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Sign open letter to protest at denial of tenure to Terri Ginsberg for showing Palestinian film
Terri Ginsberg, a teacher at North Carolina State University was blocked form gaining tenure following her screening a Palestinian film, Ticket to Jerusalem. Senior faculty stated that Dr. Ginsberg's comments caused them to worry that members of the audience would perceive the Film Studies and Middle East Studies programs as "biased." Shortly thereafter, Dr. Ginsberg was forced to resign from the Middle East screening series that she had helped curate; she also went from being the favored candidate for a tenure-track position to being denied so much as an interview.
Despite this clear violation of Terri's First Ammendment rights North Carolina courts have turned down hwer case. We usrge everyong to sign an open letter to North Carolina Supreme Court urging them to hear Terri's appeal.
BRICUP issues open letter to Christoph von Dohnányi: cancel your date with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi recently attracted much attention and praise for cancelling his planned appearances with the Hungarian State Opera saying he did not want to appear in a city ‘whose mayor entrusted the direction of a theatre to two known anti-Semites of the extreme right’.
However von Dohnányi, who is the nephew of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, has acepted an invitation to conduct the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in April. BRICUP is appealing to him to match his welcome opposition to anti-Semitism with equal opposition to Israel's oppression of Palestinians.
BRICUP's letter to von Dohnányi
Send your own message via his agent Jennifer Spencer
New site to support Marc Ellis in his struggle against victimisation at Baylor
Ken Starr (yes, that Ken Starr: Clinton's pursuer) has taken over as President of Baylor University. He has made a priority of victimising leading critical and original Jewish thinker Marc Ellis. Marc is charged with “abuse of authority” but we are not allowed to know what this abuse consists of. Marc's research centre has been closed and his teaching blocked.
Read more at the new website
Sign the petition to support Marc
Marc H Ellis' Forum for Academic Freedom on Facebook
Critical theorist Professor Jacques Rancière cancels Israel visit
Jacques Rancière has cancelled a planned visit to Israel, where he was to lecture at Tel Aviv University following a request from PACBI.
Leading Finnish film director and academics oppose arms sale to Israel
Despite an unprecendented public outcry, Finland's Ministry of Defense is set to go ahead with a controversial collaboration with Israeli arms companies deeply involved in Israel's occupation of Palestinian land. Finland is turning to Israel for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly known as drones.
Among those insisting on a cessation of all forms of military cooperation with Israel are Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, world-renowned expert on international law Martti Koskenniemi and the most distinguished Finnish filmmaker of all time, Aki Kaurismäki. They were joined by more than forty professors, a number of Finlandia Prize winners, Finnish MEPs and MPs, stage and film directors, actors, writers and scholars. The petition encompasses an impressive and exhaustive array of the who's who in Finnish arts, sciences and politics.
Letter in The Independent calls for Natural History Museum to end links with Ahava
Prominent scientists and cultural commentators have signed a letter to The Independent demanding that they end their involvement in the EU funded Nanoretox project which involves Ahava. Ahava is an Israeli cosmetics company that has its headquarters in the Mitzpe Shalem illegal settlement and its products are based on Dead Sea mud illegally extracted from occupied Palestinian territory.
Read the letter
News article in the Independent: Natural History Museum attacked over links to 'illegal' Israeli company
Leave your own comment
Natural History Museum comments page
BRICUP press release on public meeting on Nanoretox project
Nanoretox factsheet
Reports in the Science press
Nature
Science
USACBI tell Cornell "don't build a joint campus with Technion"
Cornell University plan to collaborate with Israel’s Technion Israel Institute of Technology to build a joint campus on New York City’s Roosevelt Island, including the use of $100 million in public funds.
USACBI point out 'Technion’s role in ethnic cleansing is extensive. One of their most notorious projects led to the creation of “a remote-controlled ‘D9′ bulldozer used by the Israeli army to demolish Palestinian houses and the development of a method for detecting underground tunnels, specifically developed in order to assist the Israeli army in its continued siege on the Gaza Strip.”'
