There is nothing wrong with debating the Israeli policy that has seen the refusal to allow entry for Lara Alqasem, an American student BDS activist, to study at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. There has even been criticism from Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Michael Oren, as well as pro-Israel columnists Bret Stephens and Bari Weiss in the New York Times.
There is something particularly strange, however, about a letter in The Guardian signed by more than 300 academics calling on the Israeli authorities to permit Alqasem to enter Israel and pursue her studies.
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The letter says:
Denying entry to foreign students based on political beliefs or ethnic heritage is an attack on academic freedom. As professors who are committed to academic freedom, and as humans who reject all forms of racial profiling, we are calling on the Israeli authorities to permit Lara Alqasem to enter Israel and pursue her studies.
While it might be possible to trawl through the list of signatories to ascertain their motives for adding their support to the letter, it’s entirely possible that most are motivated not by a hatred of Israel but by genuine concerns for academic freedom.
“Committed to academic freedom”?
There are, however, some standout names including:
- Haim Bresheeth
- Moshe Machover
- Hilary Rose
- Steven Rose
- Jonathan Rosenhead
All of them are prominent supporters of the BDS campaign in the UK and advocates for the academic boycott of Israel.
Hilary and Steven Rose even led the call for a moratorium on European research collaboration with Israel in a 2002 open letter that marked the beginning of the call for an academic boycott of Israel. Later they participated in setting up BRICUP, the British Campaign for the Universities of Palestine and PACBI, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
Jonathan Rosenhead is currently the chair of BRICUP while Moshe Machover, a veteran anti-Zionist activist, was briefly suspended from the UK Labour Party accused of Holocaust revisionism. Haim Bresheeth also has a long and sordid history of anti-Israel activities.
All of the above have previously featured in numerous letters to The Guardian supporting BDS.
So how is it possible to be “committed to academic freedom” as stated in the most recent letter, yet support an academic boycott of Israel?
How is it possible to support Lara Alqasem’s right to study in a country that they believe has no rights?
Or is it simply gross hypocrisy?
Image: CC BY-NC flickr/paloetic
