May 2005

http://alawda.newjerseysolidarity.org

Academic Boycott of Apartheid Israel

On April 22, 2005, the British Association of University Teachers (AUT) voted to immediately launch an academic boycott of Haifa and Bar-Ilan Universities, preventing academics at these universities from participating in academic conferences or engaging in joint research with British universities or academics. The boycott call has received broad support from Palestinian institutions in Palestine and in exile, and has been viciously attacked by Zionists in Britain and elsewhere. In the United States, the American Association of University Professors, the US equivalent of the British AUT, has taken a position against the boycott, declaring its concerns about "academic freedom." Similar cultural and academic boycotts targeted Apartheid South Africa in the 1980s. The below is a response by a Palestinian Arab AAUP member to the AAUP official position.

Dear Madam/Sir,

I am truly amazed at the arrogance of your request to blindly follow your lead to protest the boycott without any reference to the actual rationale behind the decision to impose this boycott. Under the guise of defending academic freedom, you are suggesting to defend blatant racist practices exercised by the aforementioned Israeli universities. I would urge you to actually research the reasons behind the boycott before assuming that Rutgers faculty and staff members should automatically be protecting Israeli universities for no other reason than for being Israeli.

For your information, the administration of these universities has failed miserably to take a justifiable moral stand against some of its racist professors. This could not not have been clearer than it was with the recent scandal of the notorious Dr. David Bukay of Haifa University. The so-called professor does not deny conducting whole lectures (as well as writing books) whose sole contents are nothing short than a hate manifesto against Arabs and Muslims plagued with abhorrent racism and incitement against over 250 million of the world's population. In another, more sane, world, this so-called professor would be taken off the academic field and be appropriately dealt with in legal proceeding for advocating racism, incidentally, for which he is being questioned for by the police. Instead, we have the Haifa university administration interjecting to protect their professor and bring administrative measures against the Arab students that voiced their dissent from his hate fest classes. I can't help but wonder if such racist individuals were directing their poison on any category of people other than Arabs or Muslims, would you or any individuals, groups, or organizations dare to lobby for their protection? I do not believe anybody would. In this crazy day and age, tarnishing the reputation of Arabs and Muslims as is shedding their blood is considered legitimate - halal or kosher if you like - without holding anyone accountable for it.

Please read the article in Haaretz (incidentally an Israeli newspaper) that quotes the racist professor indicting himself with shameless statements of bigotry, racism and radicalism.

I realize some might not agree with my opinions and might conjure up (distorted) counterarguments to justify such actions. However I am not asking here that we reach an agreement on the matter - albeit having a sense of sharing similar human and moral values would indeed have been a pleasant surprise. All I ask is that Rutgers AAUP does not take an active role in the misleading the body of Rutgers personnel in a false endeavor to protect "academic freedom" that in essence serves to promote future Islamophobic and anti-Arab sentiments. Before confusing the Rutgers community with arguments about defending academic freedom, one should first ensure that the power of representative organizations is not abused for the benefit of some political factions and to the detriment of the Arab and Muslim society.

As a Palestinian Arab studying at Rutgers University and who is also a paying member of the AAUP, I find your protest email, offensive, biased and ill-informed. I would expect the AAUP to reconsider their involvement in this petition and issue a statement against the practice of racism within academia. I also expect the Rutgers AAUP to join the boycott rather than protesting it. I ask to have your response on the matter and am hoping you open the issue for debate in the larger Rutgers community.

Respectfully,
Said Shehadeh,
Second Year Clinical PsyD
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Rutgers University