Anti-Semitism, not academic content, fuels university boycotts

[Mosby]

In the aftermath of the American Studies Association’s (ASA) December 2013 vote to support the boycott/divestment/sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli universities and scholars, the heads of 250 American universities voiced their opposition to both the ASA’s decision and to academic boycotts in general as violations of academic freedom.

Typifying their stance was that of Brown University president Christina Paxson, who said that such action “would be antithetical to open scholarly exchange and would inhibit the advancement of knowledge and discovery.”

Yet in failing to address the odiousness of singling out Israel for boycott, such reactions ignore the black heart of BDS: its profound anti-Semitism hiding under the guise of anti-Zionism, anti-colonialism or any cause de jour. A university president harboring intensely anti-Israel or anti-Semitic beliefs could still oppose BDS on academic freedom grounds while leaving unaddressed this key moral issue.

Former Harvard president Larry Summers made this point in a recent video interview with Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol in which he said he was “disappointed by the response of university presidents,” because they “framed the argument almost entirely in terms of their distaste for academic boycotts rather than anything about the specific substance.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article58876878.html

[6chars]

1. they only do this in fields that are about nothing

american studies is just a cool kids vs everyone else popularity contest. since there's no factual right or wrong, only cool or uncool, the ptb in the field don't think they lose by alienating a country - someone's loss in popularity is their gain. same is true in the other fields that have climbed on this clown wagon.

look at how much boycotting there is in medicine, chemistry, computer science, math, engineering, where there's a right and a wrong that can be tested in the real world and that lead to things that matter in the real world. answer: none. profs in these fields get paid to do something that makes the world better.

conclusion: any field that flirts with bds is announcing that it is a waste of resources.

[Little Tich]

2. I support the boycott of Israeli University system simply because it's connected to the illegal

settlements in the West Bank.

If Israel wouldn't have upgraded Ariel to a university, there would be no reason for any boycotts. The upgrade is a big victory for apartheid as it blurs the differences between the settlements and Israel. This is a red line for me, and I wish that Ariel would be downgraded ASAP.

Some info on Ariel university:

Israel's first settlement university stirs controversy
Source: BBC, 17 July 2012

Israeli officials have taken the highly controversial step of creating the first university in a settlement in the West Bank.

A higher education council for the occupied territory decided in favour of the upgrade for the college in Ariel, after it was recommended by Israel's education minister.

It is being seen as a significant victory for the settler movement.

However many Israeli academics and the Palestinians have condemned the move.

Settlements are considered illegal under international law although Israel disputes this. Ariel is one of the largest settlements in the West Bank.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18879786