Are You Now or Have You Ever...

In Ohio, all employees of state agencies--including universities--have to fill out a new form regarding support for so-called terrorist agencies. I post this here in part as a way of complicating what some have called 'gestural politics' in other discussions. To be sure, a blog exchange is not the same as having to fill out a form or sign a loyalty oath. Yet, given the nature of the so-called terrorist list, it's possible that some academics, particularly those in Middle Eastern Studies, International Relations, and Political Science would have to answer yes to some of these questions.

For example, does hiring or supporting someone involved in terrorism include inviting members of the political wings of Hamas or Hizbollah to give a lecture? What about publishing their articles or writings? Or, what about hiring a visiting faculty member who is Tamil and politically active?  In the 70s and 80s the African National Congress was considered a terrorist organization. Given current US law, supporting them would constitute support for terrorism. 

Link: Inside Higher Ed :: Are You Now or Have You Ever....

The new form asks potential employees six questions and any “Yes” answer is grounds for not getting the job. Refusing to answer a question is also considered an affirmative answer. The questions are:

Are you a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

Have you used any position of prominence you have with any country to persuade others to support an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

Have you knowingly solicited fund or other things of value for an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

Have you solicited any individual for membership in an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?
   
Have you committed an act that you know, or reasonably should have known, affords “material support or resources” to an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

Have you hired or compensated a person you knew to be a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List, or a person you knew to be engaged in planning, assisting or carrying out an act of terrorism?

Comments

[Scott W.]

Strauss Redux

I couldn't answer those questions without consulting an attorney first. Reason being I purchased a tank of gasoline today, which is indirectly funding Hizballah by crude payments made to Iran.

Have you committed an act that you know, or reasonably should have known, affords “material support or resources” to an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

Furthermore, the Saudis pay off the terrorists to leave the Royal Family in power, so there‘s another contribution. This group is known as Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qa’ida is a name the neoconservatives made up, and the terrorists took it as their own.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1037.htm

[s0metim3s]

The way this has been playing out in AU is for calls to remove Hizbollah from 'The List', not that there should be no list, no loyalty oath, etc.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20003075-5005962,00.html

[Michael]

My interests run in the vein of Latin American politics and I was a little suprised that the FARC were on the list, but the EZLN were not. I can't imagine this rule will stand long before it's challenged in a court...not that that will change anything.

[brookes]

One of the most amusing things about the form is that most of the questions reference the State Department's official list of terrorist organizations. This list isn't provided on the form, nor does it indicate where one might find the list. (I work at a University Hospital, which means I also have to sign it.)

[Matthew]

FARC does have a nasty little habit of killing civilians in the name of drug money. Not to say that they didn't have a legitimate cause at one point, but they're as bad as the Columbian militias now, as far as civilians are concerned.