Lecturers under fire after call for boycott of Israel
natsocnet | 05.05.2003 10:33
"Anti-Israeli campaigners lament the fact that they are labelled anti-Semitic and make a distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. However, anti-Zionism denies an entire people the right to define themselves as a nation. They attack Israel not for what it does but for what it is."
Lecturers under fire after call for boycott of Israel
Lecturers under fire after call for boycott of Israel
By Julie Henry, Education Correspondent
(Filed: 04/05/2003)
Britain's largest university lecturers' union will this week debate the introduction of an academic boycott of Israel in protest at its military crackdown in Palestinian-held territory.
The Association of University Teachers, which has 46,000 members including dons and vice-chancellors, will vote on a motion calling on it to sever "any academic links they may have with official Israeli institutions".
The motion, which was chosen for debate by a committee of the AUT, has sparked fury from academics who argue that it is anti-Semitic and should not be given a public hearing. The AUT has added insult to injury, they say, by scheduling the debate for Friday afternoon, nearing the start of the Jewish sabbath. The motion has been brought by the AUT's Birmingham University branch.
It will be proposed by Sue Blackwell, the branch vice-president and an English lecturer, after being chosen from hundreds of submissions for debate by the union's six-member council agenda committee. In all, 59 motions are due to be debated at the three-day conference in Scarborough.
The Birmingham motion reads: "In view of Israel's repeated breaches of UN resolutions and of the Geneva Conventions, council urges all UK institutions of higher education, all AUT local associations and all AUT members to review immediately, with a view to severing, any academic links they may have with official Israeli institutions, including universities."
Delegates at the meeting will also be urged not to attend conferences in Israel and to support colleagues who have allegedly been the focus of a "witch-hunt" because of their support for an academic boycott.
The union's national executive has recommended that the call for action is rejected, although it has defended its decision to debate a boycott of Israel. Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the AUT, said: "The AUT is a broad church and contains a wide spectrum of views on numerous matters. This subject will be fully debated and I am sure those who feel strongly about the issue will put forward their arguments."
Geoffrey Alderman, a former pro vice-chancellor of Middlesex University, said that he was profoundly dismayed by a potential boycott and the timing of the debate.
"I have written to the AUT president and general secretary to make my feelings known," he said, arguing that Israel was being unfairly singled out. "I am opposed to academic boycotts of any description."
The AUT vote is the latest in a series of attempts to isolate Israeli scholars in protest at its security operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In Britain, calls for an academic boycott have been led by Steven Rose, an Open University professor.
Last year, the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was forced to hold an inquiry after The Telegraph revealed that Mona Baker, a professor, had sacked two Israeli academics from the editorial boards of two of her journals because of their nationality. A Umist inquiry into her conduct found that Prof Baker had not acted improperly under its rules because the journals she owns were not connected to the university; however, it called for a review of Umist's rules to protect the institution from being brought into disrepute in the future.
Emanuele Ottolenghi, a lecturer in Israel studies at St Antony's College, Oxford, condemned the motion as anti-Semitic and against the ethics of the academic community.
"The notion of a boycott has gone from a phenomenon involving a few extreme individuals to something approaching legitimacy. It is slowly being allowed to become mainstream," he said. "Anti-Israeli campaigners lament the fact that they are labelled anti-Semitic and make a distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. However, anti-Zionism denies an entire people the right to define themselves as a nation. They attack Israel not for what it does but for what it is."
Neville Nagler, the director general of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he hoped the motion would be defeated. "This boycott penalises individuals who are not connected, let alone responsible, for government policy."
A spokesman for Tony Blair declined to comment on a motion that had yet to be debated but added that the Prime Minister's views were "widely known".
Last year, Mr Blair told Dr Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, that he would "do anything necessary" to stop such boycotts. Sue Blackwell, the proposer, runs a Palestinian human rights website which was criticised by the Board of Deputies earlier this year.
The board said that the website, which contains articles refering to "low-grade genocide" by Israel and a link to a website called The Electronic Intifada, was offensive and a mouthpiece for anti-Israeli groups.
Ms Blackwell said this weekend: "I deny emphatically that I am somehow anti-Semitic by bringing this motion. I have been a member of the Anti-Nazi League for many years and a campaigner for human rights. I absolutely condemn terrorism of any kind.
"I can understand that it could create bad feeling among colleagues but the boycott is aimed at institutions not individuals."
