#abdulkader sinno

[thesobsister]

The fact that the school not only cancelled a career-spanning exhibition three years in the making by Samia Hallaby, a distinguished artist who was the first full-time woman professor at the Yale School of Art, but also suspended professor Abdulkader Sinno, who helped a Palestinian students’ union host an event by a former IDF soldier who has been publicly critical of Israel, is a total co-inky-dink and nothing at all to do with IU's systemic oppression of a voice for, or presence by, Palestinians at their institution.

Said a spokesperson for Indiana University, "Academic leaders and campus officials canceled the exhibit due to concerns about guaranteeing the integrity of the exhibit for its duration."

Wow, that is just so considerate of IU.

Way to put your school on the map, Indiana!

[thoughtportal]

News of the Halaby show’s cancelation at Indiana University became public as the school was already facing scrutiny. On Wednesday, the Herald-Times reported that the university had suspended professor Abdulkader Sinno, who helped a Palestinian students’ union host an event by a former IDF soldier who has been publicly critical of Israel. The university’s vice provost reportedly claimed that Sinno had not obeyed standard procedure when he aided in the organization of the event. Sinno told the Herald-Times that the school’s suspension of him was part of an effort to “chill academic freedom and legitimate free speech on Palestinian human rights.”

[heraldtimes-ca]

Whitten faces a vote of 'no confidence' from hundreds of Indiana University faculty members.

Indiana University Bloomington faculty members overwhelmingly voted “no confidence” in President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav, and Carrie Docherty, vice provost for faculty and academic affairs, on Tuesday evening. A total of 948 faculty members attended the vote at the IU Auditorium, exceeding the quorum requirement of 800. However, only less than 30% of the eligible faculty, totaling 3,276, participated in the vote. The results showed significant support for the no-confidence motion: 827 faculty members voted against Whitten (93%), 879 against Shrivastav (91%), and 672 against Docherty (75%).

The call for the no-confidence vote stemmed from concerns over the administration's handling of academic freedom and shared governance. Specific grievances included Docherty’s suspension of a professor without due process, the cancellation of an art exhibit, restructuring of tenure processes, and other controversies. Faculty member Abdulkader Sinno criticized the administration's disregard for established policies.

In response, President Whitten emphasized the challenges facing higher education and the importance of collaboration within the community. The Board of Trustees expressed support for Whitten, citing her leadership and commitment to the university's strategic plan.

No-confidence votes do not have the power to remove administration members but serve as a signal of dissent. Historically, such votes have led to leadership changes in academia. Whitten's contract is set to expire in June 2026.

[ericfruits]

Two Muslim women are headed for Congress

IN HIS first presidential campaign, George W. Bush received 42% of the Muslim-American vote, compared with 31% for Al Gore. The 9/11 attacks, and the wars that followed, changed that affiliation. Eight years later, Muslim-Americans overwhelmingly backed Barack Obama. This was a big change for a religious minority that tended to have conservative views: traditionalist Muslims and LBGT advocates are strange bedfellows. Donald Trump’s election, though, has brought a clutch of progressive Muslims into politics. Some are now heading to Congress.

America’s has 3.5m Muslims, around 1% of the population. Some say the number is closer to 5m and rising; the Census Bureau has not asked questions about religion since the 1950s, so it is hard to know for sure. Only about 100 Muslims filed papers this year to run for office. These few attract a disproportionate amount of attention, largely because of America’s views of their faith. Polling by the Pew Research Centre in April 2017 found that 44% of eligible voters think there is a “natural conflict” between Islam and democracy.

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Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American lawyer, narrowly emerged from a crowded field in the Democratic primary in Michigan’s 13th congressional district, which covers Detroit. As she is running unopposed in the mid-term elections for the seat John Conyers occupied for more than half a century (until he resigned, following allegations of sexual harassment), she is all but guaranteed to become the first Muslim woman to sit in Congress.

She will probably be joined there by Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant who won a primary in Minnesota to fill the congressional seat of Keith Ellison, one of two Muslim men in Congress (the other is Indiana’s André Carson). Fayrouz Saad ran in the primary for Michigan’s 11th district; Deedra Abboud ran in the Arizona Senate primary; and Tahirah Amatul-Wadud ran in the primary in Massachusetts’s 1st district. Ms Saad, Ms Abboud and Ms Amatul-Wadud lost, but many predict a bright future for 34-year-old Ms Saad, the telegenic daughter of Lebanese immigrants.

All five women are progressive. “The progressive wing of the Democratic Party is the only gateway to political office for Muslims,” says Abdulkader Sinno of Indiana University. All five argue for abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which is charged with rounding-up undocumented migrants. They also want universal health care, free college and a minimum wage of $15.

Whereas older Muslims generally hold conservative views on same-sex marriage and abortion, young Muslims tend to be much more secular. Many of the women running for office eschew head scarves: Ms Omar in Minnesota and Ms Abboud in Arizona are the exceptions. According to Pew, 23% of Americans brought up as Muslims no longer identify with the faith.

Ms Tlaib is keen to take the focus away from her religion. She also does not want to be drawn into a discussion on a two-state solution for Israel, or on the absence of liberal democracy in Muslim-majority countries. Her district is the second-poorest in the country, she says, so her focus will be on the concerns of her constituents, in particular their civil rights and the ravages of economic inequity. The question she gets most often, she says, is whether she will sell out once she is a member of the House in Washington.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline "From Bushies to Bernie"