shown to an audience.
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I don't think he should either, but if he wanted to show it on campus, he should've conformed to the university rules and regulations...the university has the right to allow or disallow it as well....if he didn't wanna compromise, he should've taken it off campus and I'm sure there would've been plenty of zionist patrons who would've helped him out as well.

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