Birmingham University refused to condemn or support Ms Blackwell, although it said that it has no policy of supporting an Israeli academic boycott. A spokesman said: "The university neither endorses nor condones these views but supports freedom of speech."
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/05/04/nisr04.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/05/04/
ixhome.html
By Julie Henry, Education Correspondent
(Filed: 04/05/2003)
Britain's largest university lecturers' union will this week debate the introduction of an academic boycott of Israel in protest at its military crackdown in Palestinian-held territory.
The Association of University Teachers, which has 46,000 members including dons and vice-chancellors, will vote on a motion calling on it to sever "any academic links they may have with official Israeli institutions".
The motion, which was chosen for debate by a committee of the AUT, has sparked fury from academics who argue that it is anti-Semitic and should not be given a public hearing. The AUT has added insult to injury, they say, by scheduling the debate for Friday afternoon, nearing the start of the Jewish sabbath. The motion has been brought by the AUT's Birmingham University branch.
It will be proposed by Sue Blackwell, the branch vice-president and an English lecturer, after being chosen from hundreds of submissions for debate by the union's six-member council agenda committee. In all, 59 motions are due to be debated at the three-day conference in Scarborough.
The Birmingham motion reads: "In view of Israel's repeated breaches of UN resolutions and of the Geneva Conventions, council urges all UK institutions of higher education, all AUT local associations and all AUT members to review immediately, with a view to severing, any academic links they may have with official Israeli institutions, including universities."
Delegates at the meeting will also be urged not to attend conferences in Israel and to support colleagues who have allegedly been the focus of a "witch-hunt" because of their support for an academic boycott.
The union's national executive has recommended that the call for action is rejected, although it has defended its decision to debate a boycott of Israel. Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the AUT, said: "The AUT is a broad church and contains a wide spectrum of views on numerous matters. This subject will be fully debated and I am sure those who feel strongly about the issue will put forward their arguments."
Geoffrey Alderman, a former pro vice-chancellor of Middlesex University, said that he was profoundly dismayed by a potential boycott and the timing of the debate.
"I have written to the AUT president and general secretary to make my feelings known," he said, arguing that Israel was being unfairly singled out. "I am opposed to academic boycotts of any description."
The AUT vote is the latest in a series of attempts to isolate Israeli scholars in protest at its security operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In Britain, calls for an academic boycott have been led by Steven Rose, an Open University professor.
Last year, the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was forced to hold an inquiry after The Telegraph revealed that Mona Baker, a professor, had sacked two Israeli academics from the editorial boards of two of her journals because of their nationality. A Umist inquiry into her conduct found that Prof Baker had not acted improperly under its rules because the journals she owns were not connected to the university; however, it called for a review of Umist's rules to protect the institution from being brought into disrepute in the future.
Emanuele Ottolenghi, a lecturer in Israel studies at St Antony's College, Oxford, condemned the motion as anti-Semitic and against the ethics of the academic community.
"The notion of a boycott has gone from a phenomenon involving a few extreme individuals to something approaching legitimacy. It is slowly being allowed to become mainstream," he said. "Anti-Israeli campaigners lament the fact that they are labelled anti-Semitic and make a distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. However, anti-Zionism denies an entire people the right to define themselves as a nation. They attack Israel not for what it does but for what it is."
Neville Nagler, the director general of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he hoped the motion would be defeated. "This boycott penalises individuals who are not connected, let alone responsible, for government policy."
A spokesman for Tony Blair declined to comment on a motion that had yet to be debated but added that the Prime Minister's views were "widely known".
Last year, Mr Blair told Dr Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, that he would "do anything necessary" to stop such boycotts. Sue Blackwell, the proposer, runs a Palestinian human rights website which was criticised by the Board of Deputies earlier this year.
The board said that the website, which contains articles refering to "low-grade genocide" by Israel and a link to a website called The Electronic Intifada, was offensive and a mouthpiece for anti-Israeli groups.
Ms Blackwell said this weekend: "I deny emphatically that I am somehow anti-Semitic by bringing this motion. I have been a member of the Anti-Nazi League for many years and a campaigner for human rights. I absolutely condemn terrorism of any kind.
"I can understand that it could create bad feeling among colleagues but the boycott is aimed at institutions not individuals."
Birmingham University refused to condemn or support Ms Blackwell, although it said that it has no policy of supporting an Israeli academic boycott. A spokesman said: "The university neither endorses nor condones these views but supports freedom of speech."
