Ward Churchill was invited by Burlinton Peace activists to speak at a rally in opposition to the "war on terrorism". They were taken aback when a Burlington Free Press columnist did some elementary research on Churchill's views on the people who died in the WTC attack. Churchill's view that the people in the WTC bldg. were "little Eichmanns" shocked the organizers and sponsors, one of whom pulled out of the rally, Pax Christi.
The column from Saturday's Burlington Free Press: Hemingway Activist's views on attacks will have people buzzing Ward Churchill is speaking in Burlington today. That might not mean much to most folks, although Churchill is one of the nation's foremost experts on the plight of indigenous peoples, particularly Native Americans. That's important stuff, but it's his views about the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that will have people buzzing this weekend. Churchill, who is expected to appear at a downtown rally against the bombing in Afghanistan this morning and at a symposium at the University of Vermont in the afternoon, basically thinks the victims of the attacks got what they deserved. In a lengthy Internet essay titled, "Some people push back: On the justice of roosting chickens," this is what he wrote about the people who commandeered the airliners that crashed into the Pentagon and the twin towers: "They finally responded in kind to some of what this country has dispensed to their people as a matter of course. That they waited to do so ... more than anything is a testament to their patience and restraint." As for those victims who died at the Pentagon, they were not "innocent civilians," he wrote. "The building and those inside comprised military targets, pure and simple." He directed his harshest remarks at the people who worked and died inside the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, apparently forgetting that a good number of them worked in low-paying jobs servicing the building and its users. "If there was a better, more effective, or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I'd be really interested in hearing about it." The Eichmann reference is to Adolph Eichmann, the member of the Nazi secret police who was convicted and executed for his part in the killing of six million Jews during World War II. Thankfully, we live in a nation that values free speech and is strong enough to permit the articulation of unpopular viewpoints, even as repugnant as Churchill's. To be fair, his essay was written shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, so we don't know if he remains as strident on the subject today. Attempts to reach him by telephone this week were unsuccessful. The essay first appeared on a Web site he helps edit and most recently was posted on UVM philosophy professor Will Miller's Web site. One thing's sure: UVM and the people responsible for sponsoring his visit to Burlington don't support what he wrote about the victims. They didn't even know he'd said those things until the essay was brought to their attention by a reporter. "I find it personally obnoxious and abhorrent," said Provost John Bramley. "I didn't know a damn thing about it until today." Ellen Kahler, director of the Peace & Justice Center, spoke about wishing her group could "pull back" from support for Churchill's appearance at the rally. "It's clearly not our position at all, and it's unfortunate it came out now," she said. Jimmy Leas, a lawyer connected with the Burlington Anti-War Coalition, said his group considered but rejected the idea of disinviting Churchill upon learning of his remarks. "What he said is so completely at variance with what we believe," Leas said. You have to wonder if Churchill's remarks would be as cold-blooded if he had lost a loved one in the attacks, or what he'd say to the families of the 13 UVM alumni who did. Sometime this weekend, you can bet someone is going to ask Churchill about that. Let's see what he says.
