Should Neve Gordon Be Punished?

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• Reader Comments (3)

  Page 1 of 1 pages

  While Mr. Gordon has not yet responded to this writer regarding the firestorm generated by his “bold and public call” for BDS, a piece by Gideon Levy in Haaretz has done an excellent job of it. 

  The quote that stands out is:

  “The height of ludicrousness was achieved by the President of Ben-Gurion University, Prof. Rivka Carmi.  She was appalled by the article published by a member of her faculty, fearing it could affect the university’s donations from American Jews.  Here, then, is a new criterion for good citizenship and morality: the harm it wreaks to our schnorring.  It’s also a new gauge for academic and civic freedom of expression: If something miffs the donors from Beverly Hills or Miami Beach, then we must not speak it aloud.  Quiet - people donating.”

  The full piece is here:

  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1110514.html

  I’m still not sure where this article was going, or what action against Mr. Gordon it supported or opposed (even the article’s title implies that there might actually be an affirmative answer to the question).  Further, quoting only Carmi, Bittker and Nevo, to the exclusion of the many others who fully support Mr. Gordon on the issue of “academic freedom,” was disconcerting at best.

  Mr. Gordon deserves the full and unqualified support of ITT and all progressives for having the courage to speak the truth to power.

  Posted by Imran on Oct 12, 2009 at 8:01 PM

  Louis Frankenthaler said on http://rabbibrian.wordpress.com/

  There seems to be an effort, that is similar to some of the activities taking place in the US, such as campus watch etc, where the intent is to create what can be called a chilling effect on critique of Israeli policy often under the guise of a demand for ‘balance’ in discourse in which it is cynically claimed that academia, for instance, is under the rule of some sort of radical anti-Israel, anti-American regime. It is designed to make people think twice about speaking freely. For example look at the way Neve Gordon has been attacked instead of critically examining and discussing his points and the process that brought him to advocating his new position regarding BDS the self appointed guardians/”friends” of Israel set out to attack the speaker in a shallow and intellectually bankrupt manner. Many of us, on the “radical” left have undergone changes in positions, some nuanced, some dramatic but largely born out of disappointment and an understanding that there seems to be no real desire on the part of Israel to bring an end to the Occupation and an environment in which 2 real democratic states can exist.

  I suspect After 42 years of the Occupation, in which communities of Occupation, “academic” institutions of Occupation, a commerce of Occupation, etc., has been built and seems to have gained an unacceptable permanence we need to act differently against it, non-violently as always but differently.

  Of course Neve Gordon’s opponents should write, speak and be heard with no buts about it. At the same time we need to consistently and vigorously make it clear that our efforts are for human rights and justice for the marginalized the abjected Other, which Israel has created out of the Palestinian people… Similarly we may also want to ask those who say that our work is “anti-Israel” or “anti-Semitic”,what is that they are for or against? Some may claim that they are against the Occupation yet their actions and writings may actually support it. Some may claim that they want to ‘expose and discuss’ NGOs who “falsely” claim to be human rights organizations. But what is it that they advocate, implicitly or explicitly? To me it is clear… they want to teflon coat the Occupation, immunize Israel to critique and thus directly or not continue the Occupation and the other human rights abuses.

  Posted by louisfjer on Oct 19, 2009 at 6:06 PM

  Its not a punishable fence that he has punished .I think should not be punished for it .

  
  Absolute Acai Berry

  Posted by victorsawer on Oct 31, 2009 at 6:54 AM

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