(....) "I do not think that an academic boycott of Israeli universities is correct in principle. Boycotts of universities always undermine academic freedom which must be seen as undesirable. The Chinese occupation of Tibet (for nearly 5 decades) has not provoked a call for a boycott for this reason. Exchanging ideas, debating issues, working on common projects, collaborative publishing ventures are valuable in and of themselves." (Strawson)
"The university sector in Israel is currently under attack from the right wing for being too liberal, particularly on the Palestine question. Many academics need our support." (Strawson) As usual many false claims have been made. There was the well-known accusation, often repeated, that Israeli universities do not permit debate on the Palestinian issue. This was a lie. There is no curb on Israeli academic freedom. As a matter of fact there in at least as many, if not more LEFT wing academics in Israel and Israeli academics have a tradition of questioning authority and the prevailing wisdom no less than the people of Israel constantly complain and question authority and prevailing views. There is likely more diversity of opinion in Israel than anywhere else on the planet. "Criticism, the more particularly as university teachers should be expected to understand it, implies the free exchange of judgment and idea, the give and take - however harsh - of argument and counter-argument. Anything less is merely the closing of minds. And a boycott - especially a boycott of thinkers, scientists, philosophers, etc, those for whom open-mindedness should be paramount - is an expression of the closing of minds en masse." (Howard Jacobson, The Evening Standard (London, England); 4/27/2005) "No other country has been singled out for similar treatment. No boycotting of Chinese universities, or universities in African or Arab countries where infringements of human rights are state sponsored and racism is so routine it is part of the curriculum." (ibid) "`Jewish science' was how the Nazis referred to psychoanalysis and relativity. Because Freud and Einstein were Jewish, the German people had to be protected from the contamination of their work. Now the contaminating science is not Jewish but Israeli. Which we are told is somehow different." (ibid) (....) Read the rest at: http://pnews.org/ArT/WaR/DeB.shtml
