Sunday, August 23, 2009

BGU teacher slammed for boycott call

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

A Ben-Gurion University lecturer raised the ire of the establishment's administration Sunday after calling on the international community to boycott Israel in an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times.

In the article published Thursday, Neve Gordon, a politics teacher, wrote that though it was difficult for him to say, he believes that a boycott is the only way "that Israel can be saved from itself." University President Dr. Rivka Carmi on Sunday expressed shock at the lecturer's comments, saying that the university would like to shake itself of Gordon's statements and adding the university may no longer be interested in his services.

Gordon wrote that Israel is today an apartheid state, where the two populations of Israelis and Palestinians "are subjected to totally different legal systems." There are only two ways to stop this, he asserted: A one-state solution which involves giving full citizenship and rights to the Palestinians, or a two-state solution and the formation of a separate Palestinian state.

However, Gordon wrote, a solution from within seems more and more unlikely, with the peace camp having become "nonexistent" and politics "moving more and more to the extreme right." In addition, pressure and condemnation from the US and EU in recent years seemed to have had no effect.

For this reason, Gordon said he is convinced that a boycott is necessary, suggesting gradual pressure which would include divestment from companies operating in the West Bank and later from firms that "help sustain and reinforce the occupation."

"Nothing else has worked," he went on. "Putting massive international pressure on Israel is the only way to guarantee that the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians - my two boys included - does not grow up in an apartheid regime."

In a statement issued Sunday, Carmi said, "We are shocked by Dr. Neve Gordon's irresponsible statements, which are morally deserving of full condemnation. We vehemently shake ourselves of the destructive views [advocated by Gordon], who makes cynical use of freedom of expression in Israel and Ben-Gurion University."

"Ben-Gurion is a Zionist establishment," Carmi went on, "which fulfills the vision of David Gen-Gurion on a daily basis… Statements such as this, which level blunt and inciting criticism at the state of Israel, hurt the excellent work that is being carried out at Ben-Gurion University and all universities in Israel."

"Academics who feel this way about their country," she remarked, "are welcome to search for a personal and professional home elsewhere."
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1249418674692&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

Comment: Good for her-do you see this anywhere in Amercia?

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