Maggie's Farm in the News

Actually, it's Bruce Kesler, one of the regular contributors at Maggie's Farm, and he's in California, not New England. That said, his criticisms of Brooklyn College have been picked up by the New York Times, "Brooklyn College Furor Is More Heated Online." And he's interviewed at New York Daily News, "Alum to cut Brooklyn College out of will over required freshman reading by 'radical' prof":

A Brooklyn College grad cut his alma mater out of his will because the school is requiring freshmen to read a book he calls propaganda by a "radical pro-Palestinian professor."

Bruce Kesler, Class of 1968, said he made the decision to cut what he called a "significant bequest" with "a very heavy heart."

"I am very fortunate to have gone to Brooklyn College back in the 1960s," said Kesler, 62, who described himself as a former "poor boy from Brooklyn" who lives in Encinitas, Calif.

"That book was a poor and insulting choice. I'm sure Brooklyn College is still a great avenue for education, but I don't think that I should send it any more money."

The book that upset Kesler is called "How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America" by a Swiss-born Brooklyn College professor named Moustafa Bayoumi.

It chronicles the stories of seven Arab-Americans in post-9/11 Brooklyn.

On his blog, Kesler wrote that Bayoumi's book "consciously draws a parallel, ridiculous on its face, between the horrible and pervasive discrimination and injustices that blacks were subjected to a century ago and Arab-Americans today."

Kesler, a Vietnam vet who has written blogs highly critical of President Obama, said his old school was a liberal bastion in the '60s and remains one still.

"But, there was no official policy to inculcate students with a political viewpoint," he wrote. "Now there is. That is unacceptable."

Bayoumi did not return a call for comment.

In a statement, Brooklyn College said it was "regrettable that Mr. Bruce Kesler misunderstands the intentions of the Common Reader experience and the broader context of this selection."

One point at issue is Bayoumi's edited volume, Midnight on the Mavi Marmara: The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and How It Changed the Course of the Israel/Palestine Conflict. Bayoumi compares the plight of the Palestinians to the freedom struggle for black Americans in the 20th Century. It's a stretch, I agree.

In any case, Bruce has a post up on this, "New York Times Reports (Sorta) On Brooklyn College’s Indoctrination Book (UPDATES)." And follow all the links, because this is breaking out as an even bigger controversy.