Muslim critic settles defamation suit

EUGENE, Ore., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- An Oregon educator has settled a lawsuit against a prominent U.S. critic of Islam who labeled him an anti-Semite and an extremist in a newspaper column.

University of Oregon sociology instructor Douglas Card said he was defamed by the column's authors, Middle East scholar and U.S. Institute of Peace board member Daniel Pipes and his research assistant Jonathan Schanzer when they identified Card as an example of "left-wing extremists" who use their classrooms to indoctrinate students.

The terms of the settlement are confidential, the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard reported Friday, but the parties issued a joint statement in which Pipes and Schanzer said they "are now convinced that Card does not condone extremism in the classroom."

In their 2002 column, published in the New York Post and on several Web sites, Pipes and Schanzer accused Card of describing Israel as "a terrorist state" and Israelis as "baby killers" in his course. They also charged Card forced students to agree in a final exam with Card's view that Israel "stole land."

Card sued in federal court in 2003, seeking $1.1 million in damages. The suit was dismissed on what Card described as "procedural grounds." The dismissal was being appealed when the case settled out of court.