Students in the UK have been taking over university buildings to protest the destruction in Gaza and now the academic boycott movement has made its way across the Atlantic. Inside Higher Ed covered the recent creation of U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel today. The US Campaign's boycott includes five points:
(1) Refraining from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions that do not vocally oppose Israeli state policies against Palestine;
(2) Advocating a comprehensive boycott of Israeli institutions at the national and international levels, including suspension of all forms of funding and subsidies to these institutions;
(3) Promoting divestment and disinvestment from Israel by international academic institutions;
(4) Working toward the condemnation of Israeli policies by pressing for resolutions to be adopted by academic, professional and cultural associations and organizations;
(5) Supporting Palestinian academic and cultural institutions directly without requiring them to partner with Israeli counterparts as an explicit or implicit condition for such support.
Inside Higher Ed covers the story pretty fairly and includes the usual arguments against a boycott which is summed by this statement signed by over 300 university presidents in 2007, "In seeking to quarantine Israeli universities and scholars, this vote threatens every university committed to fostering scholarly and cultural exchanges that lead to enlightenment, empathy, and a much-needed international marketplace of ideas." This is not a new sentiment. Abe Foxman made the same appeal in 2005 to fight the academic boycott movement in the UK, "Those who now urge a boycott of Israeli universities must know that such a boycott is an assault on the very idea of the university as a citadel of intellectual freedom and informed debate."
Now of course none of these paragons of academic freedom uttered a peep when Israel didn't just boycott a Palestinian university but tried to destroy it. Israeli academics Neve Gordon and Jeff Halper pointed out this hypocrisy after the recent bombing of Islamic University in Gaza in their Chronicle of Higher Education article "Where's the Academic Outrage Over the Bombing of a University in Gaza?"
And while university heads in the US are protecting their marketplace of ideas, academics in Israel are trying to prevent a possible war criminal from joining theirs. Ha'aretz reports that professors at Tel Aviv University are protesting a
decision to appoint Col. Pnina Sharvit-Baruch as a lecturer for the
Faculty of Law. Evidently, under Col. Sharvit-Baruch's command "IDF legal experts legitimized strikes involving Gaza
civilians, including the bombardment of the Gaza police course closing
ceremony." The irony is not lost on Dr. Anat Matar, a Philosophy lecturer, "I was shocked to learn that half of the second-year
law students will learn the foundations of law from someone who helped
justify the killing of civilians, including hundreds of children."
Will the US boycott movement take off, who knows? But reading about Col. Sharvit-Baruch (or Arnon Sofer) its hard not to see the argument for it. (Adam Horowitz)
The same people are quick enough to call for boycotts of institutions they regard as 'anti-Semitic', like MAUP in Ukraine:
link to adl.org
Since the academy appears to be the only institution with the guts to even utter the word boycott, all power to them–er, us. Given the pro-Zionist campaigns against some MEast Studies programs and some individual professors, it's about time. Even our eastern Canadian universities have been plagued with these kinds of campaigns. Fortunately, I'm at a western university: the Lobby hasn't made it out this far yet, so I can continue to teach stuff on the Middle East from a critical perspective.
This won't come down to an actual boycott, but enough of a stink can be generated to raise a little consciousness, I think.
The irony is not lost on Dr. Anat Matar, a Philosophy lecturer, "I was shocked to learn that half of the second-year law students will learn the foundations of law from someone who helped justify the killing of civilians, including hundreds of children."
Much like Berkeley law students at Boalt Hall, learning constitutional law from 'torture memo' author John Yoo, who as a Justice Department lawyer supplied the rationale for the U.S. to suspend the Geneva Convention and torture prisoners.
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/yooj/
Speaking of those 300 university presidents who opposed an Israeli boycott in 2007 … U.S. universities are overwhelmingly dependent on federally-funded research and student subsidies. University presidencies are largely sinecures for aspiring and retired politicians.
Don't expect any independent or principled thinking from these contented tax feeders, as they root and snort at the public trough. When 99 percent of KongressKlowns unconditionally support Israel, university presidents don't need to think. They've got their marching orders.
delia, where do you teach? I am interested in taking a Middle Eastern course (a CRITICAL one, not a Zionized one).
I understand if you do not want to post it here for security reasons. I hesitate to put my email address on a public forum, but I would be interested in talking further with you.
Delia.
Are the PQ universities like that? Or just the ones in TO and Ottawa? I'm sure the Manitoba ones are because that's Asper's home base.
Its a counter-productive thing to do.
Just because one "can", doesn't mean that its good.
Witty, what's a counter-productive thing to do, a boycott? If that's what you mean, do you think the boycotts of apartheid S Africa were
counter-productive? There are many other historical examples…
Delia do write about the Canadian media's coverage of I/P issues.
I was appalled by the Globe and Mail's unhinged editorials about the war on Gaza.
Has the Canadian media been captured/cowed in the way it has in the US?
Phil a guest post by Delia perhaps?
South Africa, aside from actually being an aparthied state, had very little of value, other than gold and diamonds, to export.
Israel, on the other hand, a democratic and non-aparthied nation (unlike so much of the middle east)has intelectual property that the world needs to run in the 21st century.
You'll find none of its enemies producing anything close.