Since I asked on an earlier post, "what does the isreali academic community think to the Gaza offensive", I have been sent the following email (copied below) from an academic in Israel. They have asked me, for reasons of confidentiality and tenure, to reproduce their post on crit geog in this anonymised manner rather than forwarding as usual. Please note that my doing this does not make any statement for or against their opinion - I simply pass on their contribution unedited for information, as I did raise the matter earlier and ask for such contributions......
Dear all,
I'm
following this important discussion with great interest, and would like
to contribute some thoughts as an Israeli scholar. I do it with some
hesitations. The first is personal, as those of you who follow
the recent Israeli discourse might have noticed the radicalization
towards right-wing (not to say proto-fascist) ideas. Thugs are beating
Palestinians and leftist protesters in the streets of Tel Aviv, Haifa
and Jerusalem; people are blamed for treason and being fired from work
for saying the obvious (that Israel commits war crimes in Gaza); and the
universities are making their share by sending us - teachers and students
alike - reminders to avoid "extreme" expressions on the media and in
the social networks. That means that supporting the boycott at these
times might have a high cost.
Moreover,
one can't avoid the problematics of my own position as an Israeli.
First, it seems that I shouldn't even be a side in the discussion, as
the Israeli academy is the object of the discussion and not a subject in
it. Second, as an Israeli, I am the one who's going to be effected by a
boycott decision. These,
however, are not sufficient reasons to avoid the discussion altogether -
and now, that Hillary asked explicitly for an Israeli voice, let me
share some of my own thoughts and dilemmas.
I
see myself as totally devoted to the Palestinian call for ending the
occupation and for justice in Israel/Palestine. Although studying the
issue for many years, I'm still surprised and angry nearly on a daily
basis by the combination of creative minds and pure brutality of the
occupation apparatuses, as well as by the general indifference of the
Israeli public opinion. The current catastrophe in Gaza is nothing but a
new peak in this machinery of evils, and we will see higher peaks in
the future if nothing is to be done.
On
the one hand, I am totally pro boycott. I think that external pressure
might be very effective, regarding Israel's economic and social
structure. I can say from within that it seems that nothing frightens
Netanyahu's government more than an overall boycott. Sure, there are
worse countries and governments around the world, but this is a weak
excuse. The Israeli/Palestinian case is bad enough, and we should
remember that in the end boycott is a tool in the arsenal, and the main
question is whether it will be effective or not. For Israel, which is
based on export and import, and imagines itself as part of the West, I
do think it can be a powerful tool.
On
the other hand, boycotting the
radical voices from Israel might prove, in the long run, as a mistake.
Let me make it clear: it is not about myself being published or not; I'd
love to pay the price of Israel's deeds by having my papers rejected (and
it is highly important to avoid the trap of "oh, they have critical
voices, which means that they are nice and they have an open democracy
and freedom of speech, so we shouldn't boycott them." This is a mistake:
yes, the Israeli Jews enjoy western-like democracy, but the
Palestinians are not). The
point is that in the end, the two nations - Israelis and Palestinians -
will have to learn how to share the territory, and this will have to
come from within Israel/Palestine. It means that I see great importance
in nurturing and supporting the critical voices, on both sides, so our
political imagination won't be stuck and that both
populations know that there is somoene to talk with on the other side.
To
sum up, as an Israeli scholar I ask you to put an external pressure by
supporting Israeli institutional boycott, while keeping ears open to
other voices that are coming from Israel - not for the sake of myself
and my colleagues but for the sake of the region's future. I must admit
that I don't know how exactly this should be done. As been said in the
beginning, I'm just sharing my own thoughts and dilemmas.
