So much for the vigorous exchange of ideas, however controversial, at even the finest of American universities. The concept doesn’t apply to Nonie Darwish, a commentator and advocate who espouses strong views on Islam.
New York Daily News, Editorial, November 30, 2009
So much for the vigorous exchange of ideas, however controversial, at even the finest of American universities. The concept doesn’t apply to Nonie Darwish, a commentator and advocate who espouses strong views on Islam.
An Arab woman, Darwish was raised in Egypt as a Muslim. Thirty years ago, as an adult, she moved to the U.S. and converted to Christianity. She has published several books – you can get the flavor of her thinking from the title of her latest work: “Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law.”
The other week, Darwish was scheduled to speak at both Princeton and Columbia universities. Both events were abruptly canceled.
At Princeton, she was to be the guest of a pro-Israel student group. But then, according to published reports, Muslim students took offense at her presence, a campus imam interceded with a campus rabbi and a leader of the sponsoring organization suddenly thought better of hosting the talk. He apologized for inviting someone such as Darwish and begged pardon for having done a poor job of researching her views.
Columbia issued a statement that Darwish had not been invited by a recognized campus group and the event couldn’t proceed. It seems that an outside group advertised an event without proper arrangements for a venue. The statement added that, were Darwish to receive such a proper invitation, Columbia “would be glad to accommodate a future speech” by Darwish.
Fine, but she still was denied a chance to speak.
