US: Lincoln University Professor Calls for Dismantling Israel

Al-Manar

24/10/2010 Lincoln University History Professor Kaukab Siddique has called for dismantling Israel through peaceful means if possible, what prompted pro-Israel US senators to urge an investigation in the matter.

Speaking at a recent Labor Day rally, Siddique said: "We must stand united to defeat, to destroy, to dismantle Israel – if possible by peaceful means... For the Jews, I would say, 'See what could happen to you if the Muslims wake up.' And I say to the Muslims,

Dear brothers and sisters – unite and rise up against this hydra-headed monster which calls itself Zionism.'"

Siddique's statements followed several articles in which he questions the validity of the Holocaust and calling it "a hoax."

Originally from Pakistan, Siddique, 67, is a vocal critic of "Israel's record of human-rights abuses in the Palestinian territories."

A Lincoln statement said it had "not been made aware of any instance in which Siddique's views were taught in his classes or shared in any public forums on campus."

Siddique said Thursday that he stands by his statements and "would not back down from detractors out to threaten academic freedom," adding that he had the support of his faculty and students and that he would continue to speak his mind, despite pressure from those who have referred to him as an "anti-Semite."

"I got a little fired and said a few things that were pretty strong," said Siddique. "That doesn't mean I wouldn't say them again. I don't believe in laying low."

"When I refer critically to the 'Jews' I am referring to the current Israeli leadership and to their major supporters, not to the Jewish race as a whole," he said in an email to CBN News. "Most of my readers and listeners understand this; if it was taken to mean otherwise, then I offer my apologies to those I have offended.”

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