Scott Brown calls on Harvard to cancel ‘one state’ conference

Boston Globe
Noah Bierman

Elizabeth Warren is being chastised by Scott Brown for teaching at Harvard.

Republican US Senator Scott Brown is calling on Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to cancel a conference on a “one-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I want to condemn in the strongest possible terms Harvard’s sponsorship of a conference exploring a ‘one-state solution’ to the Israel-Palestinian conflict,” he said in a statement. “This is dangerous thinking that gives comfort to Israel’s enemies who view the ‘one-state solution’ as a euphemism for eliminating Israel as a Jewish state. Harvard may have a right to do this, but that doesn’t make it right to do it. The University should cancel this conference.”

The Globe reported this morning that the conference has drawn criticism from the Anti-Defamation league, which said it has dangerous implications for Israel. The ADL has not called on Harvard to cancel the conference, but has instead asked Harvard President Drew Faust to denounce its theme.

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The conference organizer, Ahmed Moor, a first-year student, told the Globe that the conference is intended to discuss ways that all residents of the region enjoy human rights. The Kennedy School told the Globe that the conference is student organized, but received modest funding from the school’s student government and the event’s website will use the school’s name and logo.

Brown, facing a reelection challenge from Elizabeth Warren, has made the Democrat’s ties to Harvard University a centerpiece in his strategy to label her an out-of-touch elitist. Warren teaches at Harvard Law School.

Brown even made a reference to elitism in his in his statement attacking the conference.
“Academic elites need to understand that their ideas have real world consequences well beyond the comforts of the ivory tower, and the last thing Israel needs is Harvard legitimizing a terribly misguided idea,” he said.

Warren’s campaign, in a statement, would not say whether she agrees with calls to denounce or cancel the conference.

“Elizabeth was unaware of this conference, but she is a strong supporter of the steadfast relationship between Israel and the United States, and she firmly believes in a two-state solution,” spokeswoman Alethea Harney said.

Coincidentally, Brown will be hosting students from the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics at his Boston office on Monday. A flier from the school advertises “a private off-the-record meeting and discussion with study group students on the new dynamics shaping 2012 politics in the wake of 2010’s historic wave election.”

Deceptive Big Bank Ads Will be Key to Election 2010

A recent Intercept posting illustrated how money was pouring into the Brown Campaign in the "Massachusetts Miracle"and why this money was being pumped into the likes of Brown (and 20 more anticipated campaigns with neocon hacks posing as disenfranchised conservatives). The Center for Media and Democracy also sees the connection between meaningful financial institution reform and the neocon poser funding machine:

Even before a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision blew the lid off corporate campaign spending, it was clear that the big banks would be key players in the 2010 election cycle.

Unemployment will remain high and so will resentment against the banks, a volatile combination that will encourage savvy Members of Congress to continue to fight for meaningful reform of the financial sector. While a major reform bill is winding its way though Congress right now, it only addresses aspects of the problem, leaving loose ends for reformers to pick up and pursue in 2011.

Groups for and against the current financial reform bills have already conducted their polls, polished their messages and are starting to engage in ad-war skirmishes that foreshadow the deluge of big bank spending to come, as Wall Street fights to elect candidates who will protect their interests and privileges.

Full Article

A Look at the Money Behind the "Massachussetts Miracle"

As unprecedented amounts of out-of-state money have funded a media blitz, and seesawing polls -- some highly questionable -- to show Republican Scott Brown up to a dead heat with Democrat Martha Coakley after a recent month's 9-point deficit, election integrity activists are examining the peculiar nature and sources of funds for the Brown campaign.
The pdf containing the linked chart is available for download by right-clicking here.