Here are
some recent Israel headlines you might have missed. These stories come from
December 27, 2013 – January 2, 2014.
The war
against Israel
-MIT Opposes
Academic Boycott of Israel (12/29/13, Arutz Sheva)
-Bill to
Strip Schools Supporting ASA Boycott of Public Funding (12/28/13, Arutz
Sheva)
-Dozens of
U.S. university heads have slammed ASA boycott of Israel, Presidents Conf. says
(01/02/14, JTA)
--
Two weeks
ago, the American Studies Association (ASA) approved a bigoted boycott of
Israel. Now, we see the fallout.
While the
boycott vote has not (yet) been universally rejected by American Universities,
no University has been reported (as of December 30, 2013) to support it. But a
few prominent schools have been quick to step up to condemn it with public
statements. These include (according to
news reports) Brandeis University, MIT, Indiana University, Kenyon College and
Penn State University.
In addition,
two New York State lawmakers (Senate co-leader Jeffrey Klein and Assemblyman
Dov Hikind) have started their own campaign to stop public funding to schools
that support any boycott. The two lawmakers are proposing a bill that would
give colleges and universities in the state of New York 30 days to withdraw
their support from groups boycotting Israel --or lose state funding.
By the end
of this news cycle (January 2, 2014) at least 90 American Universities and
colleges have been reported to have rejected the ASA vote. That’s a good sign.
But it isn’t enough.
The ASA
isn’t the only academic organization to promote a boycott of Israel. Boycotting
Israel has become a favourite academic pastime—and in this season of joy for
gentiles, academic bigots have decided to celebrate their bigotry.
First, the
ASA passed its boycott vote. Then, at almost the same hour, the Native American
Studies Association urged its own members to boycott Israeli educational
institutions.
Now, next
week in Chicago, the Modern Language Association (MLA) (a significantly larger
organization than any of those which have so far voted to boycott) will offer a
roundtable discussion on an academic boycott of Israel. The first of four listed speakers is Omar
Barghouti, who has no academic credentials. He is listed simply as an ‘Independent
Scholar’. He is a founding committee member of the Palestinian Campaign for the
Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). Wherever he can, he promotes
the ideology that Israel is an oppressive apartheid state—even as he pursues an
advanced Humanities degree at Israel’s Tel Aviv University (Wikipedia).
The MLA has
30,000 members. Barghouti will have a ‘bully pulpit’ to speak his mind. Predictably,
he will advocate for a boycott of Israel.
This fight
is not over. Those who seek to boycott Israel must be stopped. Those who defend
Israel by pursuing lawsuits and legislation should not think they can afford to
stand down.
So long as a boycott discussion appears on an academic
agenda, lawsuit and legislation must be on our agenda.
-Israeli
Chess Team Forced to Compete Under Anonymous Title (12/27/13, Arutz Sheva)
--
Here’s a
little story that most readers probably missed. It’s about a chess match. What
could be more boring than that, right?
Well, this
chess match wasn’t boring because, once again, Israelis were given the Nazi
treatment—and nobody objected.
Israeli
participants were not allowed to play under the Israeli flag. All other
participants had their national flag displayed. The Israelis were forced to
play under the auspices of the international chess federation. They were the
only team forced to do this because the Arab country hosting this particular international
competition refused to show an Israeli flag.
This isn’t
‘international competition’ as much as it’s a version of the old Nazi theme:
deny the Jew—or, short of that, make believe the Jew doesn’t exist.
This time the
Nazi drama unfolded at the World Youth Chess Championship being played in the
United Arab Emirates. Only Israelis were unable play under their own national
flag. Only Israelis were forced to play under the flag of the World Chess
federation—as if they were stateless, with no national representation.
It’s that
Nazi theme: deny the Jew until he disappears for real.
This is
international bigotry empowered by a major international organization. Since
this was a competition for an under-18 age group, it was bigotry aimed at
children.
No one had
the moral courage to say, no.
Jonathan
Pollard
-Report:
Kerry Offers Pollard's Release to Israel(12/27/13, Arutz Sheva)
-White House
Denies Plans to Release Jonathan Pollard (12/29/13, Arutz Sheva)
-Report:
Peres to Devote Remainder of Term to Pollard (12/27/13, Arutz Sheva)
-US Jewish
Leaders Have 'Consensus': Pollard Must Be Freed (12/27/13, Arutz Sheva)
-Hotovely to
Netanyahu: Demand Pollard's Release (12/27/13, Arutz Sheva)
-For Kerry,
Pollard is a bargaining chip with Netanyahu (12/29/13, Haaretz
-Protesters rally for Pollard outside Kerry hotel (01/02/14, Times
of Israel)
News flash: Jonathan
Pollard will be released as part of a peace agreement between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority.
News flash: Jonathan
Pollard will not be released.
News flash: US
Secretary of State John Kerry has agreed to release Pollard.
News flash: the
US has no plans to release Pollard at this time.
Headline
writers will have a field day with this story: ‘Pollard peace pawn’; ‘Peace
pawn Pollard’; ‘Peace pawn Pollard protests being pawn’.
It’s
unseemly. Jewish blood is so cheap, a Jewish political prisoner can be dragged
through the media as if he were a rag doll.
Well, maybe
that won’t happen. Maybe Jonathan Pollard will simply be released.
Would
Pollard accept such a deal?
Stay tuned.
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