Read USABI's open letter to Cornell
Send your own message to David J. Skorton, President of Cornell
Tell Amnesty to withdraw their endorsement of Arch Enemy's Israel gig
This campaign is suspended pending discussions between PACBI and Amnesty
Unbelieveably Amnesty International is including an Israel performance in support of their “End Repression-Protect Freedom of Expression” campaign. Swedish Metal band, Arch Enemy will perform in Tel Aviv on 24 January.
Read Boycott from Within's call for cancellation
PACBI's letter to Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy: Resist Playing for Apartheid Israel on Facebook
Write to Amnesty International Secretariat
Defend Dr. David Klein's academic freedom: support for BDS is not anti-Semitic it is pro-justice
Dr. David Klein, professor of mathematics at California State University – Northridge, has been attacked for hosting a website supporting the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions. These attacks have falsely labeled Dr. Klein “anti-Semitic” and demanded that his website be removed. It is important to let Chancellor Charles Reed of the California State University know that Dr. Klein’s academic freedom and freedom of expression are very important and must be protected.
BRICUP joins call to London's Globe Theatre to cancel invitation to Israel's Habima Theatre
BRICUP has added its vosice to the growing campaign initiatede by Boycott from Within for the Globe Theatre to cancel its invitation to Hibima Theatre to take part in its Olympic Shakespeare festival.
Habima regularly performs in Isreal's illegal West Bank settlements and do not represent any legitimate participants ina theatrical dialogue ratjher they have interpreted thier inviatation as 'an honour to te State of Israel'
Read BRICUP's letter
Boycott from Within's response to the Globe
Send your own protest to the Globe Theatre
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre don't entertain Apartheid Appeasers Habima Facebook page
Discussion on Shakespeare's Globe Facebook page
70-year-old An-Najah University Palestinian professor is now a political prisoner
The arrest of Professor Abdel Haq, on Wednesday, December 7, 2011, aims to silence the voices of Palestinian intellectuals and academics who are struggling to expose the continuous crimes of the Zionist state and who are active on the local and international levels to build solidarity networks that struggle to end Israeli Apartheid in Palestine. Professor Abdel Haq is a lawyer and lecturer of Political Economy at An-Najah National University.
New podcasts: Norman Finkelstein in London
- Norman Finkelstein discusses BDS with Jonathan Rosenhead, University College London, 11 November 2011
- Norman Finkelstein public lecture, Logan Hall, London 11 November 2011
New podcast: Rafeef Ziadah the politics behind the BDS campaign
Rafeef Ziadah of the Palestinian Boycott National Committee (BNC), 15 October 2011, speaking on the politics behind the BDS campaign at the 5th Boycott Israel Network workshop (BIN5),
Tell Electronic music duo Younger Brother not to play Tel Aviv
Benji from Younger Brother was questioned about their plans, he said, " if I felt refusing to play in Israel would help the Palestinians I would never set foot in Israel". BRICUP is calling on its suporters to explain to him why the cultural boycott does just that.
US media moguls fight boycott of Israel
An influential group of US entertainment industry executives has for the first time launched an organization to counter cultural boycott efforts against Israel, the likes of which contributed to Costello’s canceling of scheduled shows here last year.
Creative Community For Peace (CCFP) pledges to use a wide range of measures to bolster the resolve of artists who sign contracts to perform in or travel to Israel and then face calls from various “boycott groups” to cancel their trips,
BRICUP says "This is more proof of how effective the cultural boycott is and how we must intensify it."
Cambridge students vote to break contract with Veolia
Students at Cambridge have voted to call on the University to cut ties with a company implicated in Israeli human rights abuses.
The vote calls on CUSU (Cambridge University Students Union) to campaign to have the University cut ties with Veolia, a company involved in infrastructure projects in Israeli settlements, and employed by the University on a waste disposal contract. The referendum, which closed on 24 October, passed with a majority of 58% to 41%: there were 898 votes yes, 637 votes no, and 21 ballots spoilt. While a strong majority was in support, the referendum was inquorate: 7.2% of the student body voted, short of the 10% required.
Edinburgh Students Vote to Ban G4S
In a victory for the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Edinburgh University Student Association (EUSA) yesterday overwhelmingly passed a motion through its Student Council to block their contract with security firm G4S, and to lobby the University to follow suit.