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/05/04/nisr04.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/05/04/ ixhome.html
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Comments
Hide the following 25 comments
Nazism is back in style
05.05.2003 10:54
This is great! Hold 1/3 of the world's jews responsible because their army sometimes hurts innocents when trying to hunt down terrorists who refuse to attack Israel.
This is Adolf Hitler, messaging you from hell, and now singing off, and I support hte boycott of the Jews! It's a BRILLIANT and fair idea! SEIG HEIL! SEIG HEIL! SEIG HEIL!
Adolf Hitler
Over the top reaction...yet again
05.05.2003 11:11
Just like everyone who supported a boycott of goods from apartheid South Africa was a vicious racist who hated black people.
Its time for everyone to get a grip on this issue. Opposition to state terrorism against the Palestinian people is NOT support for terrorism from the Palestinian side.
However, if foreign soldiers were pushing *you* around on a dailiy basis and killing your kids, I bet you'd applaud anyone who lobbed a Molotov cocktail their way, innit?
Understanding is not condoning. Jeez.
MM
Mad Monk
Hi
05.05.2003 11:17
IT's great stuff! Seig heil!
Adolf Hitler
more idiotic and offensive thinking
05.05.2003 11:26
How is it, when israel practices the same kind of brutal racial segregation and its continual flouting of international law and standards of behaviour, suddenly to criticise is 'anti-semitic' [which has been pointed out repeatedly is a meaningless statement in that the majority of jews aren't semitic, but that the majority of Palestinians are!].
Is it racist to criticise a jew because that jew believes their genes are better than mine?
Besides which, nobody is claiming that all jews are in on the oppression because everybody here knows about the dozens of jewish groups with MILLIONS of members who are AS opposed to the policies of israel as anyother - perhaps more so.
Jews are not a race, but some aspects of jewish thinking seeks to protect the idea that they are genetically homogenous. It is this area of thinking that has produced a virulently xenophobic hatred and at least half of all the problems in that area of the middle east.
Israel MUST be boycotted if the international community {and I expect NOTHING from any government or state because that is precisly what they have delivered] is to make any inroads into the problems of permanant conflict and division.
Like with SA it is the people that will make this difference, day in day out year in year out.
jackslucid
e-mail:
jackslucid@hotmail.com
Destroy Rothschilds-Rockefellers axis of evil
05.05.2003 12:09
Not them only ofcourse but to large extent.
They lie behind the corporate moneypowers.
They make far going decisions concering the
whole planet - as they steer the G8, WTO, IMF, WorldBank
etc. from behind the scenes.
Sometimes on the scene.
Never forget basic starting points:
You have no rights before you start fighting for
your rights.
You have no voice before you start voicing yourself.
You have no choice until you make a choice.
Search and destroy
So-called "Adolf" is sick
05.05.2003 12:17
I forgot that we can never ever criticise Israel's far right government EVER AGAIN for ANY REASON, because of the Holocaust (60 years ago and counting).
How sodding convenient. And how sick of you a) to pretend to be Hitler to make some half-arsed political point and b) to use such an horrific historial event to justify the daily oppression, torture and killing of an ENTIRE PEOPLE because of the actions of a few fucked up terrorist scum.
The odd, utterly unacceptable, suicide bombing just does not compare with an armed to the teeth nuclear power (around 200 illegal "weapons of mass destruction" - you'd think the "international community" would want to deal with that - hmm.) systematically killing civilians, starving their economy and razing their homes.
I don't care what your race is - if you act like a murderer I'll call you a murderer, and at the moment the Israeli state (NOT the Jewish people - whoever they are) is acting like a murderer.
A final thought phony Hitler - the real Nazis carried out their brutal foreign policy under the guise of an alleged threat to their state from "foreign terrorists."
There's a parallel there, and for the US as well as Israel.
MM
Mad Monk
The boicot is unstopable
05.05.2003 14:01
Boicot now to end israeli apartheid.
