Friday, December 06, 2013
Nelson Mandela and Zionism
This latter point is important because there is a widespread misapprehension that Mandela was an opponent of Zionism and Israel. In part, that’s because a mischievous letter linking Israel with apartheid, purportedly written by Mandela, went viral on the Internet (in fact, the real author was a Palestinian activist named Arjan el Fassed, who later claimed that his fabrication nevertheless reflected Mandela’s true feelings.) Yet it’s also true that, in the Cold War conditions of the time, the ANC’s main allies alongside the Soviets were Arab and third-world dictators like Ahmed Ben Bella in Algeria and Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt. The confusion is further stirred by the enthusiasm of some of Mandela’s comrades, like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to share the South African franchise on the word “apartheid” with the Palestinians.Jewish Groups Mourn Death of Nelson Mandela
But those activists who want to make the Palestinian cause the 21st-century equivalent of the movement that opposed South African apartheid in the 20th century will—assuming they conform to basic standards of honesty—find it very difficult to invoke Mandela as support. Mandela’s memoirs are full of positive references to Jews and even Israel. He recalls that he learned about guerilla warfare not from Fidel Castro, but from Arthur Goldreich, a South African Jew who fought with the Palmach during Israel’s War of Independence. He relates the anecdote that the only airline willing to fly his friend, Walter Sisulu, to Europe without a passport was Israel’s own El Al. And the ultimate smoking gun—the equation of Israel’s democracy with apartheid—doesn’t exist.
Jewish organizations have joined the global community in mourning Mandela. “Nelson Mandela will be long remembered as one of the greatest figures of his generation and one of the most inspirational and effective freedom-fighting figures in modern history,” Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said in a statement.Divest This! A modest proposal to the American Studies Association
“During the years of his trials and tribulations, the Jewish community of South Africa supported him, and when he sought freedom Mandela returned the friendship and appreciation,” Foxman added.
For in 2007, as a response to a proposed academic boycott from the major academic union in the UK (which was soon rescinded – of course), over a hundred US college presidents declared that for purposes of any academic boycott that their institutions should be considered Israeli universities and also boycotted.Having Boycotted Israel, American Academics Must Now Boycott Themselves
Now this list includes schools like Tufts, the University of Minnesota, Rutgers, the University of Florida, Berkeley, the University of Connecticut, the University of Michigan, the University of Washington, San Francisco State, Wesleyan, Perdue, and Columbia – all colleges where members of the ASA Academic and Community Activism Caucus (the group that forced the boycott motion on the organization) are currently employed. In other words, the very people who insist that their entire field distance itself from Israeli institutions are now drawing paychecks from colleges and universities that declared themselves (in a declaration that was never rescinded) Israeli institutions of learning.
So the “scholars” driving the boycott within the ASA are now in a position to demonstrate their commitment to the cause by resigning en mass before spending another hour continuing as scabs to the very boycott they initiated. No doubt severing their ties to their current employers might cause some professional hardship, but such suffering is as nothing compared to the plight of the people they claim to be fighting for.
Let’s assume—and we’ve no reason to assume otherwise—that the ASA’s council members are sincere in their outrage, that they believe—as they state repeatedly in their statement—that U.S. financial and military support for Israel is a key engine of the occupation, and that they wish to stand strong against American and Israeli colonialism alike. If they truly believe all that, why not start at home? A bit of morbid math, for example, will reveal that Israel has killed, according to Israeli human rights organization B’Tzelem, 6,722 Palestinians between September of 2000 and October of 2013, while in Iraq alone, the United States Army may have claimed the lives of more than half a million civilians. It’s hardly an anomaly: even America’s fiercest defenders have to admit that while striving to live up to its promise as earth’s last best hope, this great nation has, on occasion, succumbed to greed, bloodlust, bigotry, and other serious ills. If the ASA is boycotting colonial powers, then it must boycott America, too—a move that would have even greater symbolic effect, since it would be done by an American organization of scholars employed by American universities and dedicated to American studies.ASA’s Anti-Israel Gesture Politics
Consider the Executive Committee. Five of its six members had endorsed the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) as of May 2013. Those members are Curtis Marez, the outgoing president of ASA, Lisa Duggan, the incoming president, Karen Leong, who was among the proposers of a similar boycott by the Association for Asian American Studies, Nikhil Pal Singh, member of a scholar’s delegation that has called for a boycott, and Chandan Reddy. Four of the six signed a 2009 letter to then president-elect Obama, describing Israel as the perpetrator of “one of the most massive, ethnocidal atrocities of modern times.”Maybe it’s time to reconsider the tax-exempt status of academic boycotters
The National Council is only a little more balanced. Ten of the eighteen members who voted on the resolution had endorsed the USACBI as of May 2013 and seven signed the 2009 letter to Obama. One other Council member is part of a Queer Solidarity with Palestine effort to promote a boycott. One, J. Kehaulani Kauanui, is a member of the USACBI’s advisory board, and another, Sunaiana Maira, is part of the USACBI’s (I’m not making this up!) “Organizing Collective.”
