From: YUFA<yufa@yorkU.CA>
To: YUFA-M@YorkU.CA
To All YUFA Members
As you probably know, Daniel Pipes will be speaking on the Keole Campus of York University today. The YUFA Executive believes that Dr. Pipes, as a member of Campus Watch, is committed to a racist agenda and a methodology of intimidation and harassment that is inconsistent with the values of academic freedom and integrity, and the social values of justice and freedom. We decry that agenda and the tactics of Campus Watch.
Dr. Pipes poses the classic dilemma for those committed to academic liberty and freedom of speech, using those very rights to attempt to silence others. We join willing academics around the world, and our colleagues at the Canadian Association of University Teachers, in denouncing the activities of Campus Watch. Hatred, racism, intolerance have no place in our universities or our communities. Spying, the compilation of secret files, and tactics of intimidation have no place in a just society.
Various members of the YUFA Executive will be participating in activities around the campus today which challenge the agenda and activities of Campus Watch. Susan Dimock, the president of YUFA, will be speaking at a rally to be held at 12:00 in the rotunda of Veri Hall. The Walkout for Academic Freedom rally is being organized by the Coalition for Academic Freedom and we invite you all to participate in this important event. We must stand together against racism and hatred in all its forms, and united in the defense of academic freedom, freedom of speech and social justice.