G4S currently provide security services to Edinburgh University library, which prompted Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) to begin a campaign to force the University to tear up its contract with the security firm. It was then recently discovered that EUSA were also in the process of hiring the firm for money collecting services. This led to a motion quickly going before Student Council and it was clearly passed, meaning the Union's trustee board must now look for an alternative.
Special issue of Jadal on 'Boycotting Israel: Between Theory and Practice' published
Jadal the journal on the major political and social concerns of the Palestinians in Israel has published a special issue (issue 11) on the boycott. The issue has an editorial and five articles:
- Editorial Boycott: Where to?
- Three Comments on the Boycott Movement | Nimer Sultany
- Entrenching the Boycott in the Principles of the Resistance | Esmail Nashif
- Lessons From South Africa | Diana Buttu
- On Academic Boycott | George Bisharat
- Boycott on U.S. Campuses: From Moral Language to Political Practice | Yaman Salahi
Leading musicians demand re-instatement of the LPO 4
The London Philharmonic Orchestra have suspended four members of the orchestra for 9 months for writing to a newspaper asking the BBC to cancel the invitation to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to play at the 2011 proms. The four did no know of, or take part in, the demonstration inside the Royal Albert Hall which led the BBC to cancel their broadcast. The suspension followed pressure from Jewish supporters of the orchestra according to the LPO's manager. This is a disgraceful attack on freedom of speech and on democratic non-violent political activity.
There have been letters published in the Britisih newspapers from leading musicians and cultural figure. Not only in the Guardian but also, less predictably in the Daily Telegraph (scroll down)
Join the FaceBook group calling for re-instatement
Send your own polite but firm message to Timothy Walker, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the LPO
Follow the campaign on Twitter #LPO4
BRICUP tells Yardbirds: cancel your Tel Aviv concert
British Rhythm and Blues legends are planning to play at the Barby Club in Tel Aviv on 29 October. BRICUP have sent them an open letter asking them to cancel the gig and folow the example of Elvis Costello, Faithless and many others in refusing to offer support to Israel's apartheid regime.
Read the open letter
Send your own letter to:
Jim McCartney info@jimmccarty.co.uk
Chris Dreja chris@chrisdreja.com
Their US agent, Anne Leighton
Their European agent Nigel Kerr
Yardbirds cancel your trip Facebook page
Boycott and Picket the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 September
On 1 September the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is playing at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The IPO has a continuing record of close collaboration with the Israeli armed forces enforcing the occupation of Palestine and assaults on Gaza and has a self-proclaimed ‘partnership’ with the Israeli Defence Forces. They regularly travel to play at Army camps and outposts.
The concert is part of the 'Brand Israel' campaign and BRICUP is collaborating with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign to call for a boycott of the concert and a picket of the RAH on 1 September from 6.00 p.m.
Download the flyer
Tweet the Proms @bbcproms to let them know they are supporting apartheid
Email the Proms and let them know you oppose the performance
Letter from 24 musicians in the Independent (scroll down to 'Proms exploited for arts propaganda campaign')
Palestine supporters make their protest heard at Israel Philharmonic concert
About 40 members of BRICUP, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods and the Boycott Israel Network attended the concert and with singing and chanting continually disrupted the performance. The protestors gained global publicity (over 500 hits on Google News) and was widely reported on BBC Radio and Television. For the first time ever the BBC had to cancel a Proms broadcast because of a protest.
Demonstrators press release
Two videos of the protest
Video produced by protest supporters
Video from the Guardian
Naomi Wimbourne-Idrissi on BBC Any Answers after the disruption of the Israel Philharmonic's Prom concert: 3 September 2011 - podcast.
Google News listing
Knesset 'Boycott Law' condemned from left and right
The Knesset passed its Boycott bill into law on July 11. BRICUP and other pro-Palestinian organisations have campaigned against the legislation during its passage through the Knesset as would be expected; it was far less predictable that a wide range of right-wing and Zionist voices have also denounced this measure as undemocratic and un-Jewish.
The law will mean that anyone who organises, supports, or even provides information useful for, a boycott of Israeli or settlement goods wil jhave to pay a fine The fine willbe paid, not to the state, but to anyone who claims they are boycotted, whether they can show there was harm done to them or not.
