Leading Physicist Stephen Hawking has created an international stir by joining a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and travel to Israel after sending a letter declining an invitation to attend the President’s Conference. While Cambridge originally claimed that Hawking was not attending due to his health, Hawking sent a letter to Israeli President Shimon Peres saying that he was in fact boycotting Israel due to its Palestinian policies.
The letter was an embarrassment for the University of Cambridge which appeared like it was trying to spin the declination of the invitation for reasons of health. Tim Holt, acting communications director at the University of Cambridge, issued a statement that tied the decision to Hawking’s continued struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as Lou Gehrig’s disease:”For health reasons, his doctors said he should not be flying at the moment so he’s decided not to attend. He is 71 years old. He’s fine, but he has to be sensible about what he can do.”
However, Hawking sent a letter to Peres clearly stating that he was refusing on principle to travel to the conference in Israel. Hawking described Israel’s treatment and policy of the Palestinians as a “disaster” and reprehensible. Hawking stated that he initially accepted the invitation with the intention to speak out against the policies: “Had I attended, I would have stated my opinion that the policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster.” He then explained that “I accepted the invitation to the Presidential Conference with the intention that this would not only allow me to express my opinion on the prospects for a peace settlement, but also because it would allow me to lecture on the West Bank. However, I have received a number of emails from Palestinian academics. They are unanimous that I should respect the boycott. In view of this, I must withdraw from the conference. Had I attended, I would have stated my opinion that the policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster.”
There are various groups of academics supporting the boycott of Israeli products as well as academic and cultural ties with Israel, including a group with Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus. The boycott has also received support of groups this year like the Asian American Studies Association. Various divestment policies have been proposed or passed at American academic institutions.
Ironically, MIT linguistics professor and political author Noam Chomsky actually opposed the ban by scholars but was himself banned from Israel simply because of his political views by the Israeli government.
The Hawking controversy reveals a deepening divide among academics in the United States over the boycott — an increasingly heated debate. The Hawking decision comes as Israel has ordered the building of new settlements opposed by the United States and the world community as well as a report this year from the United Nations stating that Israeli have taken a “heavy toll” on the rights and sovereignty of Palestinians. The U.N. complained about the creeping annexation” by Israel in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Others have disagreed that such boycotts are productive and insist that more interaction with Israel is better for pushing reforms. Israel Maimon, chairman of the Presidential Conference, added this week that “Israel is a democracy in which all individuals are free to express their opinions, whatever they may be. The imposition of a boycott is incompatible with open, democratic dialogue.”
The response to Hawking from conservative publications have been extreme. One such site asked “Would Professor Hawking ever survive in any Arab country or under the Palestinian autocracy he shamefully defends?” The Israeli publication noted that “[w]hile in the Arab world disabled people have been called ‘the invisibles,’ because they are segregated and hidden from the public eye, Israel’s work with illness and disabilities would merit a book in itself.”
Hawking’s letter has put the boycott and divestment movement on the front pages of international newspapers and is likely to rekindle the debate on U.S. campuses.
mespo, The book you describe is exactly the type of nonfiction I love.
Regarding tripe. WordPress has locked me out of the Wrigley thread. The last Italian restaurant I ever saw tripe on the menu was in Waterbury, Ct. It closed in the 70’s. Tripe is true peasant food and this place specialized in that fare. When my family went there my old man and I would order it, the rest of he family would avert their eyes as we ate. Real Mexican restaurants have menudo. I will order it after researching how spicy it is. I usually can’t handle the spicier versions. I LOVE spicy, but now it causes agita in my 6th decade. A wise old doc in Boston told my brother the reason our culture has a vitamin D deficiency is become when Baby Boomers came of age we ceased eating organ meat, which is loaded w/ vitamin D.
Israel is facing an enemy that wants to wipe them off the face of the earth. That is not in dispute. Those are the shoes of which I speak. I agree Israel has blood on their hands. So, instead of the “walk in someones shoes”, I’ll offer “let he who is w/o sin.” Just how tolerant would the U.S. be if Canada vowed to “wipe us off the face of he earth.” Although we know those hosers wouldn’t stand a chance. We would just need to bomb their breweries and ice rinks.
Oh, of course. Poll after poll shows that the majority of Palestinians reject the idea of using suicide bombing and missile attacks to advance their objectives.
Except the polls say the opposite.
And, of course, Hamas could not possibly represent the Palestinians.
The fact that they keep having elections and Hamas (and before it, the PLO) keep getting elected doesn’t mean that they represent the Palestinians.
No, it means….. it really means…… WTF could it mean?
