Daniel Pipes, the founder and director of the National Middle East Forum and a commentator on militant Islam will host the Middle East Forum at Brandeis (MEFAB) , on Nov. 18, Pipes' work asserts that radical Islam presents a threat to democratic institutions around the world. He said he believes that moderate, true Islam must become the solution to extreme Islamism.

Pipes spoke at Yale University last Thursday on the current state of the Israeli-Arab conflict, the same issue he plans to address at Brandeis. His visit caused unrest on Yale's campus. According to the Yale Daily News, at least a third of the 200 attendees of Pipes' lecture wore black clothing and black gags across their mouths in protest of Pipes and his views. During the question-and-answer period at the end of the lecture, students called some of Pipes' past comments racist and hateful. Pipes responded that the comments were being taken out of context, just as he has responded to many similar assertions in the past.

Members of several Brandeis groups, including Brit Tzedek v'Shalom (BTvS), the Brandeis Muslim Student Association (BMSA) and the Brandeis American Civil Liberties Union Club (ACLU) , have been working together to organize responses to Pipes' visit. A group of students started an email list called "HH" - which stands for Hate Haters - has been created (the group has since been changed to Brandeis Coalition for Tolerance).

Other ideas for further action have also been suggested. At the centerpiece of a drive to educated students about Islam, students are at work on a campaign to circulate selected quotations by Pipes and Brandeis students' reactions to the quotes. A pro-tolerance rally immediately preceding Pipes' lecture, a peaceful protest inside the lecture as was done at Yale, a candlelight vigil discussing offensive material and an anti-hate lecture with specific focus on Pipes have all been proposed as well.

Ammad Bahalim '04, former BMSA President and one of the administrators of the Hate Haters list, said, "this is not an isolated thing. It is something Muslims at Brandeis have to live with every day. These are things that are not obvious; he will not use directly offensive words. He walks the fine line."

Denise Katz '05, founding President of MEFAB, responded to Pipes' controversial status, saying that "Pipes is among the nation's preeminent scholars and leading commentators of the Middle East and Islam ... He warned of the dangers posed by radical Islam long before September 11, 2001 ... His expertise in the field has been recognized by the President, who has recently appointed him to the U.S. Institute of Peace."

Judah Ariel, BTvS Programming Coordinator said that BTvS "is disturbed by Daniel Pipes' bigoted statements towards Muslims" and wishes "that Dr. Pipes' legitimate, if controversial, academic work wasn't marred by his Islamophobic attitudes."

Bariza Umar '04, another former President and current member of the BMSA and the other administrator of the HH list, voiced her disdain for Pipes: "A lot of what he says is spreading hatred and reinforcing stereotypes," she said, admitting that, "the quotes may have been taken out of context, in that we cannot flier whole articles," but adding that "a lot of people will not read his books or all his articles, and there are some things that just stand out."

While some see Pipes as a "purveyor of hatred" towards Muslims, in the words of Bahalim and Umar, others regard him very differently.

Mitchel Balsam '05, President of ZaHaV, expressed concern that "people are using Brandeis' natural aversion to racism to try and silence a speaker who will address some very tough issues."

Albert Cahn '07, a representative of the ACLU, a club in the process of being chartered, said Pipes, "has the right to voice his opinions on campus, but his views are not a message we need at this time, or that will be productive." Katz countered this idea, saying, "You don't have to obviously infringe on the First Amendment, but you can make an atmosphere of fear and it becomes borderline."

The lecture will be held in Sherman Function Hall at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, Nov. 18.