The measure has also opened an unexpected divide between arch-advocate Foreign Minister Lieberman and more reluctant supporter Netanyahu, a split that spells serioius trouble for the right wing and ultra-right coalition that rules Israel.
EPACBI - the European Platform for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel launched
This historic development follows an inspiring meeting of academic boycott activists from nine European countries in Paris in September. Even a year ago such a meeting would have been unthinkable; this meeting demonstrates the widening and deepening of the academic and cultural boycott movement across Europe.
We have marked this historic event by simultaneous publications of special editions the BRICUP and AURDIP (the French complement of BRICUP) newsletters
- Read the founding declaration
- Special issue of BRICUP newsletter
- Special issue of AURDIP newsletter
- epacbi website
- contact epacbi
BRICUP sends open letter to Renee Fleming: cancel your Jerusalem concert
BRICUP has asked leading American soprano Renee Fleming to cancel her planned concert in Jerusalem. She is planning to appear with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra on 28 July. The concert will be streamed live to 480 cinemas across the USA.
Read the open letter
Send your own letter via her management or via her public relations
Lecturers at Ben Gurion University protest against “Settlements within the Green Line”
Lecturers at Ben Gurion University, at Be'er Sheva in the Negev, have protested against the University inviting Ayalim to speak to their students. Ayalim has established 14 Jews only student villages, many in the few mixed areas in Israel such as Acre and Be'er Sheva, promoting 'internal settlement' and displacing Palestinians. The Director of Ayalim said "“this is a Zionist association that views settling the Negev and the Galilee as essential challenges and the mission of the country's young generation."
Ynet article (Hebrew)
English translation
August Burns Red Have Cancelled Their Planned Concert in Israel
August Burns Red, a phenomenally popular Christian metalcore band, has just cancelled their June 9 concert in Israel. "They have no plans to reschedule," says a reliable source that must remain anonymous. They cancelled because they do not want to play in Israel.
Free software campaigner Richard Stallman cancels Israel lectures
The American software freedom activist Richard Stallman has cancelled a lecture that he was scheduled to give at Tel Aviv University due to pressure from the Palestinian Authority. The funding for his trip came from the Palestinians who invited him to lecture for them, Stallman wrote in a letter explaining the cancellation. He said that they were not pleased that he had been scheduled to lecture at Israeli universities as well, and so withheld funding for his trip.
Community Trade Union rejects motion supporting Israel
Community Trade Union (a merger of the old steelworkers and knitwear unions) has been a loyal supporter of Israel on the sayso of its General Secretary. When the members finally got to have asay at its recent conference they comprehensively rejected the leadership's motion.
BRICUP tells Paul Simon - cancel your Israel tour
BRICUP has issued an open letter to Paul Simon demanding that he cancels his Israel tour. BRICUP asked him:
"Are you willing to ‘lend a shoulder’ to daily land-grabs and watergrabs and the inexorable squeezing and stifling of Palestinian lives and hopes? Are you willing to ‘lend a shoulder’ to illegal settlements and illegal military checkpoints, to detention without trial, torture in prison, and the innumerable daily cruelties, small and large, aimed at making Palestinian existence intolerable and driving people out?"
Read the open letter
Send your own message to Paul Simon via his record company
Cancel your concerts: get on the boat - new John Grayson video
Canadian fil maker John Grayson who will be on the Gaza Flotilla has produced a scintillating new video, Gaza Island calling on artists to cancel their planned Israel concerts and, istead, join or support the
UK trade union delegation to Palestine endorses BDS call
A delegation of senior British trade unionist who visited Palestine in April 2011 have issued a statement deploring the attacks on Palestinian rights that they witnessed includng the spread of illegal settlements; forced evictions; arbitrary detentions; and attacks on civil society organisations.
They called on the the TUC to " re-emphasise its support for the BDS position by writing to all national centres - including Histradut and the PGFTU - with a copy of the 2010 motion. The TUC should call again on all its affiliates and allies to maximise their efforts in pursuit of establishing a pro-BDS position in the European and Global Union Federations. The TUC should also raise the issue with the European TUC by calling on it to support the international BDS campaign and pressing the EU institutions to end the EU-Israel regime of trade privileges until the situation is resolved."
