British Academic Boycott of Israel
[I pass this posting along not because I support boycotts of Israel. My own sense is that outreach is the right way to go, as Israelis tend to discount boycotts as expressions of anti-Semitism. However, I think it is important for American academics to realize that their British counterparts are far more publicly critical of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and also that there is a good deal of suppressed criticism of it here in the U.S., too. I started this group which I use as a posting point for far wider distribution by bcc of information directed as its description suggests:
"This group will work towards achieving peace in Israel/Palestine through candid sharing of information and concerns by Israelis, Palestinians, and others who hope to achieve truth and reconciliation there."
I am convinced that those of us on the outside must do what we can to help the Israelis and Palestinians live together one way or another in peace!
I would add this group's website to the others that I have located with at the list site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
but it is in Hebrew which I cannot read and, thus, check out and which also does not carry with my computer system. Others may want to look at it: <http://www.newprofile.org>
This posting was sent on to me from Israel by Dorothy Naor, who works for truth and reconciliation there. Ed Kent]
Ha'aretz Update Thursday, May 18, 2006
Last update - 21:37 18/05/2006
British professor refuses request to write article for Israeli journal
<http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/717551.html>
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/717551.html
Hebrew:
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/717544.html
By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent
A British professor has refused a request to write an article for an
academic journal funded by Israeli universities.
Professor Richard Seaford, from the University of Exeter in England,
refused to write the article, saying he was taking part in the academic
boycott of Israel.
"Alas, I am unable to accept your kind invitation, for reasons that you
may not like. I have, along with many other British academics, signed
the academic boycott of Israel, in the face of the brutal and illegal
expansionism and the slow-motion ethnic cleansing being practiced by
your government," Seaford wrote to Dr. Daniella Dueck. Dueck, a lecturer
at Bar Ilan University and a member of the Scripta Classica Israelica
editorial board had requested that Seaford write a book review for the
journal.
Scripta Classica Israelica is published by the Israeli Society for the
Promotion of Classical Studies and is distributed to subscribers in
Israel and abroad.
Seaford, the head of the Department of Classics and Ancient History at
Exeter University, told Haaretz that the academic boycott "is just a
small contribution to the long-term raising of international
consciousness which represents the only hope for an eventual just peace
in the Middle East. In this respect, there is a parallel with the
academic boycott of Apartheid South Africa."
When asked why boycotts specifically target academics, Seaford said,
"Though many charges of racism have been directed against Israeli
universities, we do not want academics of all people to be boycotted: We
would be delighted if there were other boycotts."
On May 27-29, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher
Education (NATFHE) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will debate a
proposal in favor of an academic boycott against Israel.
The International Advisory Board for Academic Freedom (IAB), established
at Bar Ilan University to take action against academic boycotts,
published a statement Thursday in which it "warns that a silent boycott
between British and Israeli academics is already taking place," and
called on an anti-boycott network of some 500 academics around the world
to oppose it.
In March, the London Jewish Chronicle reported that U.K. magazine Dance
Europe refused to publish an article on Sally Ann Freeland, an Israeli
choreographer, and her dance company. The magazine conditioned the
publication of the article on an explicit declaration by Freeland
against the occupation, which she refused to make.
The academic boycott began in the United States and Europe during the
first intifada, and intensified in 2002 after Operation Defensive
Shield, during which Israel Defense Forces troops occupied West Bank
cities.
The boycott movement began in response to a request by Palestinian
organizations, such as The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and
Cultural Boycott of Israel, an umbrella organization for dozens of
Palestinian NGOs.
An attempt is made almost annually in the U.K. to formally instate an
academic boycott on Israel, through official decisions by lecturers'
unions.
The proposal slated to be discussed later this month by NATFHE differs
from previous ones. According to the proposal, the current boycott will
deal not only with the occupation, but also with discrimination against
different populations in Israel, mainly in the field of education.
The proposal encourages academics to "consider the appropriateness of a
boycott of those that do not publicly dissociate themselves" from
discriminatory and unequal policies.
According to the IBA, "Such boycotts have no place in the academic
community. Scholarship and research, and their expression in the open
and free exchange of ideas, are among the foundations of civilization,
and without them there can be no true advancement of human knowledge."
