Frontpagemag.com, a conservative online magazine, prides itself on its contributions to the war on terror. Last Tuesday, the magazine published a piece titled, "Brandeis Appoints a Jihadist." Alongside advertisements of busty women wearing "Peace through superior firepower" T-shirts, the article poses incendiary questions about Khalil Shikaki, a senior fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies. According to The New York Sun, wiretapped conversations imply that he was closely associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or PIJ; his estranged brother founded the group in the 1970s.Here's one question from frontpagemag.com to start: "How is it possible that [Brandeis] hires someone with Shikaki's record?"

The answer, one can only assume, is supposed to be that Brandeis, in its intolerable, self-congratulatory liberalism, forgot to check with the FBI whether the Palestinian was a terrorist before it hired him. Brandeis, infatuated with its own open-mindedness, ignored Shikaki's past. Now faced with its blunder, the administration's staunch support of Shikaki is simply liberal academia refusing to admit its flaws.

After interviewing Brandeis administrators, Brandeis faculty, the president of the Zionist Organization of America (which has called for an investigation into Shikaki's past) and both liberal and conservative Brandeis students, I am struck by a bizzare paradox. It's as though there are two men: Shikaki the jihadist, conservative hysteria's flavor of the month, and Shikaki, the venerated scholar.

Shikaki isn't a random Palestinian the school added to its faculty for the sake of appearing balanced. The Crown Center's director, Shai Feldman, said he has known Shikaki personally for over 12 years. Shikaki is revered in his field; he has been involved in conversations with right-wing Israelis, and has spoken at AIPAC, the Washington Institute and other important organizations. For many, he serves as an emblem of peace and moderation in a country weary of war.

In fact, the story the media is feeding us doesn't make much sense when examined closely. Aside from his familial ties to PIJ-which was responsible for a suicide bombing in April 1995 which killed, among others, Alisa Flatow '96-the most serious evidence against Shakiki is that he was recorded on tape discussing a transfer of funds to Sami al-Arian, who was tried for terrorism. As Prof. Natana DeLong-Bas (NEJS) told me, "The assertion that any connection with Sami al-Arian makes a person a terrorist is very disturbing, given that Sami was acquitted of the terrorist charges against him. . The outcome of the trial indicated that he was, in fact, raising money for charity."

When President Clinton declared PIJ to be a terrorist organization in 1995, all evidence of Shikaki's association with the group came to an abrupt end, Frontpagemag.com reports.

But the story can't end there. Thus the author of "Brandeis Hires a Jihadist" asks:

"Did Shikaki approve of [Flatow's] murder? What does Shikaki think of Palestinian Islamic Jihad now? Does he think it is a legitimate group?"

Conspiracy theories are impossible to disprove. But, according to those who know him, the idea that Shikaki, who has devoted so much of his life to the pursuit of peace, could at any time have approved of something as abominable as murder is preposterous.

But Robert Spencer, the author of "Brandeis Appoints a Jihadist," is not concerned with answers. So he throws one more question out there:

"Did anyone at the Crown Center dare to ask him such questions during the interview process?"

The answer is no. DeLong-Bas told me, "It seems that any Palestinian who talks about the need to help the Palestinian people, calls for their right to independence, or demands justice ends up being labeled as a terrorist." Shikaki's commitment to peace is indubitable to those who have spoken to him and have read his work. Although it might be standard procedure to ask nationalistic Palestinians whether they support violence, in this case Shikaki's work spoke for itself.

Enough said of Shakiki and his mysterious past.

What's more interesting is Shikaki's role as the plaything of the right-wing press. He might be labeled a "jihadist" on baseless grounds, but the reaction he has provoked demonstrates a sickening reality.

The war on terror has made us afraid-so afraid that we see the words "possible terrorist" and we want to purge our community of the potential evil, just in case.

If Shikaki is fired from Brandeis solely because he might be a jihadist, those who want our society to crumble and implode will be winning the war.

America has only one weapon on this front: democracy. And democracy involves putting trust into our legal system, and not granting individuals the power to punish potential criminals without due process. Infringing on people's liberties because we suspect they may be impure is doing the work of terrorists-but more efficiently, because we are nourishing that crippling mindset of fear by ourselves.

Brandeis, true to its namesake, is upholding democracy in its support of Khalil Shikaki and its refusal to punish him unless he is proven guilty. I am proud to watch our administrators-unmoved by the current hysteria-do their part for the war on terror.