Baruj
sorry pal, u got it all wrong
05.05.2003 14:23
The charters (ie. their very reason for being) of these terrorist groups are to totally destroy Israel and 'drive Jews into the sea'. the Palestinians are so 'poor' that all they can afford are guns, bombs, RPGs, mortars and rocket launchers. they send their own kids to Hamas 'summer camps', where they learn how to fire weapons and how to kill Jews. their parents actively encourage them to go and blow themselves up, taking as many Jews with them as they can. The entire backward Arab world is hell-bent on the destruction of the Jews. have u seen the hate-filled filth in their media? its disgusting m8.
i like it when u say that the Israelis shouldnt punish the Palestinians when they murder the Jews. Do u think murder is unpunishable? or do u just think that murdering Jews is unpunishable? coz the murderers have the FULL SUPPORT of the Palestinians. and please, please dont tell me how desperate they are. the other day 2 Brits blew themselves up in Tel Aviv. they most certainly werent desperate. they were just hate-filled anti-Jewish scum, like the rest of them.
and what do u think this boycott is gonna do? u dont think its gonna punish Jews for the self-defensive actions of their government?
cant u see that what u're doing is legitimising terrorism? u may think u're not anti-semitic. maybe u're not. but u're giving weight to the anti-semites, the arab maniacs, the Islamic terrorists, the neo-nazis. this is how the Holocaust started the last time. and no its not an over reaction.
maybe u should read up on history and learn its lessons. whenever the world is f*cked up, people always blame the Jews. I've had enough of it. im worried about my Jewish friends. there's no need for them to suffer because of this, and this boycott will do nothing except make them suffer, for no fault of their own. so screw all of u who support this boycott crap. if u are gonna do it, u should boycott the Palestinians as well, for their deliberate murder of innocent Israeli civilians.
Jamie Nicol
u got it all wrong pal
05.05.2003 14:26
The charters (ie. their very reason for being) of these terrorist groups are to totally destroy Israel and 'drive Jews into the sea'. the Palestinians are so 'poor' that all they can afford are guns, bombs, RPGs, mortars and rocket launchers. they send their own kids to Hamas 'summer camps', where they learn how to fire weapons and how to kill Jews. their parents actively encourage them to go and blow themselves up, taking as many Jews with them as they can. The entire backward Arab world is hell-bent on the destruction of the Jews. have u seen the hate-filled filth in their media? its disgusting m8.
i like it when u say that the Israelis shouldnt punish the Palestinians when they murder the Jews. Do u think murder is unpunishable? or do u just think that murdering Jews is unpunishable? coz the murderers have the FULL SUPPORT of the Palestinians. and please, please dont tell me how desperate they are. the other day 2 Brits blew themselves up in Tel Aviv. they most certainly werent desperate. they were just hate-filled anti-Jewish scum, like the rest of them.
and what do u think this boycott is gonna do? u dont think its gonna punish Jews for the self-defensive actions of their government?
cant u see that what u're doing is legitimising terrorism? u may think u're not anti-semitic. maybe u're not. but u're giving weight to the anti-semites, the arab maniacs, the Islamic terrorists, the neo-nazis. this is how the Holocaust started the last time. and no its not an over reaction.
maybe u should read up on history and learn its lessons. whenever the world is f*cked up, people always blame the Jews. I've had enough of it. im worried about my Jewish friends. there's no need for them to suffer because of this, and this boycott will do nothing except make them suffer, for no fault of their own. so screw all of u who support this boycott crap. if u are gonna do it, u should boycott the Palestinians as well, for their deliberate murder of innocent Israeli civilians.
Jamie Nicol
Adolf Has a Short Memory
05.05.2003 15:45
Observer
one sandwich short of a picnic
05.05.2003 16:51
Seems that the good folks behind the rogue nuke state Israel
have learned their lesson well . A state founded on terrorism by a bunch of the most viscious bum scum that ever walked the earth. All well documented .. notice that the one or two of the above wankers mention south africa.
During the period when sanctions were used to try to stop the
aparthied regime. a simple ploy was used to get round the
sanctions, all products leaving SA were labelled MADE IN FUCKING ISRAEL !!! as Israel has a special deal with the EU
these goods entered the European Union tax free and so shylock got his pound of flesh and everyone lived happily ever after especially in Israel where it seems that scruples are hard to find ..
who r u kidding
The Founders of Israel were Terrorists
05.05.2003 17:24
What a bunch of truly BREATHTAKING hypocrites you all are!
The AUT MUST support the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
However, exceptions should also be made in the case of any Israeli academic institutions, in the future, which make a clear, unambiguous statement of opposition to the current genocidal policy of Israel towards Palestine, and which call for rapid political moves towards meeting the Palestinians' demands.
The AUT should also combine this policy with moral and financial support to any Israeli academics victimised by their institution for opposing the idiotic policies of the Sharon government. In this way, the AUT can undercut any disingenuous, bullshit charges that it is being anti-Semitic.
