Last week, I reported (in an English-language exclusive) that Tunisians were upset at some of their scholars planning to attend a Paris conference called "The Jews and the law in Tunisia From protectorate to independence (1881-1956) - Between historical progress and religious resilience."
The reason? Because some Israelis are giving talks.
Last Monday, a protest took place in front of the headquarters of Tunisia's Ministry of Higher Education, expressing the protesters' rejection of “academic normalization with Israel.” They called on authorities to criminalize normalization, and others denouncing the “normalizers” with the Jewish state.
One of the participants in the conference is a former dean and distinguished professor at La Manouba University, Habib Kazdaghli. The Scientific Council of the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities of that university held an extraordinary session to strip Kazdaghli of his "distinguished " professor status because of is supposed "normalization."
Professors, academics and intellectuals in France signed a letter of support for Kazdaghli.
For his part, the professor denied supporting normalization with Israel, and says he is "against the racist and colonial policy of the Israeli occupation state."
This has turned into a major story in Tunisia, with the professor going on multiple TV shows to defend his position and reiterate his opposition to Israel.
No one would ever boycott a conference with participants of any other country but Israel. The entire episode is yet another example of how anti-Zionism is just an obsessive modern formulation of antisemitism.
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