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…)
April 23rd, 2007
Posted by Ralph
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.
April 20th, 2007
Posted by Ron
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.
(more…)
April 18th, 2007
Posted by Chris
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…)
April 14th, 2007
Posted by Moises
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.
April 12th, 2007
Posted by Ron
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…)
April 10th, 2007
Posted by Chris
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.
April 6th, 2007
Posted by Ron
In Washington, D.C., The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) held a briefing on March 23rd at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The briefing was titled “Developing a Dual Israeli-Palestinian Historical Narrative”. Dr. Sami Adwan of Bethlehem University and Dr. Dan Bar-Or of Ben Gurion University presented their experiences as co-directors of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (PRIME) in developing and teaching the ‘Dual Historical Narrative’ booklets to their pupils. (more…)
March 27th, 2007
Posted by Chris
The following is my response to an article by SUNY Professor Emeritus Jerome Slater, published in Tikkun as “The Need Not to Know: The American Jewish Community and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” and republished at AlterNet as “The Zionist Dream is Becoming a Nightmare,” posted on January 24. Prof. Slater was reviewing Tanya Reinhart’s polemic, The Road Map to Nowhere: Israel/Palestine Since 2003, published by Verso in 2006 (Prof. Reinhart suddenly passed away last week while on leave in the United States). That Tikkun and Alternet would publish his tirade without an alternative view reflects badly upon both.
While I do not have a problem with much of Jerome Slater’s indictment of Israel’s shortcomings and failings, I am struck by the strident and one-sided nature of his presentation. Slater’s analysis provides barely a hint that there are two sides that have continually made mistakes and committed wrongdoing in this conflict. (more…)
March 27th, 2007
Posted by Webmaster
“How do I discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in a way that ackowledges the suffering and oppression faced by both people? How do I not demonize either group?” Similar questions are asked each day by diversity educators on college and university campuses across the United States. Unfortunately, few have been able to answer this important question.As a diversity educator working on a college campus, I have often been frustrated at the narrative around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in American higher education. Undergraduate students at institutions of higher education in the United States are often challenged to understand the ways in which certain groups are privileged and some are discriminated against. In this work, there is often not a nuanced understanding of oppression. Targeted groups are the “victims” who are oppressed and have no power; agents are those with power and are the oppressor. Given that this discourse exists on campus, few educators are equipped to help students understand a conflict in which there are competing claims for self-determination and freedom from oppression. (more…)
March 26th, 2007
Posted by Chris
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology hopes to mobilize the world’s brainpower to solve one of its most troubling problems: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Read more from Haaretz
March 23rd, 2007
Posted by Ron
Howard University’s administration has declared “null and void” a divest-from-Israel resolution recently voted on by a small number of its Arts and Sciences faculty.
The story was reported in The Jerusalem Post.
March 21st, 2007
Posted by Ron
On the left, in academia and in activist circles, it has become common to hear cartoon-like comments about Israel, comments that are simplistic to the point of caricature. Israeli public opinion is taken to be monolithic, with no mention of the peace movement or of broader opposition to the occupation. Israel is described as having been founded in league with imperialist powers (Britain and the US). Zionism is equated with imperialism and racism. The two-state solution is dismissed as Zionist. Palestinians are described in equally monolithic and simplistic terms: they are taken to support a one-state solution (presumably unanimously) and the one-state solution that they are taken to support is presumed to be progressive. Hezbollah is described as a liberation organization, fighting to defend the people of southern Lebanon. It is common to hear people on the left describe their politics as “anti-Israel.” There are many who see hostility to Israel and support for Palestine as central to radical politics. That is, the measure of one’s radicalism is how strongly one supports the Palestinians and the depth of one’s hostility to Israel. (more…)
March 20th, 2007
Posted by Barbara
Professor Dror Ze’evi, lecturer of Middle Eastern studies at the Ben Gurion University in Beersheva, argues that hard-line forces in the American Jewish community are orchestrating a concerted attack on Brandeis University, due to the liberal course it has steered.
But, writes Ze’evi, there is hope:
“The majority of Israeli citizens believe that a Palestinian state should be set up alongside Israel, and that peace is also made with bitter enemies. This type of thinking is increasingly penetrating the consciousness of the Jewish American public.”
Click for full article
February 28th, 2007
Posted by Ron
What do critics of Israel really mean when they use the word apartheid?
Moises F. Salinas, Ph.D.
Dr. Moises Salinas is a professor of Psychology at Central Connecticut State University. His latest book “Planting hatred, Sowing Pain: The Psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” (Greenwood/Praeger) will appear in May.
Many critics of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian people, as evidenced in the recent Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s new book “Palestine Peace, Not Apartheid,” have taken to criticize Israel as an “apartheid state,” the security barrier/wall Israel has been building over the past three years as an “apartheid wall,” and the policies of the state as “apartheid policies.” Now, while I am personally against not only Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories, but the mere fact that there is an occupation, I was really troubled by the use of the term “apartheid” when referring to the occupation. As a psychologist and as an academic, I can not be content, as many commentators have done, by simply explaining the use of the term as a politically convenient one, that was chosen by the opponents of Israeli rule over the Palestinian people because it is flamboyant and emotionally charged, and therefore made “promotional” sense. So, I had to ask myself, what true meaning is hiding behind the use of the term apartheid? (more…)
January 31st, 2007
Posted by Moises
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JANIP supports a negotiated two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, based on an end to occupation and the right of both peoples to self-determination within recognized, secure borders. As scholars and teachers who are committed to Israel, we seek to inject a voice of realism and moderation into the on-campus debate, which too often has been reduced to a choice between uncompromisingly pro-Israel vs. pro-Palestinian positions.
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