Fred
heh
05.05.2003 17:25
next time u flush, do the world a favour and dive on in there with the other turds.
Jamie Nicol
try being fair.
05.05.2003 17:39
u suckers like to make the Palestinian case without balancing your arguments by condemning their suicide terrorism. hence your arguments appear to condone these hideous acts, which in turn encourages the hateful assholes to come out and play.
as for the AUT, they can blow me. if they want to boycott Israel, they should also boycott the Palestinians. they are failing to do this, hence i believe they shouldn't boycott either side.
the point im making is that if u want to condemn a side, fine. but u should also be fair and condemn the other side, which is equally at fault. if u cannot do that then dont say anything at all, coz u encourage the world's racist assholes to crawl out from under their rocks.
Jamie Nicol
Jewish friends of Palestine
05.05.2003 18:43
Al Awda Unity - A list for Jewish supporters and members of the Al Awda movement for the return of the Palestinian refugees.
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The Beyond Blame Project Newsletter - Detailing joint Jewish/Palestinian actions.
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The Other Israel - Bi-weekly email updates By far the best email list available, combining "The Other Israel" and Gush Shalom mailings. See also the TOI Billboard Archive Online hosted on an independent site by Jewish Friends of Palestine.
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Yesh G'vul - Provides updates regular via e-group. www.yesh-gvul.org American Jewish Petition to Suspend U.S. Military Aid to Israel
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Israeli government may be contemplating crimes against humanity [Only open to Israeli academics]
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Voice for Democracy Campaign - "Many Jews feel they cannot speak openly or critically about particular Israeli policies while the country fights terror. We believe that both the strength of Israel's democratic character and its military strength in protecting its citizens are crucial to the country's long-term survival. Thousands of Jews are signing an open letter to their leaders in Israel and worldwide expressing support for Israel and the democratic values on which it was founded: equality, freedom and justice. Join us by signing on and - please - encourage your friends to sign as well."
We Implore You to Withhold Moving the US Embassy from Tel-Aviv
shalom
Definitely worth a read
05.05.2003 18:48
Israeli academics': Israeli government may be contemplating crimes against humanity
by Jacob Katriel • Thursday September 26, 2002 at 10:57 PM
We are deeply worried by indications that the "fog of war" could be exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing.
Members of Israeli academe are invited to add their name to the statement presented below by sending an email to:
Urgent warning: The Israeli government may be contemplating crimes against humanity.
We, members of Israeli academe, are horrified by US buildup of aggression towards Iraq and by the Israeli political leadership's enthusiastic support for it.
We are deeply worried by indications that the "fog of war" could be exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing.
The Israeli ruling coalition includes parties that promote "transfer" of the Palestinian population as a solution to what they call "the demographic problem". Politicians are regularly quoted in the media as suggesting forcible expulsion, most recently MKs Michael Kleiner and Benny Elon, as reported on Yediot Ahronot website on September 19, 2002. In a recent interview in Ha'aretz, Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon described the Palestinians as a "cancerous manifestation" and equated the military actions in the Occupied Territories with "chemotherapy", suggesting that more radical "treatment" may be necessary. Prime Minister Sharon has backed this "assessment of reality". Escalating racist demagoguery concerning the Palestinian citizens of Israel may indicate the scope of the crimes that are possibly being contemplated.
We call upon the International Community to pay close attention to events that unfold within Israel and in the Occupied Territories, to make it absolutely clear that crimes against humanity will not be tolerated, and to take concrete measures to prevent such crimes from taking place.