University and College Union congress opposes use of EUMC mis-definition of anti-Semitism and reaffirms support for Boycott
UCU at its 2011 annual congress overwhelmingly passed a series of motions on Palestine. The motions covered:
- Theats to the academic freedom of Palestinian and Israeli academics
- The unlawful detention of Ahmad Qatamesh by Israeli security forces
- The closure of a course at Liverpool University for referring to the low level of medical care available to Palestinians
- Demanding an ethical investment policy by USS (university superannuation scheme)
- Refusal to use the EUMC defintion of anti-Semitism
While the movers of the motions expected hostile criticism from supporters of Israel they did not anticipate the firestorm of abuse levelled at them and thier union for their attitude to the EUMC definition. There was a concerted campagn to denounce UCU as anti-semitic because of their refusal to apply a definition that mad emakes attitudes to Israel a central defining trope of anti-Semitism rather than attitudes to Jews, The Board of Deputies even sent a letter to the heads of all Universities which contained serious distortions of events in the union over 4 years and asking Universities to derecognise UCU. Richard Kuper and Tony Lerman posted thoughtful analyses of the EUMC definition and why the official Jewish leadership were seriously in error. Both postings attracted vituperative personal attacks in response.
University and College Union reaffirms its support for BDS
The General Secretary and the President of UCU has written to all branches reminding them of the Union's support for BDS. The circular states:
- The decision of [2010 UCU Annual] Congress, on the vote of the overwhelming majority of delegates, was to adopt this motion unamended as the policy position of the UCU
- Congress reaffirm its support for BDS, and to seek its implementation within the constraints of the existing law
- Congress resolves to sever all relations with Histadrut, and to urge other trade unions and bodies to do likewise
- Congress resolves to campaign actively against the EU-Israel Association Agreement
- Congress resolves to commence the investigatory process associated with the imposition of a boycott of Ariel College
Read the circular
UCU international study Academic Freedom: International Study (Burma, Columbia, Israel, Palestine, Zimbabwe)
Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS) launched
In commemoration of the first of May - a day of workers struggle and international solidarity – the first Palestinian trade union conference for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel (BDS) was held in Ramallah on 30 April 2011, organized by almost the entirety of the Palestinian trade union movement, including federations, professional unions, and trade union blocks representing the entire spectrum of Palestinian political parties. The conference marked a historic event: the formation of the Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS) as the largest coalition of the Palestinian trade union movement. PTUC-BDS will provide the most representative Palestinian reference for international trade unions, promoting their support for and endorsement of the BDS Call, launched by Palestinian civil society in 2005, guided by the guidelines and principles adopted by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), of which PTUC-BDS has become a key component.
City University of New York bows to Zionist pressure and denies honorary degree to Tony Kushner
In an appalling case of political censorship CUNY trustees withdrew their planned offer to award an honorary degree to leading Jewish dramatist Tony Kushner because of his criticisms of Israel.
Tony Kushner's letter to the trustees
Report in MuzzleWatch
Report in New York Times
Barbara Ehrenreich, Michael Cunningham and Ellen Schrecker have returned their honorary degrees to CUNY
Campaigners withdraw threat to picket SOAS Israeli Music conference after organisers confirm “No Israeli funding”
Organisers of a conference on Israeli music to be held at SOAS in London have broken links with hte israeli embassy and funders after pressure from BRICUP nad other groups. Original publicity material for the conference had acknowledged support from the Israeli Embassy, London, and the British Israeli Arts Training Scheme (BI ARTS), “a British Council initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Sport in Israel”. The British Friends of the Hebrew University was also mentioned.
Following pressure the organisers confirmed that there would be no funding directly or indirectly from the Israeli Government or institutions. Subsequently all reference to the Israeli-related organisations was removed from the conference’s online publicity materials.
