Author:
Publication: The Sydney Morning Herald
Date: August 14, 2006
URL: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=122198
Prominent Jewish MP Michael Danby has accused
two well-known academics of being one-sided over the Middle East conflict.
"I grieve for the state of Middle East
studies in Australia," Labor MP Michael Danby told parliament.
He accused Dr Andrew Vincent of Macquarie
University's School of North African and Middle East Studies of pushing a
"bizarre conspiracy theory".
And Dr Amin Saikal of the Australian National
University's Arab and Islamic Studies program, had unusual ideas about terrorism.
Mr Danby said Dr Vincent was the only person
he knew to join the prime minister's Muslim reference group in demanding that
Hizbollah be delisted as a terrorist organisation.
He also said that Israel possibly murdered
former PLO leader Yasser Arafat.
This was "a most bizarre conspiracy theory".
Mr Danby said Dr Saikal had last year accused
Israel of using disproportionate force to contain terrorism, which included
suicide bombing.
"I don't know how many people outside
the august halls of academy at the ANU regard suicide bombing anywhere as
other than terrorism," Mr Danby said.
Dr Saikal also said Iran had developed a sort
of democracy that may not accord with western ideas but provided a degree
of mass participation, political pluralism and assurances of certain human
rights.
"Let's get this straight," Mr Danby
said.
"In Iran there is mass persecution of
minority religions."
Moreover, supreme spiritual leader Ayotallah
Khomeini had canvassed the idea of nuclear war with Israel in which all Israelis
would be eliminated but Iran, while taking tens of millions of casualties,
would survive.
That was "a bizarre and monstrous idea".
Mr Danby said the one-sided teaching could
have bad long-term effects on Australian policy as graduates came into government.
He said public pressure had helped make the
ABC's coverage more balanced and the same pressure should be applied to universities.