Prof. Nahla Abdo, Ottawa Prof. Zach Adam, Rehovot Prof. Colman Altman, Haifa Dr. Janina Altman, Haifa Tammy Amiel-Houser, Tel Aviv Chaya Amir, Tel Aviv Dr. Shmuel Amir, Tel Aviv Prof. Daniel Amit, Jerusalem/Rome Elinor Amit, Tel Aviv Prof. Yali Amit, Chicago Dr. Yossi Amitay, Kibbutz Gvulot Dr. Meir Amor, Montreal, Canada Dr. Yonathan (Jon) Anson, Beer Sheva Dr. Ariella Azoulay, Tel Aviv Prof. Shalom Baer, Jerusalem Prof. Ron Barkai, Tel Aviv Dr. Anat Barnea - Givat Chaim Ichud Prof. Dan Bar-On, Beer Sheva Dr. Avner Ben-Amos, Tel Aviv Tammy Ben-Shaul, Haifa Prof. Zvi Bentwich, Jerusalem Prof. Matania Ben-Artzi, Jerusalem Prof. Linda Ben-Zvi, Tel Aviv Avi Berg, Tel Aviv Dr. Louise Bethlehem, Hod Hasharon Prof. Anat Bilezki, Tel Aviv Uri Bitan, Beer Sheva Prof. Elliott Blass, Cambridge, MA Dr. Yair Boimel, Haifa Prof. Daniel Boyarin, Berkeley Prof. Victoria Buch, Jerusalem Shula Carmi, Jerusalem Smadar Carmon, Toronto Dr. Nicole Cohen-Addad, Tel Aviv Dr. Uri Davis, Sakhnin Athena Elizabeth DeRasmo, Haifa Ronit Dovrat, Firenze Prof. Aharon Eviatar, Tel Aviv Dr. Zohar Eviatar, Haifa Dr. Ovadia Ezra. Tel Aviv Prof. Emmanuel Farjoun, Jerusalem Pnina Firestone, Jerusalem Dr. Elizabeth Freund, Jerusalem Gadi Geiger, Cambridge, MA, USA Prof. Chaim Gans, Tel Aviv Dr. Amira Gelblum, Tel Aviv Prof. Avner Giladi, Haifa Prof. Rachel Giora, Tel Aviv Dr. Snait Gissis, Tel Aviv Dr. Daphna Golan-Agnon, Jerusalem Dr. Anat Goldrat-First, Netanya Dr. Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni, Tel Aviv Dr. Neve Gordon, Beer Sheva Dr. Yerah Gover, New York Prof. Charles W. Greenbaum, Jerusalem Dr. Lev Grinberg, Beer Sheva Ran HaCohen, Tel Aviv Prof. Uri Hadar, Tel Aviv Prof. Galit Hasan-Rokem, Jerusalem Dr. Sara Helman, Beer Sheva Prof. Hanna Herzog, Tel Aviv Prof. Ze'ev Herzog, Tel Aviv Prof. Hannan Hever, Jerusalem Dr. Tikva Honig-Parnass, Jerusalem Shirly Houser, Tel Aviv Tal Itzhaki, Haifa Prof. Eva Jablonka, Tel Aviv Andrea Jacobs, Austin, Texas Dr. Devorah Kalekin-Fishman, Haifa Aya Kaniuk, Tel Aviv Prof. Jacob Katriel, Haifa Prof. Tamar Katriel, Haifa Prof. Baruch Kimmerling, Jerusalem Dr. Gady Kozma, Rehovoth Dr. Haggai Kupermintz, Boulder, Colorado Dr. Ron Kuzar, Haifa Dr. Idan Landau, Beer Sheva Dr. John Landau, Jerusalem Dr. Ariela Lazar, Evanston Dr. Ronit Lentin, Dublin Prof. Micah Leshem, Haifa Erez Levkovitz, Jerusalem Prof. Rene Levy, Lausanne Prof. Shimon Levy, Tel Aviv Prof. Joyce Livingstone, Haifa Dr. Orly Lubin, Tel Aviv Dr. Ivonne Mansbach, Jerusalem Prof. Uri Maor, Tel Aviv Dr. Ruchama Marton, Tel Aviv Dr. Anat Matar, Tel Aviv Prof. Paul Mendes-Flohr, Jerusalem Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom, Jerusalem Jo Milgrom, Jerusalem Menucha Moravitz, Ramat-Gan Susy Mordechay, Giv'ataim Regev Nathansohn, Tel Aviv Prof. Adi Ophir, Tel-Aviv Omer Ori, Jerusalem Prof. Avraham Oz, Haifa Dr. Ilan Pappe, Haifa Gabriel Piterberg, UCLA Amos Raban, Tel Aviv Tali Raban, Tel Aviv Shakhar Rahav, Berkeley Dr. Haggai Ram, Beer Sheva Dr. Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Beer Sheva Prof. Zvi Razi, Tel Aviv Prof. Tanya Reinhart, Tel Aviv Prof. Fanny-Michaela Reisin, Berlin Prof. Freddie Rokem, Tel Aviv Prof. Henry Rosenfeld, Haifa Dr. Maya Rosenfeld, Jerusalem Ouzi Rotem, Philadelphia Hava Rubin, Haifa Amalia Sa'ar, Haifa Dr. Dalia Sachs, Haifa Dr. Hannah Safran, Haifa Tami Sarfatti, UCLA Dr. Nita Schechet, Jerusalem Hillel Schocken, Tel Aviv Ruben Seroussi, Tel Aviv Dr. Erella Shadmi, Mevasseret Zion Prof. Nomi Shir, Beer Sheva Dr. Miriam Shlesinger, Tel Aviv Aharon Shabtai, Tel Aviv Dr. Rann Smorodinsky, Haifa Orly Soker, Sapir-Jerusalem Dr. Yehiam Soreq, Tel Aviv Nurit Steinfeld, Jerusalem Prof. Gideon Toury, Tel Aviv Dr. Dudy Tzfati, Jerusalem Roman Vater, Tel Aviv Dr. Roy Wagner, Tel-Aviv Prof. Bronislaw Wajnryb, Haifa Tamar Yaron, Montreal & Kibbutz Hazorea Dr. Michael Yogev, Haifa Kim Yuval, Tel Aviv Prof. Moshe Zimmermann, Jerusalem Michal Zweig, Herzelia
