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http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/24/south_african_university_cuts_ties_to_israeli_university
Severing of Ties
March 24, 2011
The University of Johannesburg, following a vote of its Senate on
Wednesday, will end joint work with Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev.
The debate at Johannesburg has been closely watched by those
advocates of Palestinian rights who see the isolation of Israeli
higher education as a way to advance their cause, and by opponents
of academic boycotts (who have a range of views on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict) who fear the potential for the move
to be followed by others. Indeed many leading South African
academics at other universities backed the movement at
Johannesburg -- although it is also the case that many professors
in South Africa have opposed the boycott. Many critics of Israel
compare its policies to those of apartheid-era South Africa (a
comparison Israel rejects), and that has added to the significance
of the vote at Johannesburg.
In the end, the Senate at Johannesburg voted on two options:
ending ties to Ben-Gurion University or letting them continue but
also developing ties to Palestinian universities. The vote (which
the administration had said it would respect) was 72 to end ties
to Ben-Gurion and 45 to keep them but add ties to Palestinian
universities. A statement issued by the university noted that the
end of official ties between the two universities does not rule
out ties between individual faculty members at the two institutions.
The ties between the two universities include academic exchanges
and joint research projects on topics that don't pertain directly
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- biotechnology and water
purification.
Supporters of the boycott said after the vote that it was "a
landmark victory," and they cited several reasons for cutting ties
to Ben-Gurion. The petition that was used to gather support for
the boycott vote offers this rationale: "The Israeli occupation of
the Palestinian territories has had disastrous effects on access
to education for Palestinians. While Palestinians are not able to
access universities and schools, Israeli universities produce the
research, technology, arguments and leaders for maintaining the
occupation. BGU is no exception, by maintaining links to both the
Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and the arms industry BGU structurally
supports and facilitates the Israeli occupation."
Officials of Ben-Gurion campaigned against the boycott vote,
arguing that universities should not be held responsible for the
political decisions of their countries, and that academics at the
university have a range of views about the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. (Ben-Gurion is home to some of the more prominent
Israeli academic critics of the Israeli government, but also has
been criticized for not doing enough to protect their academic
freedom.)
Many academic opponents of the boycott have said that universities
should not subject ties to other institutions to tests based on
political issues. David Bilchitz, a law professor at Johannesburg
who is director of the South African Institute for Advanced
Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law,
published an op-ed just prior to the vote saying that the
university was applying standards to an Israeli university that it
does not apply to those from other countries.
He said that the only reason academics should rule out cooperation
is if the research in question involves "the violation of
fundamental rights." And Bilchitz added that "[i]t is difficult to
see how the UJ-BGU research into the purification of water and
development of biofuels can contribute to the human rights of
Palestinians being abrogated."
Ben-Gurion University responded Thursday morning, stating that it
"regrets the decision of the University of Johannesburg to
terminate its collaborative research agreement and reaffirms its
commitment to advancing the values of academic freedom, regional
cooperation and the advancement of social justice through
education and research."
The statement added: "Peace will only happen when there is a
dialogue between all of the people of the region. Canceling this
agreement which was designed to solve real problems of water
contamination in a reservoir near Johannesburg will only hurt the
residents of South Africa."
— Scott Jaschik
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