Monday, June 18, 2007
Kill them all!
I agree with Yaman that Chancellor Bob 2.0 saying "fuck you" to Israel university boycotters from Britland isn't courageous," but the reason is because it's so obvious. Any other decision would indeed be "more difficult" because it would be wrong, and clearly so.
The merits of the complaints I won't deal with (though the academic work I've read from Israel doesn't seem to be all that supportive of the occupation. It has very little to do with politics in general, which is why I think these broad boycotts sort of miss the point), but academic freedom requires that the university not prohibit its faculty from working with other academics on the basis of mere location.
That said, if the the Daily Cal is correct, then the counter-boycotters are missing their own point:
Both Birgeneau and Bollinger's statements claim that if any boycott is put into effect, their respective institutions will stand in solidarity with the Israeli universities, in effect extending any boycott of the Israeli schools to UC Berkeley and Columbia. For exactly the same reason, the university administration can't make such a policy. (I suppose the UK universities could, but that would be up to them.) I stress, though, that this is reported in the Daily Cal, and is not a direct quote, so take it for its worth.
Speaking of British academics on Israel, check this out.
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