JANIP

Sign the JANIP Mission Statement!

JANIP is launching a sign-up campaign of Jewish academics who support our mission statement. Our goal is to demonstrate that the silent majority on university and college campuses is in favor of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and a two-state solution. JANIP will be the voice for this majority.

The JANIP mission statement appears below. If you support this statement and are willing to have your name appear on a list of JANIP supporters, please send your name and academic affiliation to info@janip.net.

Jewish Academic Network for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Mission Statement

The Jewish Academic Network for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (JANIP) is being created to bring together scholars, teachers, and administrators who reject the increasingly polarized debate surrounding the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. Our goal is to bring a voice into the conversation – out of our identification with and commitment to Israel – that supports a negotiated two-state solution, an end to occupation, and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and bilaterally agreed-upon settlements in the West Bank.

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19 comments April 25th, 2007 Posted by Ron

ACADEMIA’S ANTI-ISRAEL IMPERATIVE

Even when not explicitly on the agenda, knocking Israel seems to be a favorite pastime in academia nowadays. Last December, I attended two events at New York University that exemplify this tendency. One was a conference honoring the legacy of Hannah Arendt (otherwise a most satisfying and impressive affair). The other was a speech by the outspoken NYU historian, Tony Judt.

Hannah Arendt

Arendt was a controversial and complex character – a political philosopher and vocal social critic – widely regarded as a critic of Zionism. But the screening of an interview with her made clear that after leaving Nazi Germany for Paris, she worked with great dedication for a Zionist organization preparing young German and Polish Jews to move to Palestine in the 1930s. She was also the inspiration and mentor for a left-Zionist group in the US that included the young Nathan Glazer (who went on to be a well known sociologist and social critic in his own right). Her orientation was for a binational state in Palestine, but her connection with Zionism cannot be regarded as merely that of a critic.

A number of great Jewish-refugee minds from this period are honored in certain intellectual circles, not only for their academic work, but likewise for supposedly being critics or opponents of Zionism. Most of this is anti-Zionist wishful thinking or exaggeration; for example, Albert Einstein was probably a dove regarding the Arabs, but he was a renowned supporter of Zionism and Israel. The same can be said of the famed theologian-philosopher Martin Buber, who definitely was a peacenik, but spent nearly half of his long life as a Zionist oleh (immigrant) living in Palestine and Israel. (more…)

1 comment April 23rd, 2007 Posted by Ralph

Qatari university welcomes Israeli students

The Dean of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar tells YNet that his school is open to applicants of all nationalities, and that he does not foresee problems for Israelis seeking student visas.

Click here for the full YNet report.

Add comment April 20th, 2007 Posted by Ron

Defending Zionism in a Time of Occupation and Oppression

As someone who has emerged in recent years as one of the more prominent academic supporters of Palestinian national rights and critics of Israeli policies and U.S support for the Israeli government, many people are surprised that I am unwilling to categorically denounce Zionism.

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1 comment April 18th, 2007 Posted by Chris

How Zionism Was Hijacked by the Right

Today, in campuses all over America, Zionism is readily associated with conservatism, imperialism, the Bush administration and a host of other right wing movements. Many progressive historians are fond of showing that Zionist history was imperialistic and even racist from its beginnings. And even right-wing Zionist movements like the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) want to limit the de facto definition of Zionism as a movement that unconditionally supports Israel, even when the policies of its government are pro-occupation and militarist. Case in point: the ZOA attempted to expel the Union of Progressive Zionists, a liberal student group, from the Israel Campus Coalition, the umbrella organization which promotes pro-Israel campus programs. This connection has left thousands of Jewish faculty and students, who are largely liberal, with an uneasy feeling that often leads to a disconnection from Israel oriented activities, and sometimes to outright rejection of Israel and Zionism. The current state of affairs is deeply ironic; it was not always this way. Over a century ago, Theodor Herzl, the father of political Zionism, proposed the creation of a State for the Jews as the only way for the Jewish people to end its abnormal status as a stateless nation, loathed and rejected everywhere it settled. This political dream, however, could not come without a price, both human and political. (more…)

Add comment April 14th, 2007 Posted by Moises

Finkelstein, Dershowitz and the Battle for Tenure

As Norman Finkelstein awaits the decision on his tenure at DePaul University, read the latest from the The Chronicle of Higher Education, the New York Times and The Jewish Week.

Add comment April 12th, 2007 Posted by Ron

The Euston Manifesto: A New Vision for the Left

http://www.eustonmanifesto.org/

A. Preamble

We are democrats and progressives. We propose here a fresh political alignment. Many of us belong to the Left, but the principles that we set out are not exclusive. We reach out, rather, beyond the socialist Left towards egalitarian liberals and others of unambiguous democratic commitment. Indeed, the reconfiguration of progressive opinion that we aim for involves drawing a line between the forces of the Left that remain true to its authentic values, and currents that have lately shown themselves rather too flexible about these values. It involves making common cause with genuine democrats, whether socialist or not.

The present initiative has its roots in and has found a constituency through the Internet, especially the “blogosphere”. It is our perception, however, that this constituency is under-represented elsewhere — in much of the media and the other forums of contemporary political life.

The broad statement of principles that follows is a declaration of intent. It inaugurates a new Website, which will serve as a resource for the current of opinion it hopes to represent and the several foundation blogs and other sites that are behind this call for a progressive realignment. (more…)

Add comment April 10th, 2007 Posted by Chris

Ilan Pappe vs. the “Union of Jewish Students”

YNet reports that left-wing Israeli “new historian”, Prof. Ilan Pappe, is about to leave Israel for a teaching position in the UK. His imminent arrival has ignited a heated exchange between the professor and the UK’s “Union of Jewish Students”.

Read more from YNet.  For the original story in the Times Higher Education Supplement, click here.

Add comment April 6th, 2007 Posted by Ron