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Michael Ross: Welcome to the University of Victoria, a.k.a. Che Guevara U
National Post
Feb 3, 2012 – 7:00 AM ET
| Last Updated: Feb 2, 2012 4:36 PM ET
ADRIAN LAM/Postmedia News
Students take a break from studying beside a fountain at the University of Victoria in Victoria.
- Comments
- inShare2
By Michael Ross
At an espionage symposium at the University of Victoria in 2011, I
spoke after a history professor who gave a lecture on the history of the
CIA. I realize the CIA has had its share of shady moments, but this was
an hour-long diatribe that could have been written by Fidel Castro.
When I took the lectern, I told the audience that I’d be talking about
the world of espionage, minus the politics, seeing as they’d endured
enough ideological indoctrination for one day.
Were I asked to define the mission of a university, I would say it is
the pursuit of truth and the dissemination of knowledge through
research and teaching. Universities should enjoy autonomy as
institutions, governing their own affairs internally and making their
own decisions on academic matters. Having said that, some university
departments have discarded the ideals of eternal truth in favour of
mindless relativism and anti-Americanism/anti-Zionism; essentially
existing as moral dead zones where faculty do little more than indulge
their basest political biases and engage in what I can only describe as
ivory-tower intellectual onanism.
Take for instance, the University of Victoria’s Social Justice
Studies Department. (On the departmental website, a nostalgic photo of
Che Guevara fades in and out, and readers are reminded that UVic is
situated on the “territory of the Coast and Straits Salish people.”) A
quick scan of the event list for February includes presentations on the
gendered politics of militarization and globalization, the question as
to whether the global justice movement is colonial, and of course that
“social justice” staple that appears with the frequency of a bad penny:
“Israel’s Blockade of Gaza — Canada’s Role.”
That’s right. Syria’s civil war, in which thousands have been killed,
including hundreds of children tortured and murdered, apparently is a
non-issue on campus. Iran’s nuclear ambitions and terrorism-sponsoring
in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria aren’t a priority. Robert
Mugabe’s megalomaniacal destruction of Zimbabwe is off the syllabus, and
Nigeria’s worsening religious-ethnic bloodshed is outré.
What is important to the UVic Social Justice Studies Department,
however, is Ehab Latoyef — this being the Captain Ehab of the “Freedom
Waves to Gaza aid flotilla” — who will be speaking at the university
later this month. The university describes Mr. Lotayef as a
“Montreal-based poet and long-time solidarity activist, who was on board
the Canadian humanitarian aid boat, the Tahrir, which was heading to
Gaza when it was hijacked by the Israeli navy in international waters.”
This is what the university considers social justice: A ridiculous
pantomime that sailed last November to ostensibly break the Israeli
blockade of Gaza, but instead made fools of themselves after the UN
Inquiry found that Israel’s blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza is entirely
legal under international and maritime law.
It’s a sad reflection on any university that it has allowed its core
principles to be subsumed into a self-perpetuating political and
cultural subset of its faculty that is less intent on illuminating young
minds than perpetuating their own ideological control of the syllabus.
National Post
Michael Ross is a former deep-cover officer with the Israel Secret Intelligence Service (Mossad).
Canada, Full Comment
Tags: flotilla, Gaza, Israel, Michael Ross, social justice, universities, UVic, Victoria
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Showing 20 of 134 comments
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Higher education was degraded when areas of study were called
social sciences, implying that they were science. They are nothing
of the sort. In most cases they are ideology masquerading as
academic disciplines. “Social Justice Studies” is a perfect example
of this. -
Yes dear, you get that degree in The Influences of Greek
Philosophy on European Feudal Social Structures, with a minor in Latvian
Folk Dancing and …and…and …what? You got a plan for that? The gas
Bar at Cdn Tire might hire you if you do not tell them about your
degree. -
-
Mr Ross might have been a
deep-cover officer but he certainly is not a deep-thinker. His is the kind of
criticism for the sake of criticism. Two examples: 1) How did he go from a
University
as a place for “the pursuit of truth” to a place “of eternal truth” in
the same paragraph? Any conclusion from that false premise (eternal
truth) must be false. 2) The story that “the UN Inquiry found that
Israel’s blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza is entirely legal under
international
and maritime law” is Mr Ross’s story, and he knows that. That inquiry
had a very controversial background because of its biased participants.
The more reliable story that was not mentioned is that a less
controversial report by UN independent experts did find that “The
blockade of Gaza continues to violate international law” (http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEv….And by the way, the blockade is illegal because it punishes innocent civilians.
That is precisely what the Canadian Boat to Gaza argues.Attend
the lecture in your pursuit for truth. Otherwise, Mr. Ross, I think you
will be better off going back to deep-cover. -
I don’t know why I’m bothering to reply to what will almost
certainly be a hit and run from someone who hasn’t a clue what he’s
talking about, but here goes.1. Given the absence of
eternal truth, is there still any question that universities should at
least be involved in the pursuit of truth?
2. Your claim that
the second report was less reported is true. It was less reported
because it was only a commentary on the original Palmer Report, which
ruled the blockade to be legal. Also, it’s independence was called
into question because Richard Falk, one of the more notorious
anti-Semites in the the UN (isn’t that a tough position to earn) was on
the ‘independent’ panel. You are right about it being less
controversial. If I went to Damascus or Gaza or Tehran I could
shout ‘Death to Israel, Death to the Jews’ all day without anybody
finding my words controversial. Like your ‘independent’ report, it
wouldn’t be reasonable or right.
