Southampton's Professor Ettinghausen - an Opponent of Freedom of Speech
There has been a wave of condemnation, not least from academics, of the Southampton University Administration's banning of a conference on International Law and Israel. However one slug emerged from the brickwork of Southampton University to uphold the banning edict, one Professor Ettinghausen. Granted he's not an academic used to philosophical or political analysis, his decision to act as a police state academic is no doubt shameful. I therefore decided to pen him a letter so that he might understand (forlorn hope that it is) the logical fallacy in his argument.
Assuming Ettinghausen is a Zionist, a group that regularly uses and abuses the Holocaust, I wondered whether conferences on the subject should, to be scholarly, include supporters of the Holocaust and those who deny it ever happened. I won't wait with bated breath for a reply!
Tony Greenstein
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| Guardian letter 7.4.15. |
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| Ettinghausen deep in thought or something |
Dear Professor Ettinghausen,
I realise that your subject is modern languages rather than anything too analytical but even you should be able to see the logical fallacy in your argument.And of course that leaves to one side the question of whether there is a very real debate to be had about whether international law has any role in achieving justice or overthrowing Zionism in Palestine. I believe international law is pretty much useless in opposing injustice and that, if anything, is the major flaw in the Conference.