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Saturday, December 04, 2004

UO PROFESSOR, AUTHORS SETTLE DEFAMATION SUIT

Bill Bishop,

The Register-Guard,

12/2/04

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/12/02/c1.cr.cardsuit.1202.html

A University of Oregon sociology instructor has settled a defamationlawsuit against authors of a column that labeled him anti-Semitic andlisted him as one of six examples of "left-wing extremists" whoindoctrinate students. Douglas Card sued the column's authors: Daniel Pipes, a Middle Eastscholar; and Pipes' research assistant, Jonathan Schanzer, a specialist inradical Islamist movements. Card claimed the pair is wrong about how and what he teaches and theircolumn defamed him. Terms of the settlement are confidential. In a joint statement issued by both parties, Pipes and Schanzer said they"are now convinced that Card does not condone extremism in the classroom." In their 2002 column, published in the New York Post and on several Websites, Pipes and Schanzer accused Card of describing Israel as "a terroriststate" and Israelis as "baby killers" in his course. They also charged thatCard forced students to agree in a final exam with Card's view that Israel"stole land." Pipes and Schanzer said they have reviewed Card's exam, which had been thebasis for their column, and also have considered Card's public condemnationof anti-Semitism and of professors who use their classrooms to promoteanti-Semitism. While Pipes and Schanzer said they still dispute one aspect of Card's exam,they nevertheless agreed to drop their accusation that he espousesextremism in his classroom. In a news release prepared by Card and his lawyer, David Force of Eugene,Card said he was compelled to file the suit to defend his reputation, thereputation of the UO and the concept of academic freedom. The lawsuit seeking $1.1 million, filed in 2003, had been dismissed fromfederal court on what Card described as "procedural grounds." Card wasappealing the dismissal when the case settled out of court. "If Mr. Pipes and I can reach a compromise, there may really be hope forIsrael and the Palestinians to reach a just settlement," Card said. Hedeclined to comment further about the settlement. ALSO SEE: PROFESSOR SETTLES LIBEL SUIT AGAINST PIPES, SCHANZERUniversity of Oregon adjunct sociology professor Dr. Douglas Card hassettled his libel lawsuit against Daniel Pipes and Johathan Schanzer. The lawsuit, filed in Lane County Circuit Court in 2003, was removed to theU.S. District Court in Eugene by the defendants, who then moved to dismissit on procedural grounds. U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan granted themotion, and Card appealed that decision to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court ofAppeals. The case was terminated by the recent settlement. All terms of the settlement are confidential, except for the contents of a"joint statement" by the parties. Professor Card said today that he believes the joint statement makes itclear that he did not make the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statementswhich were attributed to him by Pipes and Schanzer in theirwidely-published article entitled "Extremists on Campus." Card said thatsome people had discouraged him from commencing the lawsuit, advising himthat he would never gain any vindication and that he should simply allowthe matter to be forgotten. However the article by Pipes and Schanzerremained on internet web sites they control, and therefore Card said heconcluded that he could not ignore it. "I felt very strongly that if I didnot pursue the case, it would appear that I was acknowledging that I reallysaid and did the things they attributed to me. I decided that I could notallow that to happen. My reputation, the University's reputation, and theconcept of academic freedom, are just too important." Before filing the lawsuit, Card had attempted to obtain a retraction of theallegations against him by Pipes and Schanzer for more than a year. Jewishstudents in his class and leaders of the campus and Eugene Jewish communityhad written to Pipes, urging an investigation of the facts and declaringthat they did not believe that Card was anti-Semitic or anti-Israel. "IfMr. Pipes and I can reach a compromise, there may really be hope for Israeland the Palestinians to reach a just settlement", Card said. Links on the web sites maintained by Pipes and Schanzer, including thesites campus-watch.org, meforum.org, and danielpipes.org, now connectreaders to the joint statement whenever Card's name appears on those sites. "I really want to thanks the leaders of the Interfaith community in Eugene,and my attorney David Force, for standing b y me and supporting me throughthis ordeal,", Card said. "I could not have gone through this alone."

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