Heute erhielt meine Frau von einer Kollegin eine bereits von einer Reihe internationaler Autoren und Akademiker unterschriebene Stellungnahme mit der Schlagzeile: “International Writers and Scholars Endorse Academic Boycott of Israel”, und daran angehängt eine weitere Petition der “U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel “. Sie hat mir gestattet, ihre Antwort an die Kollegin (eine der Unterzeichnerinnen) hier zu veröffentlichen.
“Dear M.,
I find the petition for the cultural and academic boycott of Israel (meaning, obviously, of Israeli intellectuals—writers and academics—and their institutions) outrageous—not only because of the numerous misstatements espoused therein, not only because propaganda inspired by Hamas, who represent the very epitomy of extremist intolerance and absolutist nationalism, is presented as fact; but also for the sheer indefensibility of such an affront against colleagues who, at least in academic and creative terms, live and work in a free society (something that cannot be said for our colleagues in Gaza, who are being terrorized by their leadership of religious fanatics).
I don’t want to waste my time by going into all the distortions and falsehoods in these petitions, save for the most incredible one: How can a reasonable, historically aware person sign a statement that proclaims the Gaza war “one of the most brutal uses of state power in both this century and the last”? Are the signers of this petition aware what an affront this is to the memory of the Nazi concentration camp victims, the people murdered in Stalin’s extermination camps, the Chileans and Argentineans killed by their militaries, the Ruandans and Congolese and people in Darfur slaughtered indiscriminately, to mention a very few of the state-sponsored horrors “in both this century and the last” that claimed millions and millions of lives?
These petitions not only smack of crypto-antisemitism; in their implicit trivialization of, for example, the ongoing genocide in Darfur, they are tacitly racist: Who cares about millions of poor, uneducated Africans when there’s a chance to amplify an easier target and clobber the Israelis? Rather disingenuous, I must say.
I also don’t appreciate the comparison of the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories with the South African apartheid regime—a comparison based on either ignorance or inappropriate partisanship or both—and in so many respects that it boggles the mind. Again, it’s an insult to the millions of South African blacks who had absolutely no choice for so many years but to live under a blatantly racist dictatorship while yearning for democracy and openness, whereas the people of Gaza had a chance to build a democracy with international support but chose the Hamas dictatorship, and subsequent isolation, instead.
Rita”
Hier ist erstmal die internationale Stellungnahme mit ihren bisherigen, meist arabischnamigen Unterschriften (plus einer Reihe nützlicher Idioten), bei der mir außer dem üblichen Schwachsinn und der Hamas-Verharmlosung vor allem der Ausdruck von den “indigenous Palestinian people” auffällt, womit die Verfasser wohl suggerieren wollen, daß in Gaza die Ureinwohner von imperialistischen Usurpatoren gepeinigt oder gar ausgerottet werden:
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International Writers and Scholars Endorse Academic Boycott of Israel
We stand in support of the indigenous Palestinian people in Gaza, who are fighting for their survival against one of the most brutal uses of state power in both this century and the last.
We condemn Israel’s recent (December 2008/ January 2009) breaches of international law in the Gaza Strip, which include the bombing of densely-populated neighborhoods, illegal deployment of the chemical white phosphorous, and attacks on schools, ambulances, relief agencies, hospitals, universities, and places of worship. We condemn Israel’s restriction of access to media and aid workers.
We reject as false Israel’s characterization of its military attacks on Gaza as retaliation. Israel’s latest assault on Gaza is part of its longtime racist jurisprudence against its indigenous Palestinian population, during which the Israeli state has systematically dispossessed, starved, tortured, and economically exploited the Palestinian people.
We reject as untrue the Israeli government’s claims that the Palestinians use civilians as human shields, and that Hamas is an irredeemable terrorist organization. Without endorsing its platforms or philosophy, we recognize Hamas as a democratically elected ruling party. We do not endorse the regime of any existing Arab state, and call for the upholding of internationally mandated human rights and democratic elections in all Arab states.
We call upon our fellow writers and academics in the United States to question discourses that justify and rationalize injustice, and to address Israeli assaults on civilians in Gaza as one of the most important moral issues of our time.
We call upon institutions of higher education in the U.S. to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions, dissolve study abroad programs in Israel, and divest institutional funds from Israeli companies, using the 1980s boycott against apartheid South Africa as a model.
We call on all people of conscience to join us in boycotting Israeli products and institutions until a just, democratic state for all residents of Palestine/Israel comes into existence.
If you wish to endorse this call for an academic and cultural boycott, please email us at: uscom4acbi@gmail.com. If you would be willing to indicate your support publicly, please let us know and send us your name and instituational affiliation.
