In the hours that have elapsed since Harry’s Place was unceremoniously ripped from the internet, this blog and many others have declared their solidarity, mainly by expressing their disgust at the underhand methods adopted by the boycotters inside the UCU and by linking to this back-up site. Again, please go there and tell your friends and colleagues to do the same.
One post which caught my eye was this one by Francis Sedgemore. Do read it in full. Those of our readers in the UK who are trade union members are encouraged to follow Francis’s example:
“This is gross violation of free speech, and a most disgraceful thing that the UCU activists concerned have done. It reflects very badly on the union as a whole, whether or not the action has official sanction. As a trades unionist I have made a formal complaint to the Trades Union Congress and UCU, and urge you to do likewise.
Brendan Barber
General Secretary
Trades Union Congress
telephone: 020 7636 4030
email: bbarber@tuc.org.uk
Dr Sally Hunt
General Secretary
Universities and Colleges Union
telephone: 020 7670 9729
email: shunt@ucu.org.uk
If an activist in a union that espouses anti-racism takes her information on world affairs from a known white supremacist, then it is in the public interest that this be made public knowledge.”
And all this time I thought I had some virus in my computer, which admittedly had been acting a little strange. Well, I’m relieved about my computer, but worried about Harry’s Place. How can Jenna Delich justify this action. Harry’s Place has always been characterized by intelligent commentary and civilized discourse. There are so many sites–on the right and the left–that are genuinely abusive of those they “criticize,” and they’re not taken off the web. This seems to be a really crude form of censorship and intimidation.
I’ve just had another thought: Maybe it’s a good thing, in a way, that Delich has linked to a neo-Nazi site. This will be a brilliant turn-off to many of her potential admirers. Just think, if it was offensive to the readers of Harry’s Place to see the link, even some of Delich’s readers (or at least the fairly intelligent ones) will also be offended. If anyone had any doubts about her, that link will have confirmed them.
“This will be a brilliant turn-off to many of her potential admirers.”
I beg to differ, Joanne. Think again about the lady and her admirers.
What snoopy said