UTC Criminal Justice Professor Named Academic Fellow

Dr. Jeffrey Rush, UC Foundation Professor of Criminal Justice, was recently named an Academic Fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) (www.defenddemocracy.org)a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and education on the war on terrorism. FDD produces independent analyses of global terrorist threats, as well as of the historical, cultural, philosophical and ideological factors that drive terrorism, and how terrorism and government response to it can threaten democracies and the individual freedoms guaranteed within democratic societies.

“A bombing in Jerusalem murdered 13 and wounded 60 more in the same city where I was located just 10 days ago. I took part in an anti-terror/pro-democracy seminar sponsored by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Israel. The participants learned first hand how one democratic state fights terrorism. Democracies have every right to defend themselves from vicious terrorists,” Rush said.

In response to the Jerusalem bombing, the training session addressed several discussion items specifically related to Hamas and terrorism, including:

• No murderous incident like this can simply be called “just another a tit for tat attack in the troubled history of the Middle East.” It is false to equate terrorist groups with the democratic nations that fight them. To do so calls into question our own war against Al-Qaeda and its associates.
• Terrorism is never justifiable under any circumstances. No one is allowed to blow up a bus full of innocents to advance a political cause. This includes Hamas’ latest attacks in Jerusalem.
• Hamas is identified by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist group. It has murdered Americans as well as Israelis. Hamas’ various illegal fundraising operations in the U.S. have been shut down one by one since 9/11.
• Hamas has been linked to Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda. These groups have murdered more Americans than any other terrorist organizations (Hezbollah—1983 bombing of the U.S. Marines in Beirut killed 242, Al-Qaeda- 9/11 killed 3000).

"We have been fortunate in America not to suffer the same numbers of attacks that Israel has suffered. But we have paid a terrible price in innocent lives too. We should continue to vigorously prosecute the war on terrorism as the Israelis have done. And, we must dismiss any attempt to declare terrorists as freedom fighters or co-equals with democratic states fighting against terrorism. Terrorists are murderers," said Rush.

As part of being named a fellow to the a fellow to the FDD, Rush has agreed to engage in interviews, panels, forums, discussions. For more information, email Jeff Rush.