Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Yet More Of The Academic Boycott Mania

Noura Erekat, a Philadelphia-based attorney, academic, and member of the Legal Support Network for the Badil Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights,  has written an article regarding  the American Studies Association's recent embrace of the anti-Israel Boycott campaign.
"At its 2013 annual conference, the American Studies Association (ASA) considered a resolution to endorse the academic boycott of Israel. Several professors proposed the resolution to the ASA’s Academic and Community Activism Caucus after participating in a 2012 US Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) delegation to Palestine and Israel. If passed, the ASA will join a steadily growing movement among members of American academic associations to support Palestinian calls to implement the 2005 call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS). Even if it does not pass this year, an affirmative vote appears inevitable based on the overwhelming support for the resolution among ASA’s membership. Time may be necessary to overcome procedural hurdles but will not be enough to sway the tide of support against academic boycott....
....Significantly, no one took to the microphone to defend Israel’s practices (although one speaker did explain how he has “a Palestinian friend” who thinks the biggest problem facing Palestinians is Palestinian corruption and violence). Opponents of the boycott resolution argued that the resolution should go to a membership-wide referendum (the petition in support of the resolution garnered 1,008 signatures and the one against approximately 400). They argued that they were blindsided by the proposal (it was proposed and made public a year ago). They also argued that Israel is not unique for its violations (i.e., China and the US have an equal, if not worse, track record). All seven naysayers objected to the resolution on procedural grounds rather than challenging the substance of Israel’s violations....
Mark Rifkin, associate professor of English at the University of North Carolina, added that anxieties that this boycott singles out Israel are misplaced. Rifkin emphasized that if indigenous populations in the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and elsewhere asked him to endorse an academic boycott, he would vote yes as well....
The ASA’s executive committee would be wise to endorse the academic boycott. If it does, it will be leading the movement in the United States, along with the AAAS, by creating much-needed momentum. Even if it does not, the Association is already victorious for shattering a taboo at a high risk and cost. In so doing, it has transformed a muted and distant inquiry about the Palestinian-Israel conflict into a self-critical analysis about the role of the United States as a third party to the conflict. The ASA has forthrightly brought the question of Palestine into the fold of American Studies and provocatively asked, what then is the proper role of the US academy? Its membership has answered this question clearly, and loudly, enough for other academic associations to consider it as well. This is the victory to be celebrated.'"
Read the entire article here

3 comments:

  1. Of course they mean Jews and Jews alone though. Boycott the Jews. If any Arabs at an Israeli academic institution asked, they'd welcome them with open arms.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ace! (to use an '80s expression).

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.