For more information on actions suggested by the boycott campaign, see information and links at our website: http://usacbi.wordpress.com/
Mohammed Abed
Elmaz Abinader
Diana Abu-Jaber
Ali Abunimah
Opal Palmer Adisa
Deborah Al-Najjar
Evelyn Azeeza Alsultany
Amina Baraka
Amiri Baraka
George Bisharat
Sherwin Bitsui
Breyten Breytenbach
Van Brock
Hayan Charara
Alison Hedge Coke
Lara Deeb
Vicente Diaz
Marilyn Hacker
Mechthild Hart
Sam Hamill
Randa Jarrar
Fady Joudah
Mohja Kahf
Rima Najjar Kapitan
Persis Karim
J. Kehaulani Kauanui
Haunani Kay-Trask
David Lloyd
Sunaina Maira
Nur Masalha
Khaled Mattawa
D.H. Melhem
Daniel AbdalHayy Moore
Michel Moushabeck
Aileen Moreton-Robinson
Nadine Naber
Marcy Newman
Viet Nguyen
Simon J. Ortiz
Vijay Prashad
Steven Salaita
Therese Saliba
Sarita See
Deema Shehabi
Matthew Shenoda
Naomi Shihab Nye
Magid Shihade
Vandana Shiva
Noenoe Silva
Andrea Smith
Ahdaf Soueif
Ghada Talhami
Frank X. Walker
Robert Warrior
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Natürlich werden amerikanische Universitäten sich den Teufel um die Aufforderung scheren, mit ihren israelischen Partnern zu brechen, was von dieser lautstarken Minderheit an Schreihälsen dann wohl als Anlaß genommen wird, in Heulen und Wehklagen über die inhumane Machtstruktur und ihre unbelehrbaren Vasallen auszubrechen.
Sprachlich noch korrupter als der internationale Aufruf ist das “Mission Statement” der sogenannten “U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel”, in dem die palästinensische Lobby vollends die Hosen runterläßt, wenn es heißt: “We believe it is time to take a public, principled stance in support of equality, self-determination, human rights (including the right to education), and true democracy, especially in light of the censorship and silencing of the Palestine question in U.S. universities, as well as U.S. society at large. There can be no academic freedom in Israel/Palestine unless all academics are free and all students are free to pursue their academic desires.” Aha, jetzt wissen wir’s: Die Zensur an amerikanischen Unis, daß palästinensische Rechthaber nicht widerspruchslos das große Wort führen können, ist das Problem—da sollten wir uns mal ein Beispiel an der akademischen Freiheit an der Birzeit-Universität nehmen.
Hier ist der volle Text dieses “Mission Statement”, dem demnächst wahrscheinlich auch ein Rattenschwanz an einschlägigen Unterzeichnern folgen wird:
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Responding to the call of Palestinian civil society to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement against Israel , we are a U.S. campaign focused specifically on a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, as delineated by PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel):
“In light of Israel’s persistent violations of international law, and Given that, since 1948, hundreds of UN resolutions have condemned Israel’s colonial and discriminatory policies as illegal and called for immediate, adequate and effective remedies, and Given that all forms of international intervention and peace-making have until now failed to convince or force Israel to comply with humanitarian law, to respect fundamental human rights and to end its occupation and oppression of the people of Palestine, and In view of the fact that people of conscience in the international community have historically shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in the struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott, divestment and sanctions;
Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid and in the spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression, We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, call upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel . We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for the sake of justice and genuine peace.
These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:
1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.”
[For more information: http://www.pacbi.org/campaign_statement.htm]
PACBI and the entire movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (representing the overwhelming majority among Palestinian civil society parties, unions, networks and organizations) emphasize fundamental Palestinian rights, sanctioned by international law and universal human rights principles, that ought to be respected by Israel to end the boycott. We struggle to achieve an end to Israel’s three-tiered injustice and oppression: 1) occupation and colonization in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territory; 2) denial of the refugees’ rights, paramount among which is their right to return to their homes of origin, as per UN General Assembly Resolution 194; and 3) the system of racial discrimination, or apartheid, to which Palestinian (all non-Jewish) citizens of Israel are subjected to.
The principles guiding the PACBI campaign and the three goals outlined above are also points of unity for the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USCACBI). We believe it is time to take a public, principled stance in support of equality, self-determination, human rights (including the right to education), and true democracy, especially in light of the censorship and silencing of the Palestine question in U.S. universities, as well as U.S. society at large. There can be no academic freedom in Israel/Palestine unless all academics are free and all students are free to pursue their academic desires.
If you are committed to these principles of unity, and wish to work on a campaign of boycotting academic and cultural institutions guided by this approach, please join our campaign.
Urgent Appeal:
Furthermore, we are also responding to the Open Letter to International Academic Institutions from the Right to Education campaign at Birzeit University in Palestine (January 17, 2009):
“In light of the ongoing massive Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in which over 1,200 people have been killed - over 1,000 (86%) of whom were civilian men, women and children - and where over 4,000 have been maimed and injured, the Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University calls upon the international academic community, unions and students to show support and solidarity with the people of Gaza by calling upon their respective governments to impose immediate boycott, divestment and sanctions against the state of Israel until it abides by international human rights and humanitarian laws, dismantles its apartheid regime spanning both the occupied territories and Israel proper, and commits to pursuing a long-lasting, just peace. Enough is enough.”
[For more information: http://right2edu.birzeit.edu/news/article706]
If you wish to endorse this call for an academic and cultural boycott, please email us at: uscom4acbi@gmail.com. If you would be willing to indicate your support publicly, please let us know and send us your name and instituational affiliation.
For more information on actions suggested by the boycott campaign, see information and links at our website: http://usacbi.wordpress.com/
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Antisemiten im rechten Spektrum, naive Pazifistendarsteller in der Mitte, antiimperialistische Dumpfmeister linksaußen, ach all ihr nützlichen Idioten: Ihr seid mal wieder gerufen! Mit Volldampf gegen Israel—Hamas wird’s euch danken, und vielleicht werdet ihr dann bald zu einer akademischen Konferenz in Teheran eingeladen, bei der Achmadingsbums seine Leugnung des Holocaust widerruft und stattdessen frische Beweise vorlegt, daß der Holocaust von amerikanischen Teufeln in Israel erfunden wurde, um die Palästinenser auszurotten.
