Re: [xmca] Boycott Information

Shirley,
   
  Thank you for stating at the outset that anti-zionism is not anti-semitism. That red herring has been used to silence legitimate outrage (anger as right as rain) about the way the Israeli government has used it's overwhelming military force (provided thanks to American tax dollars) against the people whose land it has occupied.
   
  Paul Dillon
  
Shirley Franklin <s.franklin@dsl.pipex.com> wrote:
  Hi David and others

It is a highly charged issue, isnt it! And exceptionally hard I think
for us, as Jews.

The motion that was passed at our conference calls for debates about
the boycott in academic institutions. It doesn't actually initiate
the boycott.

Sally Hunt, our leader, does not support the boycott, altho I guess
at least half of the National Executive do.

I think that many people here think that this really is the only
thing that we can do here to try to make the lives of Palestinians
easier.

I guess the debate will continue. Having it up for discussion in
universities and colleges is important as it enables lecturers in
each workplace to have the debate and to make a recommnedation for
next year's congress.

All the best

Shirley
On 31 May 2007, at 16:14, David H Kirshner wrote:

> "Both the behaviour of the occupying forces in the Occupied
> Territories, and Israeli state
> policy, is not simply barbaric; they are clearly designed to make
> these areas ungovernable and non-viable, and eventually to
> eradicate altogether any distinctive Palestinian culture and history."
>
> Shirley,
> There is so much recent history of the Arab/Israeli conflict that
> points against this kind of simplistic, good/evil interpretation,
> that one wonders what kind of political agenda or deep
> psychological fixation prompts the leadership of a respected
> academic union to draw its blinders tight and wade into a political
> morass, blades drawn. The best parsing I've read of the complex
> Palestinian/Israeli conflict (though now a few years old) analyzes
> the dual agendas being played out on both sides of the conflict
> (see attached).
> David
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-
> bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Shirley Franklin
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 4:45 AM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: Re: [xmca] Boycott Information
>
> As a Jewish member of UCU I support the boycott, which is a boycott
> against Israeli UNIVERSITES as Zionist institutions not a boycott
> against individual Israeli academics. It will be possible for us to
> engage with Israeli academics but not with their institutions -
> examining, university delegations,etc.
>
> It is really important that anti-semitism is not confused with anti-
> zionism. The boycott basically supports the rights of Palestinians to
> live equally as Israelis do in their own homes, in their own lands.
> UCU members are not singling Israel out. Both the behaviour of the
> occupying forces in the Occupied Territories, and Israeli state
> policy, is not simply barbaric; they are clearly designed to make
> these areas ungovernable and non-viable, and eventually to eradicate
> altogether any distinctive Palestinian culture and history. The
> illegal settlements, the strategic use of the road network between
> the settlements, and the separation wall constitute an intentional
> policy of disaggregation of Palestinian territory.
> The discriminatory practices in respect of water supply, land
> ownership, military checkpoints, incursions and the use of airpower
> regardless of civilian casualties, house demolitions and other
> collective punishments, and the dramatic differences in the financing
> of educational, health and other resources between Israelis and
> Palestinians render Israeli state policy both discriminatory and
> destructive. These policies are not consistent, the UCU members
> insist, with peace, security or indeed any form of academic freedom
> for the Palestinian population.
>
> Universities play a particularly important role in Israeli society,
> one that is distinct from the role of academic institutions in other
> oppressive states. No Israeli university has explicitly dissociated
> itself from the Occupation, nor even debated publicly the question of
> whether or not it would be appropriate so to do. All Israeli
> universities are, therefore, directly or indirectly complicit in
> virtue of the training of, and support for, the occupying forces, or
> a failure to condemn the outrages carried out in the name of every
> Israeli citizen.
>
> Shirley Franklin
> On 31 May 2007, at 03:03, David Preiss wrote:
>
>> This is indeed a quite complicated issue, David, and that has made
>> many people think there is an anti-Semitic push behind this
>> boycott. I understand criticism towards Israel very well, but if we
>> start boycotting academics because of the military options of their
>> countries there are many that should stop working with our American
>> or even UK friends as well because of the Iraq policy of their
>> governments, not to speak of our colleagues which are living under
>> the many oppressive regimes that abound around the world these
>> days. I think this whole thing is a very bad idea that does not
>> serve its moral purposes.
>> David Preiss
>>
>> On May 30, 2007, at 8:21 PM, David H Kirshner wrote:
>>
>>> Earlier today (May 30, 2007), the United Kingdom's University and
>>> College Union endorsed the principle of a boycott of Israeli
>>> academic
>>> institutions, and called for an educational campaign among UCU
>>> members
>>> in support of such a boycott. Those who are interested in this issue
>>> might want to communicate their opinions to UCU General Secretary
>>> Sally
>>> Hunt: sallyhuntucu@googlemail.com
>>>
>>> David Kirshner
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> xmca mailing list
>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>>>
>>
>> David Preiss, Ph.D.
>> Subdirector de Extensión y Comunicaciones
>> Escuela de Psicología
>> Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
>> Av Vicuña Mackenna 4860
>> Macul, Santiago
>> Chile
>>
>> Fono: 3544605
>> Fax: 3544844
>> e-mail: davidpreiss@uc.cl
>> web personal: http://web.mac.com/ddpreiss/
>> web institucional: http://www.uc.cl/psicologia
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> xmca mailing list
>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>
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Received on Thu May 31 09:56 PDT 2007