Sunday Roundup: Israeli boycott, round 2?
Followers of College Ave might remember what I like to call the most recent “Israeli boycott mess” in May 2007, when the University and College Union (UCU), a 116,000-member organization of British academics, agreed to circulate a Palestinian call for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions for “information and discussion.” The motion to discuss passed by a vote of 158 to 99.
The number of members who agreed to hear out the call to boycott worried many across the world, and the fear that a boycott would actually happen caused somewhat of an international panic.
President of the U.S.’ Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, waged a counter-UCU campaign a few months later, which, which culminated in an August 8 full page New York Times ad co-sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, signed by more than 300 U.S. college and university presidents, which as College Ave alumni Aaron Munzer wrote “essentially said, So you’re gonna boycott Israelis? Well then, boycott us too! All of us. You big jerks.” That Munzer has a way with words.
Ultimately, the boycott never passed, but last month it seems another call was made — this time, for the country as a whole, and by a professor who teaches at a prominent Israeli University.
Neve Gordon, an Israeli citizen and chairman of the department of politics and government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, published an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, “An Israeli Professor Tests the Limits of Academic Freedom,” arguing that Israeli is an “apartheid state,” and called for a boycott of his country (and his university).
Almost immediately, the president of that university responded with an angry letter that also appeared in the L.A. Times, raising the issue of academic freedom and saying that Mr. Gordon had stepped beyond that.
“At the same time, by calling on other entities, including academic institutions, to boycott Israel — and effectively, to boycott his own university — Gordon has forfeited his ability to work effectively within the academic setting, with his colleagues in Israel and around the world. After his very public, personal soul-searching in his Op-Ed article, leading to his extreme description of Israel as an “apartheid” state, how can he, in good faith, create the collaborative atmosphere necessary for true academic research and teaching?”
In a Chronicle of Higher Education article this week, Gordon said he was not surprised by the large number of people who disagree with his position, but said the president’s comments in that letter were “a form of harassment and intimidation.”
The president told The Chronicle “There is an inherent contradiction between calling for academic boycotts and fulfilling the responsibilities of leading an academic department in research collaboration, publications, and international conferences.”
She also said the essay had “branded Ben-Guiron as a radical, left-wing university and was endangering potential donations, crucial for future development.” She also said major donors are threatening to stop their support of the university unless it takes action against him.
This round of boycott talk is not only digging up the “Israeli Boycott” discussion — it’s now reaching into the academic freedom debate, too.
According to The Chronicle, almost 200 Israeli faculty members with tenure signed a petition supporting the professor’s right to express himself. It’s not clear how many people share Ms. Cami’s view — or if the university will actually do anything to remove him.
Whatever happens will likely set a precedent for academics define academic freedom in Israel, and likely in the U.S., too.
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