Ariel University, located in a West Bank settlement.
Earlier this week Israel strengthened its presence in the West Bank by officially approving the first university over the Green Line. Ariel University is now Israel’s eighth official university.
The move is yet another government nod to the settlers, and included additional government funding for the settler school. From Haaretz:
Sunday, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz announced he was ‘paving the way’ for the establishment of the first university in the West Bank by making use of ‘special funding.’ Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar sent a letter to the chairman of the Judea and Samaria higher education council expressing his support for transforming the Ariel institute into a university.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lent government support to the change in status and called the mayor of Ariel to extend congratulations, “This is a festive day for Ariel and for higher education in Israel.” The rank-and-file rightists were also boosted by well wishes from other members of the government’s ruling coalition including Avigdor Leiberman and Aryeh Eldad, the Knesset member who was photographed a few months ago lounging on a sofa outside of a Palestinian home conquered by settlers. Eldad was quoted in the hard line news site Arutz Sheva:
This is an excellent academic institution and worthy of its new title. Its future is to be a leading research university, and the knowledge that comes forth from it will earn national and international recognition.
But Ariel University is not a leading research center. In fact, its academic record was called into question by the presidents of Israel’s seven other universities, all of whom signed a letter opposing recognition the college. Their dissent was coupled with outrage from the Israeli left. Meretz party head Zahava Gal-On said the school specialized in “occupation studies,” and “has brought Israel to a moral low point by establishing an institution on stolen land which forbids those whose land was stolen to enter through its gates.”
Despite outcry from academics, Ariel University was approved because the higher education committee inside of the country’s 1967 borders have no purview over the West Bank. In 1997 the Judea and Samaria Council for Higher Education was established by Knesset to outsource oversight from the state’s education committee. The members of this panel are appointed by the Israeli Defense Forces and are authorized to make decisions on accreditation.
Eleven of the panelist voted in favor of Ariel’s accreditation, two opposed, and one–the student union member and activist in the J14 movement–was barred from voting.
For me, the lack of outrage on behalf of the Jewish organizations who at least nominally claim to be against the Occupation is a telling sign.
The Forward has a new article on the Levy report:
link to forward.com
I knew that the ADL was bad, but I didn’t know it was this bad. In my opinion, this story is huge. Abe Foxman says that the Levy report ‘is not a hinder to peace’?
You can’t even begin to refute something so far off the realm of reality. If the article is correct in quoting him then I was wrong about Foxman. He isn’t merely callous in face of the Occupation. He is an active cheerleader of it.
But where is the NYT?
Oh, and the article isn’t about Foxman. It’s about the ‘centrist’ AJC who also said they were fine with the report.
Is this the moment that John Mearsheimer spoke of in 2010 when he said that in just a few years there would be a point when the 2SS was dead to everyone, and what he then dubbed the ‘New Afrikaaners’ would emerge. He mentioned, among others, David Harris(of the AJC) and Abe Foxman as two contenders.
Seems Mearsheimer was on the money, yet again.
I agree completely. They’re pouring millions (billions?) into these projects and they’re suddenly going to just dismantle them and walk away when the time finally comes for 2ss? Or hand over Ariel University to the Palestinians? Please.
One country for the Jews, two for the Palestinians (so those in the West Bank and Gaza can be held stateless and voteless.) Same as it ever was.
Israel = thought cult
Israeli university = centre for smarter members of thought cult
Universities are supposed to be different.If Israeli universities were any good 80% of Israelis (ie virtually the entire non Haredi Jewish population) wouldn’t believe the haredim are scroungers because they won’t serve the occupation.
Great article, Allison.
Disgusting. Craven. Israeli.
500 Uncle Toms can’t be wrong. Could they?
link to ynetnews.com
“500 Uncle Toms can’t be wrong. Could they?”
I’m sorry, puddy666, I don’t see any reference to anybody named “Uncle Tom” in the article. Would you care to explain the reference and how it applies to this situation?
I do understand that your fervent anti-Zionism makes you use pejoratives for any Palestinian who won’t take the path of violent, suicidal resistance against the Zionist regime, but this Uncle Tom reference is a bit beyond me. Please explain.
These 500 Israeli Arab students, 4% of the student body in Ariel University, are attending a settler college that should never have been built, by your reckoning. These students are complicit with, and are directly aiding and financing the ‘occupation,’ not to mention an apartheid system that allows Israeli Arabs into a school but bars Palestinian Arabs.
Maybe you need to read the book again.
proudzionist777, it is very good that 500 Palestinian Israeli citizens are attending Ariel University. But why only 500 out of 12,500? And why aren’t more Palestinians who happen not to be Israeli citizens attending?
If it were up to me, every Israeli university would have affirmative action or reservation. The percentage would increase slowly every year. Hitting 40% for all undergraduate, graduate, PhD and post graduate fields of study in 20 years. They would stay at 40% for about 20 years. And then fade out over another 30 years. In 70 years there would be no affirmative action left in Israel or Palestine. I would also impose affirmative action over all Israeli sports teams at the High School, College, tertiary, secondarily and primary leagues.
“The members of this panel are appointed by the Israeli Defense Forces and are authorized to make decisions on accreditation.”
The Weird State of Israel.
So this proves it–Israel is Mississippi that reads.
RE: “Earlier this week Israel strengthened its presence in the West Bank by officially approving the first university over the Green Line. Ariel University is now Israel’s eighth official university.” ~ Allison Deger
MY COMMENT: “Reverend” John Hagee and his “dadgum double-wide derrière” must be in (“Boss”) Hog(g)* heaven!
* Jefferson Davis “J.D.” Hogg, better known as “Boss” Hogg in The Dukes of Hazzard
“in hog heaven” (idiom) – link to idioms.thefreedictionary.com
SEE: “A Serial Obstructionist”, By Rachel Tabachnick, ZEEK – Forward, 3/15/10
ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://zeek.forward.com/articles/116518/
• ALSO SEE: “Hagee’s Gifts to Pro-Settler Groups” [Ariel (settlement), $500,000], by Richard Silverstein, Tikun Olam, 2/12/10 LINK – link to richardsilverstein.com
• AND SEE: “Recruiting Brecht to Whitewash Occupation”, by Richard Silverstein, Tikun Olam, 8/26/10
LINK – link to richardsilverstein.com
P.S. ALSO SEE:
ENTIRE ARTICLE – link to richardsilverstein.com
P.P.S. RE: “Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat were the headliners at Pastor John Hagee’s two-hour Christians United for Israel (CUFI) extravaganza at the Jerusalem Convention Center. . .” ~ from the Rachel Tabachnick article excerpted above
ALSO SEE: “Netanyahu and Pastor Hagee’s Lovefest on Eve of Biden’s Arrival in Israel”, by Max Blumenthal, maxblumenthal.com, 3/09/10
ENTIRE ARTICLE – link to maxblumenthal.com
Somebody forward this article to the WSWS which refused to endorse the academic boycott of Israel.
No wonder most leftists don’t take the Fourth Int’l dinosaur seriously, what with its sclerotic dogmatism.