The blockade is legal, and the fact that civilians are inconvenienced…not punished, is regrettable, but still legal.- 2 hours ago
- in reply to npagliccia
- 1 Like
-
As I’m sitting here contemplating my navel I remember when I
first became aware of the existence of universities and even then
Liberal Arts, as it was properly called, was looked upon as the last
refuge of disenchanted young people terrified of losing mommy and
daddy’s financial support. About the only thing the courses qualified
them to do was to meddle in the social affairs of the general population
and seek out the highest paying jobs with the least qualifications
and need to work. Sadly the majority of Liberal Arts teachers are
graduates from the very same courses resulting in a form of intellectual
inbreeding thereby resulting in even more retarded growth in
intellectual ability. I suppose one could say that Liberal Arts is a
prime example of intellectual Darwinism taking place. -
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-
ahhh a breath of fresh air , thank you Mr Ross 🙂
When
I was in school it was never welcomed to challenge any teacher or prof
on the material he/she was teaching in fact you could quickly go from
being the darling of the class to the classroom goat that the teacher
would love to kick. ( metaphorically speaking )
The only consolation
is when science proves I was right and the nonsencial garbage that
was being taught to me was wrong ,,, it only took 25 years:PAnyways
when I took my argument to my parents , my father told me ” regardless
if I am right , the purpose of a student is to listen and regurgitate
everything they are taught in school. It does not matter if it is
accurate information or not, or if I even share that educational
institute’s political biases and slants .”It is sad however how politically slanted our Educational system is becoming .
-
-
I
live on Stalingrad Island…er…Vancouver Island. The whole
place is awash in Berkinstocked, old-hippy, Trotsky-bearded (male &
female), pot-head communists/socialists. For the most part,
retired CBC, academia, government employees, sustained with tax-exempt
mega-indexed pensions, and every health-care benefit known to man, paid
for by other taxpayers. Typically, they live to (on average) 147 –
all the while complaining about their poor health. They live in a
strange time-warp in a land that time forgot – lost to history and
reality, steeped in their own self-perpetuating myths and fantasies.
They worship the Holy Trinity of Marx-Engels-Lenin; and what few
children there are, are put to bed with stern warnings that the evil
goblin Gorbachev and his troll servant Reagan will come and eat them if
they do not go straight to sleep. They think that gulag is a type
of Hungarian stew, Jews are pushy and work too hard – not that they’ve
ever met one; and like a Polynesian cargo-cult, await the arrival of
Lord Lenin who will rescue them from the evil dragon, Harper, the
Destroyer of Benefits, who lives on the mainland, devouring all who come
too close to the shore (hence their vehement opposition to a… -
-
“At least the scenery is nice, and our cougars are sane. “
Hopefully,
you’re not talking about the those 147 yr old Berkinstocked knee
sox and poncho wearing hippies with both upper lip hair and beard with
their hair nicely braided? Or are you?- 9 hours ago
- in reply to jlaspence
- 7 Likes
-
-
Comical propaganda. One would have thought Jonathan Kay’s
‘ghost’ could have come up with something better than “Look how bad
these guys are” as ‘proof’ of the ideological bent of a particular
university department. Here’s one that ‘Michael Ross’ didn’t mention:
Which country has been the subject of more UN resolutions than every
other country in the world combined?If you see the
world through the lens of ‘Israel First’ – as Ross does, considering he
earlier penned the missive ‘forging Canadian passports is an acceptable
action when killing Israel’s adversaries’ – then your idea of ‘truth’ is
the definition of ‘moral relativism’. Funny how Ross doesn’t mention
any challenging of the ‘hour long diatribes that could have been written
by Fidel Castro’. Cat got your tongue? Apparently ‘your sister takes
off her clothes for men’ – Ross’s repeated counterpoint to any criticism
leveled at Israel – must have slipped his mind. -
There are 118 people (so far) who know you’re a troll and that
means that at this moment in time the only 2 friends you have are Google
and your right hand, why not go use either one and stop trolling.- 9 hours ago
- in reply to marc63
- 11 Likes
-
Reactions
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NP biased as usual. http://t.co/UwzFBnkK #Israel #cdnpoli #FreedomWaves #Gaza http://t.co/XdEfj2Bz5 hours ago@ninopagliccia
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RT @boring_as_heck: http://t.co/zzZgvIQb lmao5 hours ago@jtmorissette
-
Welcome to the #UVic, a.k.a. Che Guevara U http://t.co/s3g0cX5f #bcpoli5 hours ago@tomfletcherbc
-
RT @fullcomment: Michael Ross: Welcome to the University of Victoria, a.k.a. Che Guevara U http://t.co/IcaJVnxd8 hours ago@aysha_marie
-
And
in the any press is good press column: Welcome to the University of
Victoria, a.k.a. Che Guevara U http://t.co/BCW5ARI0 via @fullcomment8 hours ago@scootercandy -
#CheU
RT @rwpickard Hopefully SOMEONE’s writing a thoughtful response? M
Ross: Welcome to UVic, a.k.a. Che Guevara U http://t.co/SF2U3Dv69 hours ago@michisle -
What’s
your take on this #yyj? Michael Ross: Welcome to the University of
Victoria, a.k.a. Che Guevara U http://t.co/SF2U3Dv6 #CheU9 hours ago@michisle -
#che RT @eritskes2012Michael Ross: Welcome to #UVic, a.k.a. Che Guevara U http://t.co/Mcf5KhhW via @rwpickard9 hours ago@CheChic
-
Michael Ross: Welcome to #UVic, a.k.a. Che Guevara U http://t.co/naid6ZfE via @rwpickard9 hours ago@eritskes
-
Hopefully SOMEONE’s writing a thoughtful response? Michael Ross: Welcome to UVic, a.k.a. Che Guevara U http://t.co/WAhulieK9 hours ago@rwpickard
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