Mohsen al Attar-Why Are Our Taxes Paying This Radical?
Why are New Zealand taxpayers paying the salary of a self proclaimed Muslim-Marxist radical academic?
Mohsen al Attar is the first lecturer in Islamic Law at the University of Auckland. He specialises in Law and Development, Islamic Law, Globalisation, International Trade Law and Intellectual Property Law
In 2008 Attar completed his PhD which was an examination of the relationship between Transnational Law and "class struggle". In the PhD he focused in particular on laws created by institutions and non-state entities. "How do these new laws impact people? Peasants? Farmers? Workers? Does it improve their lifestyles or harm them? Does it promote greater equity or continue to polarise the world between spas and slums?
Mr Attar is appreciative of his freedom to develop and teach courses of his choosing. He has stated, "Not many law faculties are as supportive as Auckland in allowing me to teach the courses I want to teach."
Attar is a fan of the teachings of Brazillian Marxist educational theorist Paulo Freire. He states that his outlook on teaching, education and liberation can be best summed up with a quote from Freire,
"Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferals of information."
He has stated that he is "captivated" by the writings of Antonio Gramsci, a highly influential Marxist who was at one time, leader of the Communist Party of Italy.
Gramsci advocated moving to communism through infiltration of religion, the media, academia and social institutions, rather than through worker/peasant insurrection.
Attar is also a huge fan of Malcolm X who was a leader and the public face of the militantly anti-Jewish group, Nation of Islam before moving on to black nationalism and Marxism.
In a 2008 interview, Attar stated that Malcolm X was his personal hero, "one of the foremost intellectuals of the 20th century".
Stating that he was not overly concerned with labels, Attar also commented,
:''"There will likely always be spas and slums but there’s no reason why we can’t tone down the spas a little and upgrade the slums. If this makes me a Marxist, anarchist, lefty, Muslim, wolf, goat, sheep, or elk then so be it."''
Attar is also an admirer of the late Edward Said, a Marxist academic who once served on the ruling body of the terrorist Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Attar is a Canadian of Egyptian extraction, who did much of his academic training in the UK, Sweden and the United States-but he has a vision for New Zealand.
In a March 12 2008 interview, Attar stated, "Cultural homogeneity is a thing of the past. Diversity is the key to the future." In an article published in the NZ Herald on March 5, 2008 he also stated, "Within New Zealand, a new Muslim community is emerging. This community is strong; this community is vibrant; this community is diverse; and this community is committed to forging a new ‘We’ in New Zealand.".
I have a problem with paying to support Attar's Marxist vision-do you?
Mohsen al Attar is the first lecturer in Islamic Law at the University of Auckland. He specialises in Law and Development, Islamic Law, Globalisation, International Trade Law and Intellectual Property LawIn 2008 Attar completed his PhD which was an examination of the relationship between Transnational Law and "class struggle". In the PhD he focused in particular on laws created by institutions and non-state entities. "How do these new laws impact people? Peasants? Farmers? Workers? Does it improve their lifestyles or harm them? Does it promote greater equity or continue to polarise the world between spas and slums?
Mr Attar is appreciative of his freedom to develop and teach courses of his choosing. He has stated, "Not many law faculties are as supportive as Auckland in allowing me to teach the courses I want to teach."
Attar is a fan of the teachings of Brazillian Marxist educational theorist Paulo Freire. He states that his outlook on teaching, education and liberation can be best summed up with a quote from Freire,
"Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferals of information."
He has stated that he is "captivated" by the writings of Antonio Gramsci, a highly influential Marxist who was at one time, leader of the Communist Party of Italy.
Gramsci advocated moving to communism through infiltration of religion, the media, academia and social institutions, rather than through worker/peasant insurrection.
Attar is also a huge fan of Malcolm X who was a leader and the public face of the militantly anti-Jewish group, Nation of Islam before moving on to black nationalism and Marxism.
In a 2008 interview, Attar stated that Malcolm X was his personal hero, "one of the foremost intellectuals of the 20th century".
Stating that he was not overly concerned with labels, Attar also commented,
:''"There will likely always be spas and slums but there’s no reason why we can’t tone down the spas a little and upgrade the slums. If this makes me a Marxist, anarchist, lefty, Muslim, wolf, goat, sheep, or elk then so be it."''
Attar is also an admirer of the late Edward Said, a Marxist academic who once served on the ruling body of the terrorist Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Attar is a Canadian of Egyptian extraction, who did much of his academic training in the UK, Sweden and the United States-but he has a vision for New Zealand.
In a March 12 2008 interview, Attar stated, "Cultural homogeneity is a thing of the past. Diversity is the key to the future." In an article published in the NZ Herald on March 5, 2008 he also stated, "Within New Zealand, a new Muslim community is emerging. This community is strong; this community is vibrant; this community is diverse; and this community is committed to forging a new ‘We’ in New Zealand.".
I have a problem with paying to support Attar's Marxist vision-do you?
posted by Trevor Loudon at
1/19/2010 02:28:00 PM
4 Comments:
That comment takes the cake for plain, unreal. delusional, Flat Earthism.
It really does !
This is quite a racist article. I think you should ask al Attar's students (and yes if you had done your research you would know that his last name is al attar and not attar - pretty ignorant on your part). Anyway, as a former student of his, I can tell you that I am not alone (you should see the number of students in his lectures) in thinking that our taxes haven't been used for a better cause in recent years. Btw, I am of Jewish ancestry and i do not find his position anti-semitic at all (as you are trying to claim). we need more well- informed and inspirational lecturers like al attar!
-Yael
If only we had the kind of government that would expel Marxist lecturers. The kind of government that would stand up to the likes of Theodor Adorno or Herbert Marcuse and say, "No! We will not stand for you teaching that nonsense here! You are banned from this university!"
A strong government!
This Marxist Muslim lecturer wants diversity? I say NO!
I say NO, we do not want diversity.
We are ONE nation!
We are ONE people!
Now if only we could find ourselves a strong leader!
Trevor,You seem to have a biased perspective and I agree with most of what Mohsen has claimed...it seems like your also referring to islam in a negative way!!..From the headline "why are our taxes paying for this radical?" one can tell that your sadly misinformed!!...and an end note:most law students prefer him over all the other lecturers and his classes are always packed!!
-Lena
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