The recent decision by the organization Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) to release a statement, signed by 32 Nobel laureates and expressing opposition to an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and scholars, is to be applauded. Part of the statement posted on the organization’s website states that “ … we encourage students, faculty colleagues and university officials to promote and provide opportunities for civil academic discourse where parties can engage in the search for resolution to conflicts and problems rather than serve as incubators for polemics, propaganda, incitement and further misunderstanding and mistrust.” All too often such sentiments are lost in the seemingly perpetual shouting match between the far right and far left when it comes to matters relating to Israel, and it is heartening to see scholars in so many different fields and representing such a wide range of institutions, from Hebrew University to the University of Southern California, are willing to lend their names to this important effort.
The SPME website also appears to be a good source of information about various efforts to delegitimize Israel. In a piece published just a few days ago in the Montreal Gazette, and posted on the group’s website, Professor Gil Troy, of McGill University, offers the kind of sober and candid assessment of the damage that those who support divesting from, or the boycotting of, Israel, are doing not only (unfairly) to Israel, but to the prospects for peace in the Middle East and the well-being of the Palestinian people. The main focus of Professor Troy’s piece is the “All-Canada BDS Conference,” and he writes of this event that “On campus today, we tread extra carefully to avoid offending historically disenfranchised groups. In that spirit, I challenge the participants to show equal sensitivity in distancing themselves from the historic anti-Semitism which has marred their movement. In combating prejudice, the burden of proof is on the bigot not the victim to distinguish between legitimate criticism and historic bullying. There is enough extreme anti-Semitism festering among anti-Zionists for true moderates to condemn, while still having much opportunity to criticize Israeli policies they dislike.”
Regular readers of the New Vilna Review will note that Anti-Israel bias in the world of academia is a topic which we regularly explore, most recently in an interview with Boston University Students for Israel Vice President Arielle Adler, as well as in an editorial earlier this month about the work of media watch-dog group CAMERA. Hard work by individuals and organizations on university campuses is vital to combating the lies, hate and discord which groups calling for boycotts and divestment from Israel are seeking to spread. For this reason, I think that those who signed this statement issued by SPME, and their many other active members such as Professor Troy (and here in Boston professor Elie Wiesel) who are clearly dedicated to writing and speaking out against the level of vitriol and the lack of nuance in discussions about Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians, are to be commended.
-Daniel E. Levenson
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
http://jewishboston.com/17707-the-new-vilna-review/blogs/966-scholars-stand-up-for-israel
