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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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 Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:35 am Post subject: Politics Keeps Scholars Out of U.S. |
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| Quote: | The Chronicle of Higher Education International
From the issue dated June 15, 2007
Politics Keeps Scholars Out of U.S.
Withholding visas is said to endanger America's intellectual freedom
By BURTON BOLLAG
For nine months, Riyadh Lafta, an Iraqi professor of medicine, tried to get
a visa to visit the University of Washington, where he had been invited to
share his research on the unusually high rates of cancer among children in
southern Iraq.
But by last March, with no visa forthcoming, the American institution came
up with an alternative plan. Mr. Lafta would deliver his lecture at Simon
Fraser University, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and it would be broadcast
by video to a public meeting long planned for the purpose at Washington.
The day before his mid-April flight, however, the British consulate in
Amman, Jordan, turned down his request for a transit visa to change planes
at London's Heathrow Airport. So Mr. Lafta, a faculty member at Baghdad's
Al-Mustansiriya University, had to make the long and dangerous trip back to
the Iraqi capital.
His American research partners say they think they know why he never
received a U.S. visa: The Iraqi was one of the principal authors of an
October 2006 study published in the British medical journal The Lancet that
controversially estimated that more than 650,000 Iraqis - far more than
officially reported - had died as a result of the American-led invasion.
Academic and civil-liberties groups say Mr. Lafta's case is troubling, but
not unique. They assert that during the last year or so the Bush
administration has increased its use of heightened security measures,
introduced after the 2001 terrorist attacks, to keep out foreign scholars
whose politics or ideas it does not like. In such cases the government does
not give reasons for denying a visa, making it nearly impossible to
challenge the decision, academic advocates say.
"Each new case seems to underscore the doubts that the administration has
any justifiable security basis" to exclude the scholars, says Jonathan
Knight, director of the program on academic freedom and tenure at the
American Association of University Professors.
The pattern not only hurts the scholars in question, but also damages
America's reputation for academic freedom, those groups say. Some academic
associations have felt forced to move their meetings to Canada to ensure
that members from other countries can attend. They also report that the
United States has become a less appealing destination for foreign scholars.
"There are many people who simply don't think of teaching or attending a
conference in the United States because they don't want to put up with the
humiliation of the visa process," says Barbara Weinstein, president of the
14,000-member American Historical Association.
Official Denial
When U.S. State Department officials were asked about Mr. Lafta's case, they
denied that the government had intentionally kept the Iraqi professor out,
saying they had simply been unable to reach him when his visa was ready last
fall. His American colleagues find that explanation implausible, saying they
contacted U.S. visa officials several times on Mr. Lafta's behalf without
success.
The State Department, which is responsible for issuing visas, declined
requests for an interview for this article. But in an e-mail message, a
department official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to
speak about this issue said that while the government considers such factors
as national security and foreign policy, no one had been denied a visa "due
to any expression of the applicant's views."
Scholars who may have been barred recently because of their politics include
Adam Habib, a prominent South African political scientist, and Yoannis
Milios, a left-wing Greek political economist. Both had their visas revoked
when they arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for
academic meetings, and both say they were questioned about their political
views before being put on flights back to their own countries.
Other scientists and social-science professors from a variety of countries,
including Bolivia, Canada, and Switzerland, have been barred from attending
academic conferences or taking teaching positions in the United States. Many
of the scholars were frequent visitors to the United States before suddenly
being declared undesirable. There appears to have been a de facto ban on
most scholars from Cuba for the last three years.
Academic associations have issued protests in about a dozen cases. The
groups say that since the government does not release figures, it is hard to
know the true number of scholars who have been kept out.
Challenging the Government
In two or three cases, U.S. officials made vague references to a security
threat. But to the frustration of the scholars' supporters, the government
has typically not provided any reasons for keeping the scholars out.
Critics, however, believe the issue is politics, not security.
"Because it is draped in secrecy," says Melissa Goodman, a staff lawyer with
the American Civil Liberties Union, "they get to keep out people whose views
they don't want [American] people to hear."