Roger L,
You’re forgetting one important detail: Israel and the rest of the world doesn’t recognize the Gaza Strip as a nation, country, et,. Hence, any elections being held or conducted is frivolous.
See my thread above in response to ARE. This is about religious intolerance. It has been this way for centuries.
Read OS’ thread.
I hope that wheelchair guy stays out of Palm Beach, FL as well. We have a lot of folks who get treated bad here by the golf club types and they need to be boycotted.
nick:
You’ll like it. It’s not a cheerleading book that argues Mossad et als are the best. Indeed, it recognizes fundamental Israeli flaws in dealing with terrorism but it cogently develops the methods used to prevent terrorism and reads like a policy paper for US Homeland ( I hate this word!) Security. This is not a moral missive about the practices used, but a nuts and bolts schematic about the global threat and how to deal with it. It does not argue that terrorism is a threat to Israeli national security but a threat to the sense of security of the Israeli population. Sound familiar?
The book is implicitly in keeping with my long-held position that, in the realm of international affairs against enemies, our Western notions of morality and honor have to be tempered by the degree of savagery we face. The Israelis understand that lesson of realpolitik quite well.
There are some very bad wolves out there in the international forest. We have to remember that sad fact as we traipse on through.
If the Israelis were tough about the situation they would drive the Arabs across the Jordan River into what is now Jordan proper. The Arab nations surrounding Israel are huge and the Israeli land mass is tiny. I lived in Israel in 1980 as an outsider. No Arab called himself a Palestinian. Many called themselves Jordanians. The Palestinian thing is a contrivance and a cover for terrorists.
This is one of those geopolitical matters where it is easy to say, “A pox on both your houses.” I have been following the conflict for a long time, and at least part of what I see is a failure to negotiate in good faith on both sides. I understand that Israel feels besieged, and it is, but trying to stop people from attacking you by making them even more angry is not good social psychology. It is a good way to further radicalize an already radicalized opposition. There is another generation of young kids growing up right now whose ambition in life is to become fighters in asymmetrical wars.
Israel has some of the best psychologists in the world in their academic community. The government leadership should listen to them. Bibi Netanyahu is a charming, movie star handsome man who looks the part of what a leader should be. However, it is clear to me he is an authoritarian hard liner whose idea of solving problems is found at the business end of a cannon.
This is a fight no one is going to win. One of my friends is a brilliant psychiatrist. He also happens to be a Muslim and originally from Syria. He was was chatting with my (then) teen-age daughter and she wanted him explain the middle east conflicts. They talked about Afghanistan, Iraq and the middle east conflicts in general. She asked him, “Why can’t they just sit down and talk it out instead of constantly killing each other?”
He thought for a minute before replying. He said, “You know, they have been living that way and fighting like that for three thousand years at least. Fighting is a way of life over there. There is absolutely nothing anyone can do to make them stop because fighting is all they know. Neither side is willing to give an inch.”
He went on to add, “The involvement of the US is just dragging this country into centuries old conflicts, and has the effect of making both sides distrust us. It is a tribal thing. The US government seems to think they can stop a three thousand year old fight in one generation. It is not going to happen.”
Nick S,
What about the Palentinians’ shoes? The discouraging news about this conflict is that even liberal news outlets-CNN, MSNBC,etc.-have joined FoxNews in being biased against the Palestinians and in favor of Israel by ignoring the religious undertones involved.
I was watching CNN’s Anderson Cooper a few years ago. He had inaccurately reported that Hamas had broken the cease fire agreement. His guest reporter, Christian Amanpour (I may have misspelled her name), corrected Anderson Cooper by stating that the cease fire agreement, approved by the US, allowed Israel to treat the Gaza Strip members as prisoners. Remember, as I mentioned above, Hamas doesn’t represent all Palestinians, not even a majority of them.
Internationally, the US & Israel have been very intolerant toward opposing religious views of Christianity and/or Judaism.
Israel and the Arabs within the present boundaries need a three state solution–Jordan, Egypt and Israel. The notion that the Arabs within Israel are of a separate Nation and need a Nation State in those tiny specs of land is like saying that Buffalo needs to be a Nation State out in western NY because they dont talk turdy turd and a turd like the city boys and girls. “Palestinian” is a contrived human tribe that is indistinguishable from the Arabs in Jordan from whence they were once contained.
The borrder on the east needs to be rounded out from Jerusalem and make a fresh border with Jordan. Let the Palestinians stay in Israel or move to Jordan if they are not already in that territory. Wipe out Hamas and HezbullapCray and give Gaza to Egypt to police and secure its terrorists. There were three staes in 1967 although the Jordanians and Egyptians dis not recognize Israel. Israel won the war of agrression waged by Jordan and egypt and the borders need to be squared up for safety. It is not like ther e is not enough land mass for Arabs to live in the middle east. There is plenty of room for those Arabs from Jordan who live now in Israel to either move or have the border placed to their west.
