When Brandeis U. Capitulated to CAIR: A Case Study in Dhimmitude Masquerading as "Tikkun Olam"

An analysis of the sorry episode appears in this month's Commentary. Here's a snippet:

In April, Brandeis University, under pressure from the school’s MSA and a pseudo-civil-rights organization called the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), revoked its decision to award her an honorary degree. 

The Islamic censorship machine, with CAIR frequently at the controls, employs a two-pronged strategy that cleverly panders to the emotional and intellectual soft spots of the multicultural left: First, it links its targets to “hate speech,” thereby delegitimizing their right of free expression. Second, it makes common cause with Jewish groups, some shills, willing to join the call for censorship. This past spring, when news broke that Hirsi Ali was scheduled to appear at Brandeis’s upcoming graduation ceremonies, the gears began to turn. One of the first to hype the story was Richard Silverstein, who maintains the anti-Israel, conspiracy-theorist blog with the seemingly innocuous title “Tikun Olam.” CAIR would later thank Silverstein by name for his efforts. Using social media, the Islamic organization mobilized supporters around the country to contact the school’s administration, and it issued press releases condemning Hirsi Ali. Eighty-seven members of the school’s faculty, including nine in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, one of whom is a senior lecturer of Hebrew, penned an open letter urging the institution “to select another individual.” Shortly thereafter, Brandeis’s president, Frederick Lawrence, afraid of being labeled an Islamophobe, disinvited Hirsi Ali. CAIR’s crucial role in the scandal was evident in Lawrence’s statement to the Brandeis community: “Outside groups,” Lawrence claimed, “played no role in the ultimate decision.” It was a classic case of a strong protestation of innocence that implied guilt.

The upshot: there is now a permanent stain on Brandeis's reputation.