The secrecy also makes it all but impossible to challenge exclusions that
appear to be simple mistakes, say academic advocates. For example, Nalini
Ghuman, a British citizen who has lived for the last 10 years in the United
States and is an assistant professor of music at Mills College, was sent
back to Britain last August, eight hours after she returned from a research
visit there. She and her college are convinced that her visa was canceled
mistakenly, but they have been unable to get any explanation from U.S.
authorities.
"We're sort of flummoxed," says Robert F. Judd, executive director of the
American Musicological Society, which recently issued a public appeal on Ms.
Ghuman's behalf. "We don't know how to deal with this."
Opponents of the government's policy have forced small concessions from the
authorities through lawsuits brought in two of the best-publicized cases.
One suit, filed by the ACLU on behalf of several academic groups, challenged
the government's use of the so-called ideological exclusion clause of the
USA Patriot Act to keep out Tariq Ramadan. The prominent Swiss scholar of
Islam had his visa revoked in 2004, preventing him from taking up a teaching
job at the University of Notre Dame. At the time, U.S. officials referred to
a provision of the act that allow them to deny a visa to anyone who
"endorses or espouses terrorist activity" or "persuades others" to do so.
But after a federal judge ruled last summer that the government had to
provide an explanation, the authorities presented a new reason: donations
totaling about $800 that he had made to two European groups providing
humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians. The two groups were later
blacklisted by the Bush administration for allegedly providing "material
support" to Hamas, the senior partner in the Palestinian Authority.
In the other case, in May, the Department of Homeland Security finally
approved an employment-visa petition submitted almost two years ago by the
University of Nebraska at Lincoln for a Bolivian historian, Waskar T. Ari
Chachaki. The move came shortly after the university sued to force the
government to respond to the application.
The approval simply means that Mr. Ari, an expert on the indigenous Indians
of the Andes, and an Aymara Indian, can request a visa to take up a job as
an assistant professor of history and ethnic studies at Nebraska. The
government never gave a reason for not responding earlier. But some
academics speculate it may have been to show displeasure with Bolivia's
president, Evo Morales, who is also an Aymara and has been critical of U.S.
policy toward his country's coca cultivation.
Striking a Balance?
When asked about the case of Mr. Ramadan last December, Karen Hughes, under
secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, said the
administration's goal was "balancing our current security regulations with
our desire to remain a welcoming country."
Critics say the government has not found that balance. Ms. Weinstein, of the
American Historical Association, says that by keeping out foreign scholars
who could help Americans understand the sources of international tensions,
the policy "makes us less safe."
In the first years after the 2001 terrorist attacks, scholars in scientific
and technical fields especially faced long delays and interminable security
checks. Problems for them have lessened considerably during the last two
years, say academic officials. But scholarly associations in the social
sciences say problems persist for their foreign members.
Carol L. Martin, executive director of the 2,200-member African Studies
Association, says at least 12 African members were unable to get visas to
attend the group's most recent annual meeting, in San Francisco last
November. The policy "deprives everyone else of their unique perspective. It
hinders policy making in the United States," she says.
Several academic associations have responded by moving their meetings to
Canada. In the largest move to date, the Latin American Studies Association
has decided to hold its next congress, in September, which 6,000 people are
expected to attend, in Montreal. The group made the decision after its
congress last year became the second in a row for which all of the more than
50 Cuban scholars who had registered were denied visas. Under the
circumstances, said the group in a written statement, "we can no longer, in
good conscience, hold our congress inside the United States."
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, one-third of whose
370,000 members live outside the United States, now regularly holds some
committee meetings in Canada to ensure that all members can attend. Chris J.
Brantley, managing director of the group's American branch, says this step
is still needed even though fewer of his members have been denied visas in
the last two years.
http://chronicle.com
Section: International
Volume 53, Issue 41, Page A1 |
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Mandy
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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| And the US is first to complain when Israel is boycotted. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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This kind of thing is part of the reason why I will never even attempt to visit America. It seems if you've even sneezed in the wrong direction that you are marked as undesirable, yet they allow far worse individuals to run the country... How quaint.