BRICUP's statement on the planned event
Read the BRICUP press release on Israeli funding pledge
Jewish Chronilce: Boycotters 'victory' as music festival distances itself from Israel
160 leading scholars Oppose suppression of free speech about Palestine at the Ecole Normale Supérieure
The Director of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, Monique Canto-Sperber, first banned a talk by Stéphane Hessel and then refused to allow the Colléctif Palestine ENS to hold a meeting on campus; a denial of the rights of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. Hessel is 93, a former ENS student, member of the Resistance, survivor of Buchenwald, one of the authors of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and of the recent best-selling Indignez-vous!/Time for Outrage, in which he (among other things) criticizes Israel's treatment of Palestinians. ENS is one of Europe's leading academic institutions: the home of many distinguished thinkers from Pasteur to Beckett, Sartre and Bordieu.
University of Johannesburg has effectively severed ties with Israel’s Ben-Gurion University
Academics at South Africa's Johannesburg University have succeeded in their campign to get UJ to break all ties with BGU. They attracted both worlwide support from supporters of Palestinian rights and a vicious campaign from pro-Israel lobbyists.
University of Johannesburg (UJ) has effectively severed ties with Israel’s Ben-Gurion University (BGU). The principled stand of UJ stands in stark contrast to Bob Geldof's shameful acceptance of a doctorate from BGU.
Read the press release from the boycott campaign
PACBI Salutes Univ. of Johannesburg for Severing Links with Israeli Apartheid
Ran Greenstein of the University of the Witwatersrand has written an interesting article following the UJ campaign, "Reflections on Academic Boycotts in the Wake of the UJ-BGU Campaign". BRICUP believes there are interesting arguemetns in this piece but does not endorse its conclusions, a call for a selective boycott. This is not BRICUP's practice or the nature of the PACBI call to action.
Reflections on Academic Boycotts in the Wake of the UJ-BGU Campaign
BRICUP sends open letter to Bob Geldof: don't accept apartheid doctorate
Bob Geldof has disappointed many people who hava applauded his work on LiveAid. He has accepted an offer of an honaray doctorate from Ben Gurion University. BRICUP condemns this cynical move by BGU: an attempt to rescue their reputation by associating themselves with global icon. Their work in providing resaerch and training for the the Israeli Army and arms industry is what will continue to to make academics from across the world say Boycott Ben Gurion and all Israeli universities.
Read our open letter
Send you own message to Sir Bob via his production company
Join the Facebook group -Bob Geldof : Please Respect the Palestinian Boycott
Video of Judith Butler talking about BDS at Toronto Israel Apartheid Week
Leading American academic talked at Israel Apartheid week drawing strong links between feminism and queer theory and the struggle for Palestinian rights. She located teh academic boycott as a key part of the support for the Palestinain struggle. The video is in five parts.
COSATU joins call on University of Johannesburg to cut ties with Ben Gurion University
Congress of South African Trade Unions spokesperson Bongani Masuku said, “It (BGU) has consistently refused to oppose the Israeli government's attempts to silence academics that support sanctions against Israel and so it is a much compromised institution whose reputation and credibility are in tatters.”
Masuku described BGU as “a university that actively collaborates with the Israeli Defence Force in its enforcement of apartheid occupation against Palestinians, by offering special privileges and services to the army”.
Read report from PACBI
Petition by over 300 SA academics
Send your own message of support
Call by Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees (PFUUPE)
Pete Seeger endorses boycott of Israel
Pete Seeger, the legndary folk singer has announced that he regrets having taken part in the Arava festival in Israel and committed himself to full support of the boycott movement. He said, “I appeared on that virtual rally because for many years I’ve felt that people should talk with people they disagree with. But it ended up looking like I supported the Jewish National Fund. I misunderstood the leaders of the Arava Institute because I didn't realize to what degree the Jewish National Fund was supporting Arava. Now that I know more, I support the BDS movement as much as I can.”
Read Seeger's statement in full
Read report in Jerusalem Post
Israeli universities are quashing freedom of speech
In an article in Ha'aretz, Yitzhak Laor details the attacks on critical voices by the managers of Israel's universities. He writes, "At universities in Israel, by contrast, this [tenure] procedure is completely lawless. The university is very sensitive to what is said about it. It receives a great deal of money, allowing its top people to maintain quite a hedonistic way of life. And so it likes quiet. And when it gets into any kind of trouble, it sends one of its two or three Nobel Prize winners to speak in the name of 'freedom of research' or budget increases. The time has come for somebody to put things in order."