The Arabs in Israel want you to think that they are unique and need their own little Nation State in the suburb of Jerusalem. This goes against two axioms. The first is that terrorits should nto be given national recogniztion and provided a nation state boundary. The second is that the territory in question is so small that it doesnt qualify as a suburb, much less a provence and is hardly a nation.
As for the schmuck who is boycotting fine. Perhaps he can start boycotting the U.S. because of our drones. I am sitting here in Den Haag at the judicial conference listening to people spout about terrorists around the world and no single group has the stigma of Hamas. The guy in the wheelchair ought to go spend six months in Gaza himself and see how they treat him.
mespo, Thanks for the book tip. I’ll be ordering soon before I have to pay sales tax.
This thread has the earmarks of vitriol. I support the use of boycott as a civil expression of protest. Israel is a good ally, flawed as are all people and countries. For me it always comes back to the proverb of walking in a person’s shoes. What person here can say they have walked in an Israeli’s shoes?
Randyjet,
You make the mistake of assuming that Hamas represents the Palentinians just like most Americans assume Jihadists represents muslims.
This war/conflict has been going on since Biblical times. Israel believes that ‘God gave them this land’ (including the Gaza Strip). Therefore, they can ‘wipeout’ or treat the Palentinians as garbage, since they don’t worship their (Israel’s) ‘God’. The United States has been selling weapons to both sides (or to everyone in the middle east). The US can easily resolve this issue (and they are by helping Israel erase the Palentinians slowly), but the rest of the world is not on Israel’s side, making it very difficult for the US & Israel from ‘accomplish their goal overnight.’
Also, how can you be so heartless to say that comment about justifying bombing a hospital just because a few ‘rebels’ are inside or landed their aircraft on top of it? Yes, Hamas has been targeting ‘innocent’ Israelis due to the fact that I mentioned above. Are you in favor of ‘collateral damage’?
Did you see that now Israel has been dropping bombs in Syria? Why is Israel involved in the conflict of the Syrian ‘Revolution’?
RWL The FACT is that Hamas is in power in Gaza, and while they did not really win the majority of the people, they NOW have it by force, like it or not. Thus while Hitler never got a majority in an election, ALL Germans paid the price and justly so.
My point is that under the laws of warfare, if you place an anti-aircraft gun on top of a hospital, and the opposing force sees it, they are JUSTIFIED in bombing it out, even if it destroys the hospital. It is the side which VIOLATES the civil nature of the facility that bears the onus for the destruction of the hospital. There is something called an open city provision in warfare in which the defending side declares a city open, and FREE of weapons and combatants. If they violate that rule, the other side has every right to bomb that city flat. Thus any casualties that happen because of Israeli attacks are the SOLE RESPONSIBILITY of Hamas.
When you launch rockets from Gaza City, that makes the city FAIR GAME, and I think that Israelis have been quite restrained in the use of their weapons, compared to the US Army in WWII to German cities.
ARE,
The Gaza Strip is not a nation, city, or country. It is similar to a county in a state or a municipality in a county.
However, I do understand your point about the hideous side of war. Is it war or a revolution? It seems like a revolution or uprising that Israel is trying to supress.
Remember, it is about Israel’s religion vs the Palestinians’ beliefs. Israel believes that ‘God gave them this land. Therefore, everyone must follow their laws, customs, rules, religion ,etc.’ This is not about Israel defending itself.
Reveiw OS’s thread. He does a better job of wording it than me.
RWL it is NOT about religious intolerance since it used to be that about one third of Palestinians were Christians. Hamas on the other hand IS a MUSLIM party and they only won the elections because W Bush and Rice insisted that those elections be held ASAP. This was stupid since Al Fatah was running multiple candidates for the Parliment and local offices. Had they kept to the schedule they wanted. Fatah could have cleaned up their slates, to have just one candidate against Hamas. In the event Hamas won a plurality, not a majority. At that point Hamas then took it electoral victory as license to take over ALL of the national functions in Gaza. In effect, it was a military coup against the PLA. It would be like Texas GOP winning in the whole state, and then taking over border controls, the Federal buildings, and all Federal courts in Texas. It was for this reason that Egypt refused to recognize the coup and closed their borders to Gaza until control was returned to the national government.