A friend of mine is a leading cancer-researcher who was involved in the illegal rave scene back in the 90s and he's had to lie about his past on visas when going to America to give talks and speeches etc. If he told the truth they wouldn't allow him in and his knowledge would not be imparted on those who want to learn. The stupidity of such a situation is mind-boggling. |
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Lostinthestates
Joined: 28 Feb 2007
Location: Bethlehem, USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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I just went through a green card application. I am a Ph.D. in chemistry from one of the top research institutes in the world, a UK citizen and I still was spoken down to as if I was trying to swindle the system!! I was rather disturbed by the whole process! I did realise though that I got a slight preferred treatment as I have white skincolour. One of my friends who is of Indian origin but also British (with an MS) went through the same process 18 months before me. He however only got his green card 6 months before I did!! The whole process is pretty stupid anyways and they are looking into changing it! Rather than giving green cards away to family members of US citizens, they are now looking at having a process which much more resembles that of Australia, where they look at people's skills and match them to the country's needs. Well that's my rant for today  |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Mandy wrote: | | And the US is first to complain when Israel is boycotted. |
even when a boycott is just talked about, like the academic boycott recently, even though;
| Quote: | 'Many of the key players in the escalating British campaign to boycott Israel are Jewish or Israeli, the Jewish Chronicle revealed in an investigation published Thursday.
According to the investigation, the Jewish academics justify their stance as part of the struggle for Palestinian rights and ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.' |
although, as i've been told this week in numerous messages since posting that anti-occupation demo video on youtube and foolishly trying to engage in dialog with some of them, these must be the 'self loathing' 'politically correct' 'self hating' ones  |
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Mandy
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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Regarding just British citizens going to the US, in the old days there was a visa waiver. I now understand that people tend to go for interviews in the UK to get a visa (possibly if using old style passports).
The critical issue is I understand that as part of the visa application (i.e. tourist visa, not even a green card), they ask who have you donated to in the last umpteen years (knowing full well they have your credit history on file anyway) |
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nekokate
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm surprised they keep letting George in, frankly. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| I think they'd have a hard time refusing an MP. Might be different when he retires from Parliament... |
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Lostinthestates
Joined: 28 Feb 2007
Location: Bethlehem, USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:59 pm Post subject: |
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| UK citizens don't need a visa unless they are planning to stay longer than 3 months - so they couldn't refuse letting him enter the country. |
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DavidGig
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Location: Kansas, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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The case of Tariq Ramadan, the Swiss philosopher who was denied entry to take up a professorship at Notre Dame, is particularly interesting because it was not for being a radical Muslim that he was rejected, but for being a moderate.
An articulate message of peace and co-existence from a prominent Muslim speaking fluent English was perceived as a threat to the "clash of civilizations" crowd.
It was of course the Zionist lobby who were behind the movement to get Ramadan barred--
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2004/08/27/daniel-pipes-ve/
(The same people who are working to make sure Americans aren't allowed to watch Al Jazeera English on their TVs.)
David |
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DavidGig
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Location: Kansas, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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Speaking of Al-Jazeera, Galloway has a column in today's Guardian about the pressures being placed on its editorial policy--
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2103785,00.html
| Quote: | | Now the US, which maintains a large military base in Qatar, has adopted a more subtle approach to breaking the Arabs' voice of independence and diversity. And the signs are that some elements in the Qatari government have yielded to the relentless US pressure. As one source close to al-Jazeera has put it: "You don't need to bomb a TV station to change its direction." |
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major.tom
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Joined: 21 Jan 2007
Location: BC, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Lostinthestates wrote: | | UK citizens don't need a visa unless they are planning to stay longer than 3 months - so they couldn't refuse letting him enter the country. |
The visa part may be true, but customs of any country can deny entry to virtually anyone, can't they? I could be wrong, but I thought Yousef Islam (aka Cat Stevens) was a British citizen when he was turned back.
If they can refuse the author of "peace train," anyone's fair game.
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:59 pm Post subject: |
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this is a scary development ...
Working for the clampdown in American academia
its also worth having a look at the bit mentioned at the end, how memri tried to stitch up finkelstein - i know theres been chat about memri on here before
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=605 |
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