[DEBATE] : Palestinian Voices-Where's the outrage over bombing auniversity in Gaza

[Salim Vally]

Simply because as a number of Palestinians have convincingly and compelling showed the Israeli Academy generally, with a few (very few) notable exceptions is a crucial arm of the Israeli state with clear links to the military and the occupation. Professors and researchers don't need to do the actual bombing (though in some cases they do) but provide the research and the apology...(See para below). The academic boycott if applied wisely against Israel could be analogous to the sports boycott which hurt white SA. Since " 
Israeli academic and research institutions are a major source of prestige, legitimacy, and income for Israel" As for teachers, well, certainly if they were the ones who encouraged hundreds of Israeli high school kids to chant "Death to Arabs" the other day as for Israeli lawyers, well too many reasons...Could go on. Sorry late for a COSATU meeting concerning the boycott of Israeli fruit from the illegal settlements in our supermarkets!
 
Sondra:
Through all of the withholding of education from Palestinians, Israeli academics continue to enjoy material advantages internationally-for example, obtaining visiting teaching posts and fellowships, having their articles published in international journals, getting their books published, receiving general academic funding, and traveling at will. Shahid Alam, professor of economics at Northeastern University, argues, as do many others, that Israeli educational institutions, as arms of the state, are serving the state "through their links with the military, the political parties, the media, and the economy."5 Or, as Mona Baker, Manchester University director of the Center for Translation of Intercultural Studies, claims, "Israeli academic and research institutions are a major source of prestige, legitimacy, and income for Israel."
________________________________

From: debate-bounces at debate.kabissa.org on behalf of Ran Greenstein
Sent: Tue 2009/01/27 04:35 PM
To: debate: SA discussion list 
Subject: [DEBATE] : Palestinian Voices-Where's the outrage over bombing auniversity in Gaza



I must say I fail to see the connection between the justified outrage and condemnation of
Israeli attacks on Palestinian universities, and the call for boycott of Israeli universities. Such
a call may be reasonable as a campaign strategy on its own merits, but it has nothing to do
with the bombing in Gaza (which was NOT carried out by Israeli academic institutions or
their representatives but rather by the Israeli military). It would make as much sense to
accompany this condemnation by a call to boycott Israeli greengrocers or lawyers or school
teachers, who bear as much direct responsibility for the bombing as all other Israelis,
academics included...

Maybe all of them should be boycotted indeed, but this still does not amount to any specific
argument for an ACADEMIC boycott. Let's not lump all issues together and try to argue
rationally about a specific strategy in a specific field, targetting a specific set of institutions
and individuals, expecting a specific impact. I know mine is a hopelessly liberal and ivory
tower kind of argument (as are the voices of Gordon and Halper who wrote about this in
Counterpunch) but so what?


 On 27 Jan 2009 at 16:19, Salim Vally wrote:

Date sent:      Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:19:46 +0200
From:   "Salim Vally" <Salim.Vally at wits.ac.za>

> Instead, once again, liberals (who benefit from the status quo)
> lecture
> to the oppressed...
>
> 
>
> "Where's Outrage Over Bombing a University in Gaza?"
>
>   Press Release | January 25, 2009
>
> On Saturday December 27th, 2008, the Islamic University of Gaza
> (IUG)
> was ready to start the final exams of the fall semester for more
> than
> 20,000 students (60% of whom are women) enrolled into its 10
> colleges
> -education, religion, art, commerce, Shariah law, science,
> engineering,
> information technology, medicine, and nursing. On that day, more
> than 60
> American made Israeli F16 warplanes began to bomb the Palestinian
> population of Gaza at a time when the maximum number of children
> going
> to and coming from schools.
>

Ran Greenstein
Johannesburg, South Africa