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Appeal to Reason By Dr. Mordechai Kedar, IAM chairman

Written by admin  •  Wednesday, 24.11.2010, 15:03
Academic voices
Home » Academic voices » Appeal to Reason By Dr. Mordechai Kedar, IAM chairman
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[Dr. Mordechai Kedar (Ph.D. Bar-Ilan U.) Served for 25 years in IDF Military Intelligence specializing in Arab political discourse, Arab mass media, Islamic groups and the Syrian domestic arena. A lecturer in Arabic at Bar-Ilan U., he is also an expert on Israeli Arabs (sic).]

Dear Tel Aviv University Governors,

Whilst undoubtedly you are aware of the political and economic pressure currently being exerted upon Israel by the International Community, you may not be fully conscious of the fact that this is largely the result of internal hostile pressure in which some of our academics play a leading role.

Under the cover of human rights, the radical leftists go to all lengths to endeavour to destroy our institutes of higher learning and the Jewish State. Under the guise of free speech and academic freedom, some of them are openly calling for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) by the international community against Israel and her universities. These activities have seriously and negatively impacted our students in Israel many who are frightened to stand up to their radical leftist teachers for fear of receiving bad examination marks. Outside of Israel Jewish students are being harassed and intimidated by pro-Palestinian groups supported by these very same Israeli academics.

Please find only 5 examples out of numerous such egregious behaviors during the month of April, 2010. Sadly, Tel Aviv University is part of this effort. Whilst numerous academics participated, the names of TAU’s Rachel Giora and Anat Matar are most prominent.  The 5 examples are:

·     Academics denounce Boston Science Museum’s sponsorship of Israeli exhibit, calling it propaganda campaign. ‘This is an attempt to distract from Israel’s war crimes and human rights violations’

·     The academics calling for an Irish company to boycott Israel

·     Our “Intellectuals” calling upon the Germans to be more involved in putting pressure on Israel

·     An appeal to Berkeley to divest – which succeeded partially but finally failed due to a veto of the university senate

·     An appeal to reject Israel from joining the European economic community

Dear friends, the enemy from without is contained. At this Board meeting it is up to you to act and control the enemy within. We owe it to the university, Israel and the Jewish People.

I call upon you to join in a resolution condemning such action, calling upon the university officials to prevent any further financial support to those academics and departments who condone such activities. They are undermining the very fabric of Israeli society.  The university authorities must take all necessary steps to contain and eliminate such activity.

THE TIME FOR POSITIVE ACTION IS NOW!

21.04.10
[Tel Aviv University, Linguistics] Prof. Rachel Giora: To CRH plc management, Dublin Ireland, Divest Now from Apartheid Israel!
We, at BOYCOTT!, a group of Israeli citizens, strive to stop our government’s human rights and international law violations, which have been facilitated by the cooperation of international companies. Your company has gone a great length in getting involved with the Israeli land and resources annexation, segregation and continued colonization of Palestine. As you were told by your country’s Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), by investing in the Israeli group Mashav Initiating and Development Ltd., you are profiting from the Israeli colonization of Palestinian territory and facilitating illegal settlement expansion and population segregation.

06.04.10
Israelis support UC Berkeley boycott
[TAU] Prof. Rachel Giora, Dr. Anat Matar:
We witness the extent to which Israeli society becomes increasingly radicalized and indifferent to the systematic brutality it employs against Palestinians. As it does, the prospects for an internal change in Israeli society are almost nil. The efforts of friends like you stand the best chance to exert the necessary pressure to secure the full rights of Palestinians.
There is enough evidence today which allows one to safely state that the only pressure Israelis are sensitive to these days is that put forth by BDS activities. Boycott, sanctions and divestment from Israel and from companies invested in Israel are perceived by Israelis as questioning the legitimacy of Israeli policies and Israeli society. This indeed seems to be a cost Israelis are not willing to pay.
06.04.10
Open Letter to German Left Party: Israel doesn’t deserve prizes for occupation, racist separation and war crimes
[TAU] Gadi Algazi, Michal Givoni, Orly Lubin, Anat Matar, Yehuda Shenhav, Roy Wagner, Moshe Zuckermann:
The ongoing occupation and dispossession are not an internal Israeli matter. The anti-democratic control of Israel over more than three million Palestinians, women and men, who lack the right to vote, and Israel’s war crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory are concerns of everyone for whom human rights are dear – and particularly for citizens of Europe, who bear special historical responsibility for the conflict in light of Europe’s colonial intervention in the Middle East. This intervention continues in the present, such that there is no foundation for the policy of non-intervention in the “internal affairs” of Israel. The economic and political support enjoyed by Israel from the European Union, and from Germany in particular, through the preferred trade agreements, for example, and through financial investments and arms trade not only do not encourage the peace process, but further entrench the military occupation and oppression and result in a deepening of militarism and education for racism and intolerance in our society.
Beyond this, the weakness of the Palestinians requires strong pressure from the international community. The strong side never relinquishes its position without substantial pressure and indeed, Israel has proven time and time again that it is not ready to act for peace and an end to the occupation without intensive pressure from civil society or various governments abroad.

30.04.10
Israeli Citizens Say: Do Not Approve Israel’s OECD Membership Until It Abides by International Law
[TAU] Dr. Gadi Algazi, Eli Fabrikant, Prof’ Rachel Giora, Dr. Ishay Rosen-Zvi, Dr.  Anat  Matar, Dr. Yossef Schwartz:
Israeli Citizens Say: Do Not Approve Israel’s OECD Membership Until It Abides by International Law. In May 2010 the OECD ministerial committee will vote on the admission of Israel as a member of the organization.
As Israeli citizens, we are concerned by the policies of the Israeli governments, policies which violate international law, violate the basic human rights of Palestinians under occupation and serve to instigate instability, violence and suffering in the Middle East. We are also concerned by the double standards applied by some countries in the international community, especially the developed countries, towards Israel’s violations. Such double standards imbue violent and blatantly illegal Israeli policies of land theft, torture and physical abuse of civilians with an aura of legitimacy.
We believe that only when the international community makes Israel accountable for its actions, can we hope to see a change in Israeli policies.07.05.10

TAU Anat Matar & Rachel Giora: “Open Letter to the Boston Museum of Science objecting to Sponsorship of Israeli Propaganda”

Senior academics from Tel Aviv University and other top institutions around world denounce Boston Science Museum’s sponsorship of Israeli exhibit, calling it propaganda campaign. ‘This is an attempt to distract from Israel’s war crimes and human rights violations.’ It continued “IIW is far from an innocent educational endeavor. It is part of a propaganda campaign by the State of Israel to present itself as a beacon of progress in a desert of backwardness and deflect attention from its atrocious human rights record and fundamentally discriminatory policies,” the letter claimed.

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