Greenwich Library in fracas over Mideast lectures
GREENWICH, Conn. --Free speech issues and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have come to the Greenwich Library.
A group critical of Israel and U.S. media coverage of the Middle East is defying a library ban on lectures by the group. The organization, If Americans Knew, criticizes Israeli actions toward Palestinians and says the U.S. media misinforms Americans about the conflict.
Greenwich Library officials said they canceled planned talks by Alison Weir of the Portland, Ore.-based group following complaints by some residents about her and the organization.
Roberta Denning, president of the library board of trustees, said she and the library's management canceled the talks because they are "offensive to public sensitivity."
A condition for letting individuals and groups use the library for meetings is that a meeting not be considered "offensive to public sensitivity."
"We received indications of strong and numerous expressions of concern that were expressed to the library and also to the town of Greenwich," Denning said. "We had some background information on her that indicated that she has been controversial before," she said without elaborating.
Weir claims constitutional rights to free speech and insists she will speak at the Greenwich Library "as I was invited to do and scheduled to do."
Denning said the issue is not about free speech. She said she was concerned that people may think the library sponsored Weir's talks.
Greenwich resident John McGillion, who booked the library room for the talks, said he was disgusted with the library's decision.
"The idea that we can't speak our point of view as opposed to the common point of view that's perpetrated by the American media is outrageous," he said.
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On the Net: http://www.ifamericansknew.org 