Harvard invites banned poet back

Tom Paulin: Ban caused widespread debate

Poet Tom Paulin has been invited back to speak at Harvard University after his earlier ban linked to comments he made about Jewish settlers in the occupied territories.

Paulin, an Oxford fellow who has been teaching at Columbia University in New York, had his offer cancelled after he made the comments in an interview to an Egyptian newspaper.

Free speech was a principle that needed upholding here

Harvard professor

In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly in April, Paulin said US-born settlers in the occupied territories were "Nazis, racists" and he had "nothing but hatred" for them.

The university cancelled a lecture he was to give to the English Department after complaints from pro-Israeli groups.

But the English department decided to offer the invitation again - in the interests of free speech - after a two-hour meeting.

"Free speech was a principle that needed upholding here," English professor Peter Sacks said on Wednesday. "This was a clear reaffirmation that the department stood strongly by the First Amendment."

Debate

Paulin was supposed to speak on 14 November, but will probably not make the lecture until next spring.

The banning of Paulin caused widespread debate in academic circles.

"We are ultimately stronger as a university if we together maintain our robust commitment to free expression, including the freedom of groups on campus to invite speakers with controversial views," said Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers.

In the interview, Paulin, who was born in Northern Ireland, also said he understood "how suicide bombers feel" but suggested the Palestinians should wage a guerrilla war instead of attacking civilians.

Last year he wrote a poem for the Observer newspaper, labelling Israeli soldiers "Zionist SS".