Sentence:  Ordinary politeness may have militated against this opinion being stated so badly but anyone with a wide acquaintance in both groups and who has sat through the many round tables , workshops or panel discussions - whatever they <WSD>are</WSD> called - on this subject will recognize that the final , boiled down crux of the matter is education . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)