Of course, once Hamas stole power, they used it to kill off their opponents. There were a number of former POWs who lived in Gaza who were Fatah supporters, and Hamas simply SHOT THEM when they returned home. There were hundreds of Fatah supporters who were begging the IDF to let them get out to the West Bank because Hamas was gunning for them. I think the Israelis should show Hamas and their people the same amount of mercy Hamas showed their opponents in Gaza, Which is NONE.As far as I am concerned, the more Hamas supporters Israel kills the better.
ARE,
LOL. You just made my point by stating that Muslims became the dominant religion in the Gaza Strip. However, We can go back and forth saying it is religious intolerance or isn’t. The fact remains that Israel never supported or recognize those Gaza elections (proposed by the UN, and weakly endorsed by the US-Bush & Rice Administration), regardless if Hamas won the elections.
Everyone is needs to remember that Israel is similar to their muslim, neighboring countries: intolerance for other religions in their respective nation.
For the sake of your point (i.e. let’s not use religion as the reason for this conflict, even though it is) I will try explaining it better: suppose the people of Texas didn’t want Obama as their President. Instead, they decide to hold elections for their own President, and become an individual nation. Do you actually think the United States is going to recognize or tolerate this election/uprising?
Time:
“Israel is not our allies. They lie and manipulate us.They spy on us. They steal technology and information from us. They drag us into their fights. They use us.”
*******************
If you think that Aman (the military intelligence of the IDF), Mossad, (responsible for overseas intelligence work), and Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security service) haven’t provided us invaluable intelligence (by word, deed, and example) on the militants committed to killing thousands of Americans you’re just not reading. Here’s a primer:
http://www.amazon.com/Services-Struggle-Terrorism-Columbia-Irregular/dp/0231140436/ref=pd_sim_b_4
To Hell with israel.
It is time to pull out of the middle east and let them kill each other once and for all.
Israel is not our allies. They lie and manipulate us.They spy on us. They steal technology and information from us. They drag us into their fights. They use us.
Courage with ethics… Rare…
Rocket scientists and mathemeticians agree, the Israeli policies are nuts.
I am glad he said it, it needs to be said more often & louder: the current policies persued by the Israel government will lead to a disaster for the nation. Like the industrial masters in the West the end point of the radical agenda is the complete collapse of the thing they perport to be trying to support.
ARE,
Another problem with Israel’s Gaza policy that you mentioned (“… Gaza … gets what it deserves …”) reminds me of the Brazilian Police video JT posted yesterday.
The Gaza innocents ought not be considered “deserving of violence” any more that firing a shotgun into a mixed crowd is giving the crowd “what it deserves.”
Sorry Dredd, but the Israelis target specific criminals and facilities. Hamas simply tries to kill innocents. THAT is a big difference. Too bad you cannot see that. Also, under international laws of warfare, if one side uses civilians as shields as Hamas does, there is no crime if the Israelis shoot them in responding to hostile fire. It is HAMAS which is responsible for the deaths of those innocents. Just as a bank robber is guilty of murder for any civilian casualties caused by his actions. Also, the IDF is NOT a civilian police force and cannot be held to the same standards as police whose primary concern is to limit casualties of ones own people. If you live next door to a munitions factory and are in a war zone, you cannot cry if your place gets blown up along with a legitimate target. Also, if Hamas puts an anti-aircraft gun on top of a hospital, they cannot cry foul if the hospital gets blown up.
Since Israel has decided to spit in the face of the UN and the US about building settlements, and oppressing the Palestinians in the West Bank, I think it is entirely appropriate that academics follow the Palestinian lead on the boycott. This is one way to make Israel live up to its duties and to push them to making peace.
As far as Hamas is concerned and the Israeli policies in Gaza, I have no problem with that at all. When they decide to launch rockets to kill people indiscriminately, Gaza simply gets what it deserves. I was looking for the letter Hawkings sent to see if he made any distinction between the two parties. I would have a real problem if this boycott were to give Hamas any aid or comfort, and I hope that this boycott will make such a distinction. There is no possible way to get a peace with Hamas unless they radically change their policies.
“Leading Physicist Stephen Hawking has created an international stir by joining a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and travel to Israel after sending a letter declining an invitation to attend the President’s Conference. While Cambridge originally claimed that Hawking was not attending due to his health, Hawking sent a letter to Israeli President Shimon Peres saying that he was in fact boycotting Israel due to its Palestinian policies. ”
What gives it a bit more impact is the fact that at first he accepted the invitation, then both sides committed ink, advertising, and schedule to that expectation.
Then he reconsidered as noted.
Israel has gone nuke nuts and is dragging the U.S. along down that ill fated road.
It is a foreign policy blemish adding to the other foreign policy blunders.
Glad someone is “speaking out” about it.