My name is Prof

My name is Prof. Haim Shaked.

I was a full, tenured professor (now emeritus) at TAU. My academic field is Middle Eastern and Islamic History .I served as Dean of TAU's Faculty of Humanities (1975-80); member of the Steering Committee of the Senate, member of the Senate; member of the Board of Governors; and member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors. I was one of the founders of the Shiloach (now Moshe Dayan) Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies and its Head from 1973-80; one of the founders of the (then Jaffee) Center for Strategic Studies; one of the founding members of the Department for Middle Eastern History and founder of its East African Studies track; one of the founders of the School of History, etc.
If each of the above were medals earned for service, I would have regrettably returned all of them to TAU in protest. Freedom of speech should not be accorded only to the professorial segment of the university spectrum! When freedom of speech and academic freedom are abused - it threatens the very existence of academic freedom and freedom of speech! It is an absurdity that in the name of protecting certain people's right to dissent and criticize, others are denied that very same prerogative. It is insane to state that those who dissent are humanists while those who dissent from the dissenters are fascists!
Since my retirement, many years ago, I have never ever made a public statement about TAU - an institution to which I fully and lovingly devoted more than 30 years of my life. But this is too much!
Presently, there clearly is a mounting insidious, vituperative, consistent and forceful campaign, unleashed by mortal enemies of the State of Israel, to delegitimize Israel. This attack is not dissimilar to the systematic onslaught run by the Nazis in the 1930's against the Jews, but with similar objectives: to legitimize harming, even destroying Israel! This is a matter of grave strategic implications for Israel and the Jewish people!
The university and its professors cannot stand by the wayside and look the other way as if it is not their business to address the issue head on. And if the university chooses - unfortunately and sadly - to ignore this grave issue, it has no right to muzzle those of its most dedicated supporters who do want to express their stand.

Prof. Haim Shaked

The Dr. M. Lee Pearce Professor of Middle East Peace Studies;

Director, The Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic

Studies;

Director, The George Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studies;

Director, The Middle East Studies Institute;

University of Miami

105 Merrick Building

Coral Gables, FL 33124-2018

Tel. [phone]; Fax [phone]

Miller Center website: www.miami.edu/miller-center>