As far as I know, not one member of the Council has been on record as raising a question about, much less opposing, a boycott. It is therefore hard to believe that a diversity of perspectives were needed “to aid the National Council in its discussions and decision-making.”
The ASA is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. The anti-Israel boycott arguably exceeds ASA’s legal purpose used to obtain that tax exempt status:Jake Lynch – BDS FAIL
At a time when support among Americans for Israel is at all time highs, the people of this country have the right not to subsidize the boycott of Israel through tax preferences. Tax exempt organizations can boycott Israel all they want, but they should have to do so on their own dime.
Maybe it’s time to give academic boycotters a taste of their own medicine, as unfortunate as such a result would be. They brought the war against Israel into their organizations, and should live with the consequence.
Jake Lynch with legal action pending against him for his part in boycotting an Israeli academic, Dan Avnon of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem., now faced with this partnership with the Technion at the University where he is employed.New Blog: San Francisco State Unbecoming
The New South Wales government has announced $300,000 over three years to fund a partnership between photonics researchers in Australia and Israel to develop a communications system that will speed up the next generation of computers.
On November 7, 2013 the General Union of Palestinian Studies at San Francisco State University set in motion a chain of events that served to highlight the intolerance, the bigotry and anti-semitism of their group. This site will be an archive of what transpired afterward.Diplomat: Israeli Resolution at UN Cosponsored by Record 114 Countries Shows Weakening of Arab Bloc
The resolution calls for the empowering of youth, especially those living in rural areas, and building and strengthening agricultural cooperatives through investments in technology, sustainable production and marketing techniques. It also advocates increasing the participation of women and youth to dramatically reduce poverty, provide food and job security, and increasing access to information and communication technology and agriculture.Austrian mayor: Journalists should be hanged like Jews
Ironically, Arab countries are among those that could benefit the most from Israeli agricultural technology, a point that Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations was sure to drive home in his remarks following the passing of the resolution.
“There is one group of nations standing in the way of us achieving consensus on this resolution, not surprisingly the Arab group,” Prosor said. “Ironically, few countries could benefit more from agricultural technologies than the Arab world. Across this region people are hungry for change and thirsty for progress, yet the Arab governments are stubbornly determined to put politics before people.”
The mayor of the Austrian town of Gföhl said on Tuesday in city council meeting that journalists who reported on asylum seekers should be hanged like the Jews.Jewish Chronicle slams Clegg for “meaningless” Chanukah words
The Austrian news outlet Heute.at reported on Wednesday that Gföhl’s mayor Karl Simlinger expressed fury about asylum applicants who would be lodged in a planned complex.
The Jewish Chronicle, Britain’s most widely read publication aimed that the Jewish community in Britain, has used its front page this week to slam British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for his “meaningless” words over extremism, intolerance, and hatred.London Mayor Boris Johnson Thanks Jewish Community for ‘Leading the World in Giving’ for ‘Hundreds of Years’
Clegg, speaking at the Board of Deputies of British Jews Chanukah reception in the House of Commons earlier this week stated, “Expressions of intolerance, of extremism, of hatred, and sentiments of violence… must be countered through messages of tolerance, of resolve, of determination to stand up for the values of unity and respect”.
