Backers say Baylor prof faces firing for his views

A Baylor University professor is fighting dismissal charges that
supporters say are aimed at silencing a dissident voice in America's
Jewish community.

According to published reports, Marc Ellis,
university professor of Jewish studies and director of Baylor's Center
for Jewish Studies, said during a November 21 speech to the American
Academy of Religion that he has become a victim of "selectively
enforced" policies regarding practices that are routinely overlooked.

Ellis,
an expert in Holocaust studies and liberation theology, said former
Baylor presidents defended his outspoken opposition to U.S. and Israeli
policy toward Palestinians. He claimed that current Baylor president and
former Bill Clinton prosecutor Kenneth Starr was personally involved in
efforts to fire him, a charge denied by Baylor spokeswoman Lori
Fogleman.