Now it's the 'academics'
150 Israeli 'academics' have signed a petition calling for the boycott of Israel's newest university because it is located in Ariel. The petition, initiated by Professor Nir Gov of the Weizmann Institute's Department of Chemical Physics, states that the Ariel was established on occupied land and is within proximity to Palestinians forced to live in harsh conditions and lacking basic human rights.Indeed, they are. But it's rather curious to hear Carmi, the Dean of Ben Gurion University, say so.
In addition, the petition states that the settlement is a key factor preventing Israelis from living in peace with its neighbors. Therefore, signatories expressed refusal to engage in any academic activity at the center in Ariel.
Professor Ron Naaman of the Weizmann Institute, a signatory of the petition, said during an interview Sunday with Israel Radio that the academic activities carried out in the West Bank hurt the State of Israel.
The goal of the protest, Naaman claimed, was to differentiate between academics at the Ariel center and the academics in the rest of Israel. This, Naaman concluded, would help combat the de-legitimization of Israeli academia in the rest of the world.
Other academic factions in Israel have come out with statements discouraging such protest.
Professor Rivka Carmi, chair of the Heads of University Committee, has urged fellow faculty members to oppose the boycotts, claiming that such protests do not represent any academic institutions in Israel, and that the boycotts are irrelevant to other academic boycotts taking place around the world.
I wonder if she learned anything from what happened on her own campus last year.
Labels: Ariel University, Ben Gurion University, boycott divest sanction, Rivka Carmi
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:15 PM
3 Comments:
Judging from the "tip of the spear" of the BDS movement that has emerged here in sleepy Virginian Falls Church, the hidden and not so hidden objection is that Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Acre, Tzefat, Jerusalem and points in between are "established on occupied land," so good luck with those distinctions, professors. The boycott movement is now fueled by the religious conviction that activities carried out in all Israeli universities hurt the peace and natural order of the entire world. Activities like, you know, breathing. Trying to separate yourselves from the territories by moving to the State of Denial is not going to help.
Sparky, Churchill described the British equivalent of Israel's leftists when he said:
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."
Shalom Carl,
Prof. Rivka Carmi, M.D. is the President of Ben-Gurion University.
~ Maya Norton
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