But Clegg’s comments were quickly rebuked as “meaningless” as he and has party have continuously failed to act over repeated anti-Semitic tweets from Lib Dem Member of Parliament David Ward.
At a boisterous Channukah party in London’s Trafalgar Square last week, the city’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, who was photographed dancing with an over-sized dreidel, thanked the Jewish community for leading the world in the spirit of charitable giving, according to the UK’s Jewish News.
Speaking to a record crowd of 6,000 at an event called ‘Chanukah in the Square,’ organised by the Jewish Leadership Forum and Chabad, Johnson described London Jewry as “the greatest Jewish community” on Earth and said he was hopeful for an economic recovery in London, while calling for a simultaneous “boom in giving.”
Worldwide performances of “Fiddler on the Roof” attest to its cultural power, as it evokes the yearning for tradition in a changing world. What is behind its staying power? According to Alisa Solomon, author of the new book “Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof,” it is the show’s balance between the universal and the particular.Aquaponics – farming with a fishing rod
Moti Cohen is pioneering a new spin on an old method, in Israel. His approach is a combination of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (growing plants on water).Big tech scrambles for Israeli firms
He’s building aquaponics farms and is consulting for agencies, such as the United Nations, on how to make aquafarms successful.
The idea is to create a circular farm that provides people with fish and plants to eat in a closed loop. The crops feed off the waste created by the fish, while the fish thrive on the oxygen made by the crops. Both become an important source of nutrients for the people –– with no waste, fertilizer or much water needed.
Executives say the uncertain environment the young Middle East nation faces has also played its part in developing a culture of adaptability and risk-taking.Israel’s Tower Semiconductor, Shanghai’s Integrated Circuit Consortium in Alliance
"Since we live in such an unstructured environment where things change so rapidly, we have to learn to change, adjust, modify and adapt," said Asaf Peled, founder and CEO of Israel-based media company FTBpro.
The combination of factors has led Israel to become a global player, with U.S. firms and investors drawn to its innovative technology.
"The companies being founded in Israel are very relevant for what we are looking for in terms of networking, data centers, security and video," said Tal Slobodkin, senior manager of corporate development at Cisco Systems in Israel.
Cisco has made 11 acquisitions and invested in 22 start-ups in the country since 1998.
The agreement is the latest in deals between the Jewish state and the Chinese, who have long sought deeper ties to Israeli technology firms, capitalizing on opportunities to bring Israeli ingenuity to bear on the growing economy. As well as state visits and plans for freer trade, the Chinese are also funding Israeli university projects and technology incubators in Israel. And while some groups continue to stage boycotts of Israeli products, some economists see eager Chinese buyers as a partial solution.Grammy-winning pianist to receive Israeli citizenship
Internal Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Minister of Immigration and Absorption Sofa Landver, and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky are set to hand the world-famous musician and proud Israel advocate his Israeli identification card at the event.Norway Delegation: Israel Belongs to the Jews
Though Kissin, 42, has no plans to reside permanently in Israel, the Moscow native was granted approval by senior government officials for his citizenship request, which he filed for last year.
Pastor Terje Ligerod, head of the Norwegian delegation of roughly 40 Christian leaders visiting Israel this week, told Arutz Sheva that his group came to ask forgiveness for Norway's antagonism towards Jews, and to pledge support for the Jewish state.Exclusive: 65 percent of new visitors leave Israel with better impression
Ligerod noted "we believe we are called as a nation to be an ally and to support Israel, and we as leaders want to work for change in our country, and for a repentance among the Christians in our country, we want to support Israel."
A staggering 65 percent of first-time visitors from Britain to Israel have an improved impression of the country after seeing the state for themselves, a new survey has revealed, writes Justin Cohen.
The research, initiated by the Jewish News and conducted by easyJet among more than 500 passengers, also highlights the extent to which the media shapes British views of the Jewish state. Of the 529 first-time easyJet travellers to Israel, 57 percent reported having a ‘much’ or ‘slightly’ better impression on their return to the UK – rising to 65 percent among the 172 respondents who had never previously been at all.
