One of the demands of pro-Palestinian activists who have set up protest encampments on university campuses in Canada and the United States is a severing of ties with Israeli universities.
Tel Aviv University and other research institutions in Israel are accused of being accomplices in that country含羞草研究社檚 war in Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories. But some prominent Israeli academics argue their universities are also home to leading voices for peace and have been at the forefront of the internal protest movement against the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
含羞草研究社淎cademics in Israel are striving for peace 含羞草研究社� maybe more than any other part of the Israel community,含羞草研究社� Prof. Ran Barkai, who teaches prehistoric archeology at Tel Aviv University, said in an interview Wednesday from Israel.
Israeli universities should be empowered, he added, because they are home to the major forces pushing for reconciliation with Palestinians.
含羞草研究社淕ood relations should be kept with them because they are the centre of sanity of Israel 含羞草研究社� if sanity can be reached it含羞草研究社檚 through people in universities 含羞草研究社� decreasing relations with Israel universities would only harm chances for peace.含羞草研究社�
To the McGill and Concordia University branches of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, which are among the organizers of an encampment erected Saturday on the McGill campus, Israeli universities are complicit in the war and there is nothing to be gained through dialogue with them. They say the encampment will remain until their schools 含羞草研究社渃ut all academic ties with Israeli institutions.含羞草研究社�
Leo Corry, president of The Open University of Israel, is clear about the responsibility of academics in his country with regard to the conflict with the Palestinians. Professors, he said, like most other Israeli citizens, pay taxes and take part in the military 含羞草研究社� the state requires male citizens over 18 to serve in the defence forces for at least 32 months and women for at least 24 months.
含羞草研究社淚n a way we are all part of what happens here,含羞草研究社� Corry said in an interview from the Tel Aviv area. 含羞草研究社淧art of the problem that I and others have is the way (the conflict) is presented as black and white, and I think that含羞草研究社檚 pernicious and misleading and problematic.含羞草研究社�
Israeli scientists, he said, and other academics have taken part in producing some of Israel含羞草研究社檚 defence weapons, like the Iron Dome, which was credited with helping to prevent serious damage or casualties from an unprecedented attack in April by Iran involving hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
含羞草研究社淔ortunately for us we have that. Imagine what would have happened if we hadn含羞草研究社檛,含羞草研究社� Corry said.
含羞草研究社淲e live in a very difficult part of the world. And if you are at McGill or any other place in the United States or Canada, you can shout or scream, but you含羞草研究社檙e not going to come to defend us when we need it, right? So we need to defend ourselves 含羞草研究社� but that doesn含羞草研究社檛 mean that whatever the army does, what the government or certain parts of society supports, is considered by me to be the correct thing to do.含羞草研究社�
If Canadian scholars cut ties with Israeli universities, Barkai said, then academics in Canada lose the ability to influence Israeli intellectuals. International researchers can gain from the insight and innovation in Israel, but 含羞草研究社渢hese connections work both ways,含羞草研究社� he said.
Israeli academics, he added, learn a lot from their international colleagues. 含羞草研究社淭hey get a better perspective of how we are seen in the world. It makes us understand how we should behave, what we should do better.含羞草研究社�
Before Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel, the country was wracked for months by civil unrest against Netanyahu and his ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox political allies, who were pressing ahead with plans to pass contentious changes to Israel含羞草研究社檚 judicial system.
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