Laor's article prompted a vicious attack in the heretic hunting IsraelCampus.org website which includes "Now as usual when it comes to Israel's academic fifth column, the facts are precisely the opposite. Not only was Azoulay not fired for being a leftist, it seems clear she was only hired in the first place because she was a leftist. She simply never produced any serious academic scholarly work or bona fide research, on whose basis she could have been awarded tenure. She is the wife of Tel Aviv University's prominent extremist leftist professor of philosophy Adi Ophir. You will recall Ophir as the star of several Israel Apartheid Week events. The simple truth is that had she not been Ophir's wife, I think there is serious doubt as to whether she ever would have been offered any academic post of any sort in Israel. At Bar-Ilan, she taught something called 'Hermeneutics.' I am not quite sure what that is, but I think it has something to do with neutering people named Herman."
Proclaiming your ignorance of a centuries old field of study is cavalier even for a Zionist witch hunter.
Who benefits from EU-Israel academic cooperation?
In an article in the Electronic Intifada journalist David Cronin explores how the Israeli occupation and Israel'y day-to-day oppression of its own plaestinian cizens is bolstered by the EU's collaboration.
Tear down this Israeli wall: Roger Waters Endorses BDS
Roger Waters of Pink Floyd told the Guardian,
"I want the music industry to support Palestinians' rights and oppose this inhumane barrier ...
"I was contracted to perform in Tel Aviv. Palestinians from a movement advocating an academic and cultural boycott of Israel urged me to reconsider. I had already spoken out against the wall, but I was unsure whether a cultural boycott was the right way to go.
"The Palestinian advocates of a boycott asked that I visit the occupied Palestinian territory to see the wall for myself before I made up my mind. I agreed.
"Under the protection of the United Nations I visited Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw that day. The wall is an appalling edifice to behold. It is policed by young Israeli soldiers who treated me, a casual observer from another world, with disdainful aggression."
Read the Guardian article in full
Report in Ha'aretz
Report in the Jerusalem Post
BRICUP calls upon the Coen Brothers: Show True Grit; do not accept the Dan David Prize - Do not normalise apartheid
BRICUP has published an open letter to filmakers Joel and Ethan Coen calling on them not to visit Israel to acept the Dan David Prize, awarded jointly by the Dan David Foundation and Tel Aviv University.
We are informing them that if they do they normalise oppression and disposession.
Read BRICUP's open letter
Send you own message to the Coen Brothers via their agent
Israeli Citiizens' letter to the Coens
University of Ottawa to debate freezing law exchange programme with Haifa
On 7 March the University of Ottawa will debate freezing their Joint Masters in Laws (LL.M) exchange program withe University of Haifaand the application process put on hold until the a number of actions have been carried out by the Senate.
The actions include requiring the adoption of affirmative action which guarantees that applications be selected in such a way that the percentage of Palestinian students accepted into the exchange program at the University of Haifa be equal to or greater than the percentage of Palestinian people living in Israel.
Israel plans law to harass boycott activists
On 8 March the full Knesset gave a first reading to a slighly amended bill by 32 votes to 12. As Ha'aretz notes, "It explicitly includes boycotts that affect the West Bank, such as boycotts of goods and services originating in the Jewish settlements there."
On 15 February a Knesset committee approved on second and third readings a bill combating boycotts against Israel - another hysterical proposal by the right wing and Kadima MK Dalia Itzik designed to protect 'our weak and tiny country, which is being attacked from within and without'.
"This law," explain the architects of the proposal, "is designed to protect the State of Israel in general and its citizens in particular from academic, economic and other boycotts that are imposed on the country, its citizens and corporations, due to their connection to the State of Israel." The law is designed to protect "the area under Israeli control, including Judea and Samaria."
Violators of the law can be sued for damages of up to NIS 30,000 (€6,000) without any need for evidence that injury was caused to the boycotted or potentially boycotted party/ies.
Revised bill
Ha'aretz report on Knesset debate
Read full story in Ha'aretz of committee debates
Details of the bill and the Knesset legislative process
Israel boycott activists respond with call to Poland to end arms deal
