Anit-Semitism And Singling Out Israel For Academic Boycott
THEY are boycotting Israeli academia. They want to boycott Israel. But in “It’s time to end the vilification of Israel” Howard Jacobson looks at why they want to silence ther Jews:
Whether it’s in the best of taste to like Jews better when they’re in concentration camps than when they’re in their own country I leave to less interested parties to decide. But this, I think, is obvious: you cannot proudly present one clean hand and not expect people to wonder what you’re hiding in the other. A person cleared of anti-Semitism might still be guilty of something else. If anti-Semitism is repugnant to humanity, then it is no less repugnant to humanity to single out one country for your hatred, to hate it beyond reason and against evidence, to pluck it from the complex contextuality of history as though it authored its own misfortunes and misdeeds as the devil authored evil, to deny it any understanding (which is not the same as sympathy or succour), and - most odious of all - to seek to silence its voices.
And:
Will someone, in the light of that, explain to me what universities are for? Is not scholarship meant to constitute a sacred bond, an implicit assurance that here at least, in the free academy of the mind, the conversation will always go on no matter how bitter the disagreement, no matter how unorthodox or incorrect or even offensive the views expressed? Can that person be fit to teach, I ask, who closes his intelligence to such an exchange, who seeks to silence opinions he does not share, and who believes the only truth is his?
Posted: 8th, June 2007 | In: Twitterings Comments (4) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
- pete on In Photos: Susan Boyle Sings Rockefeller Center Plaza In New York City
- eggman on Daily Mail Scuppers BBC’s Wrong Shipping Forecast
- agw on Daily Mail Scuppers BBC’s Wrong Shipping Forecast
- Bat E Bird on I’m A Celebrity: Samantha Fox Is Shrinking As ‘Lesbian’ Lover Katie Price Quits
- Bat E Bird on In Photos: Susan Boyle Sings Rockefeller Center Plaza In New York City
June 11th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
The sad thing is that if this went ahead British academia would appear to the world to be a sorry thing. Debate is the method of problem resolution in any sane world. But this screams of hysterical racism. What is the intention.. According to the person who proposed the bill (when speaking on Channel 4 news earlier today) it is to ensure that Palestinian children are given access to education. The PA governs it’s own areas (WB and Gaza) and had (until recently) money to fund such education. Sadly the money was spent on weapons.
Many Palestinians used to go to Israeli universitys, but the number of suicide bombers who were pretending to be students has limited that.
The opportunity was given, but as a result of a philosophy to destroy Israel rather than agreeing a solution, has lead down this path.
ON another note, the boycott is aimed to provide education to those who are not given one. Perhaps a boycott of other countries where gender or wealth or race limits the education possible. There are plenty of them! To chase Israel alone implys that the choice is driven by a different motive.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
wow! haha… this would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. israel is ready to use everything short of nukes to overturn this symbolic boycott motion. all this crass propaganda about how this hinders the peace process etc. what about the year long starvation and sanctions policy imposed on the palestinian people? like it or not the israeli military has killed more palestinian and lebanese children since september 2000 than the entire number of israelis killed during the same period (and that includes soldiers, settlers, and civilians). israel has a handful of hostages in captivity, while the israeli state holds some 11,000 palestinians behind bars, including 300-400 children. israel legislates descrimination in the realms of citizenship/nationality, land/property, and marriage laws. i can go on and on and on… israel is singled out for its repeated violations of international law over 60 year period, because it hasn’t implemented a single UN resolution, not because of any other reason. and NO the issue isn’t any other part of the world, because the boycott campaign is desinged in solidarity with palestinian civil society organizations as a non-violent and symbolic means of exerting pressure on israel to end its occupation and apartheid policies. no other reasons. and as a jew i support this bds campaign in solidarity with my palestinian neighbors. zionism is a bankrupt, tribalistic, and xenophobic ideology that has no place in the 21st century…
June 8th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
How right Howard is!
Unfortunately the ‘liberal’ left have lost their way since the fall of fascist states in Portugal, Spain and Apartheid South Africa, so where can they find a state to villify?
Not the totalitarian African and Arab states (can’t criticise none-whites, can we) nor can they criticise the actions of Turkey towards the Kurds (Well, they are Muslims). So who is left?
Exactly! Israel, the only democratic state in the Middle east - shame it is populated by those pesky Jews - of course the Arabs would make a much better and fairer country in the region - or could they?
June 8th, 2007 at 11:39 am
British academics are true filth. What a shame - how far you civilization has fallen.