A key figure in the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is facing harsh criticism from Palestinians over planned lectures at Israeli universities this month in violation of the growing international boycott.
The noted Egyptian-American jurist Cherif Bassiouni is scheduled to speak on Thursday at Tel Aviv University on “The role of the ICC as justice mechanism: Does it enhance the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace?”
He is also scheduled to speak on 25 May at Hebrew University, which has also faced persistent criticism for its complicity in the Israeli occupation.
Bassiouni chaired the drafting committee that wrote the ICC’s founding statute in 1998.
And then:In response to inquiries from The Electronic Intifada, PACBI, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, said it had been “shocked to learn” that Bassiouni would speak at Tel Aviv University “in defiance of the guidelines set by the BDS [boycott, divestment and sanctions] movement for the academic boycott of Israel.”...
"There is simply no excuse for academics who count themselves among those who care about human rights to defy this institutional boycott,” PACBI states.
“Respecting our boycott guidelines is the minimal form of solidarity that we are asking for. Is it too much to ask?”
In other words, we decided to make a bunch of rules for everyone in the world - and the rest of the world isn't playing by our rules! Waaaah!
A self-appointed group of haters really think that the stuff they dream up and insist everyone else does has the force of international law, and if anyone violates their "rules" then they must be punished.
It is like they think that they live in a real life version of "Simon Says" and people must do what they say.When real people - even those who are not particularly pro-Israel - act like adults who can make their own decisions, the BDSers scream and whine and pout.