------------------------
New Profile Movement for the Civil-ization of Israeli Society
www.newprofile.org
to subscribe to our email list send email to
newprofile-subscribe@googlegroups.com
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
"This group will work towards achieving peace in Israel/Palestine through candid sharing of information and concerns by Israelis, Palestinians, and others who hope to achieve truth and reconciliation there."
I am convinced that those of us on the outside must do what we can to help the Israelis and Palestinians live together one way or another in peace!
I would add this group's website to the others that I have located with at the list site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
but it is in Hebrew which I cannot read and, thus, check out and which also does not carry with my computer system. Others may want to look at it: <http://www.newprofile.org>
This posting was sent on to me from Israel by Dorothy Naor, who works for truth and reconciliation there. Ed Kent]
Ha'aretz Update Thursday, May 18, 2006
Last update - 21:37 18/05/2006
British professor refuses request to write article for Israeli journal
<http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/717551.html>
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/717551.html
Hebrew:
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/717544.html
By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent
A British professor has refused a request to write an article for an
academic journal funded by Israeli universities.
Professor Richard Seaford, from the University of Exeter in England,
refused to write the article, saying he was taking part in the academic
boycott of Israel.
"Alas, I am unable to accept your kind invitation, for reasons that you
may not like. I have, along with many other British academics, signed
the academic boycott of Israel, in the face of the brutal and illegal
expansionism and the slow-motion ethnic cleansing being practiced by
your government," Seaford wrote to Dr. Daniella Dueck. Dueck, a lecturer
at Bar Ilan University and a member of the Scripta Classica Israelica
editorial board had requested that Seaford write a book review for the
journal.
Scripta Classica Israelica is published by the Israeli Society for the
Promotion of Classical Studies and is distributed to subscribers in
Israel and abroad.
Seaford, the head of the Department of Classics and Ancient History at
Exeter University, told Haaretz that the academic boycott "is just a
small contribution to the long-term raising of international
consciousness which represents the only hope for an eventual just peace
in the Middle East. In this respect, there is a parallel with the
academic boycott of Apartheid South Africa."
When asked why boycotts specifically target academics, Seaford said,
"Though many charges of racism have been directed against Israeli
universities, we do not want academics of all people to be boycotted: We
would be delighted if there were other boycotts."
On May 27-29, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher
Education (NATFHE) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will debate a
proposal in favor of an academic boycott against Israel.
The International Advisory Board for Academic Freedom (IAB), established
at Bar Ilan University to take action against academic boycotts,
published a statement Thursday in which it "warns that a silent boycott
between British and Israeli academics is already taking place," and
called on an anti-boycott network of some 500 academics around the world
to oppose it.
In March, the London Jewish Chronicle reported that U.K. magazine Dance
Europe refused to publish an article on Sally Ann Freeland, an Israeli
choreographer, and her dance company. The magazine conditioned the
publication of the article on an explicit declaration by Freeland
against the occupation, which she refused to make.
The academic boycott began in the United States and Europe during the
first intifada, and intensified in 2002 after Operation Defensive
Shield, during which Israel Defense Forces troops occupied West Bank
cities.
The boycott movement began in response to a request by Palestinian
organizations, such as The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and
Cultural Boycott of Israel, an umbrella organization for dozens of
Palestinian NGOs.
An attempt is made almost annually in the U.K. to formally instate an
academic boycott on Israel, through official decisions by lecturers'
unions.
The proposal slated to be discussed later this month by NATFHE differs
from previous ones. According to the proposal, the current boycott will
deal not only with the occupation, but also with discrimination against
different populations in Israel, mainly in the field of education.
The proposal encourages academics to "consider the appropriateness of a
boycott of those that do not publicly dissociate themselves" from
discriminatory and unequal policies.
According to the IBA, "Such boycotts have no place in the academic
community. Scholarship and research, and their expression in the open
and free exchange of ideas, are among the foundations of civilization,
and without them there can be no true advancement of human knowledge."
------------------------
New Profile Movement for the Civil-ization of Israeli Society
www.newprofile.org
to subscribe to our email list send email to
newprofile-subscribe@googlegroups.com
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 7:09 AM
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