www.indymedia.org.il/imc/israel/webcast/index.php3?language=en
ZioNazis Apartheid
Not an academic boycott
05.05.2003 20:51
The whole principle of academic life is openness and the sharing of knowledge and ideas.
What would be better is if enough well-placed people would support the idea of ending the system by which Israeli products can be imported into the EU without duty - the Council of Ministers has the power to cancel the 'memorandum of understanding' that allows Israel preferential access to EU markets.
Personally, I never knowingly buy any Israeli goods, just as in the 1970s and 1980s I would not buy South African goods.
If Israeli potatoes, flowers, oranges, etc. were subject to the same restrictions as other countries goods, perhaps they wouldn't be all over our supermarket shelves.
Brian
Martin Luther King Jr
05.05.2003 23:55
bassman
From hell
06.05.2003 05:13
Also, the "nazis and zionists were friends" crap is unfounded and ridiculous... and even if it was true, how in hell does that relate to anything in the current modern real world? It doesn't.
Also, anyone who compares Israel and apartheid is an idiot. Israel is not hurting Israeli citizens who are arab or any particular race. Israel is fighting people NEXT DOOR who are NOT israeli citizens, extremists who refuse to stop attacking Israel. Had they given up their dream of wiping israel out, this would have ended long ago. Do you even know what "apartheid" means? WHy do you anti-israel lunatics change the definition of words when hurling them around?
Israel isn't "racist" either. No "race" is discriminated against. Furthermore, semitic (arabs) and semitic jews are the same race.
The misinformation you Israel haters hurl around RUINS any valid discussions that might take place. You rant and rave and lie and deceive and then you wonder why people give knee-jerk reactions to your garbage.
Adolf Hitler
Beg to differ.....
06.05.2003 12:06
If so, what are such popular Israeli terms like "goys" and "schwartzes" supposed to mean???
Presumably "less than white" Jews like the Ethiopian, Yemeni and Sephardic Jews are moaning about racist, apartheid discrimination in Israel because they are born with inferiority complex???
Russian mercenary in IDF
To "Adolf"
06.05.2003 13:35
No - it's perfectly rational. One of Israel's oft-repeated claims to legitimacy is that it is a "democracy" - indeed, that it is the only "democracy" in the region. Since a "democracy" is free to elect the leaders that the people choose, if the policies of those leaders and the actions of the armies controlled by those leaders are wrong, then it is perfectly reasonable to hold the population responsible for those actions, especially those who either support or allow those actions to pass in silence.
That is why I support a boycott of Israeli goods - to put pressure on the Israeli people in the hope that they will see sense and cease their constant agression against their neighbours.
Brian
try being fair.
06.05.2003 17:22
now here's the kicker for u boycotters: if u hurt Israel's economy, u'll also hurt the Palestinians.
85% of Palestinian trade is with Israel:
so go ahead, have your boycott. u'll be hurting the very people u're claiming to be trying to "protect".
i guess u are being fair after all then!
Jamie Nicol
To Brian
07.05.2003 01:35
HELLO
From hell
07.05.2003 01:43
Adolf Hitler
Amazing double standard
07.05.2003 11:37
Or do you only enjoy singling Jews out?
BriansDad