On September 15, 2004, DePaul professor Thomas Klocek got into a conversation with Palestinian Islamic supremacist students who were distributing jihadist anti-Israel propaganda. “It was very one-sided,” Klocek recalled of their literature, “and I wanted them to think about the bigger reality.” In the course of their discussion, he appears to have said that all terrorists around the world today are Muslims — a statement that is not entirely accurate, but very nearly so, but which nonetheless enraged the Palestinian students.

They demanded that he be fired. And he was. He sued DePaul, lost, and appealed. But now the Illinois Supreme Court has opted not to hear his appeal.

Justice has been denied, and the Islamic supremacist foes of the freedom of speech win another one.

“Justice denied for former DePaul Professor Thomas Klocek,” from Marathon Pundit, December 10:

For over 14 years, Thomas Klocek was a well-liked adjunct professor at DePaul University School of New Learning. One course he taught was “Critical Thinking.” So it’s ironic that he was essentially fired by the Chicago Catholic university after engaging in a spirited discussion about Middle Eastern politics with members of Students for Justice in Palestine and United Muslims Moving Ahead at a new students fair at DePaul’s downtown campus in 2004. The groups were promoting the usual inflammatory tripe peddled by campus extremists such as comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.Unaccustomed to critical thinking, the SJP and UMMA members complained to Klocek’s deal–and Klocek became a former DePaul adjunct professor. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) got involved–of course they sided with the Muslim groups. Outside of a mathematics professor and some campus conservatives, no one at DePaul defended Klocek. As for Klocek, a devout Catholic, he learned that standing up for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, can be a career-ending move.

I’ve been covering the Klocek case for five years. He sued DePaul in the summer of 2005 for defamation. But shortly before the start of the trial, the third judge assigned to the case, a DePaul law school graduate, dismissed the suit.

His lawyers appealed, but late last month the Illinois Supreme Court decided not to hear Klocek’s appeal.

Justice has been denied. Klocek is a good man who got a raw deal. I’m glad to have assisted him in getting the word out about the injustice brought upon him–and I will continue to do so….

Marathon Pundit also has a press release from Mauck and Baker, Klocek’s law firm.