Adrienne Rich is about the only person who could sway my opinion on this.
And she has strengthened the view I have hesitantly approached to. I have
heard AR give a stunning lecture on poetry and politics (at Stirling
university in 2006) which was later printed as an essay. She was absolutely
stunning, fearless, & totally intelligent so she really deserves to be taken
seriously.
Sally Evans
http://www.desktopsallye.com
http://www.poetryscotland.co.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christopher C Jones" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 8:16 AM
Subject: Re: Adrienne Rich on Cultural/Academic Boycott of Israel
This is a hard call to make. I can agree, and in doing so draw as much
attention as I can to Adrienne Rich's last paragraph. Given the nasty
and often fatal repression the Israeli secret police are capable of
anywhere in the world, including Australia, I feel and fear we may be
placed in a position where we will need also to speak on their behalf in
support of their opposition. For those that do speak out, their lives
are on the line and we must do what we can to support them. Best, Chris
Jones.
[That paragraph reads:]
To boycott a repressive military state should not
mean backing away from individuals struggling against the policies of
that state. So, in continued solidarity with the Palestinian people’s
long resistance, and also with those Israeli activists, teachers,
students, artists, writers, intellectuals, journalists, refuseniks,
feminists and others who oppose the means and ends of the Occupation,
I have signed my name to this call.
On Sun, 2009-02-15 at 13:51 -0800, Stephen Vincent wrote:
> (Interestingly I had to pull this letter out of my SPAM reject file!)
>
> February 3 2009
>
> Dear All,
>
> Last
> week, with initial hesitation but finally strong conviction, I endorsed
> the Call for a U.S. Cultural and Academic Boycott of
> Israel. HYPERLINK "http://usacbi.wordpress.com/"
> http://usacbi.wordpress.com/ I’d like to offer my reasons to friends,
> family and comrades. I have tried in fullest conscience to think this
> through.
>
> My
> hesitation: I profoundly believe in the visible/invisible liberatory
> social power of creative and intellectual boundary-crossings. I’ve
> been educated by these all my life, and by centuries-long
> cross-conversations about human freedom, justice and power—also, the
> forces that try to silence them.
>
> As an American Jew,
> over almost 30 years, I’ve joined with other concerned Jews in various
> kinds of coalition-building and anti-Occupation work. I’ve seen the
> kinds of organized efforts to stifle—in the US and elsewhere--
> critiques of Israel’s policies--the Occupation’s denial of Palestinian
> humanity, destruction of Palestinian lives and livelihoods, the
> “settlements,” the state’s physical and psychological walls against
> dialogue—and the efforts to condemn any critiques as
> anti-Semitism. Along with other activists and writers I’ve been named
> on right-wing “shit-lists” as “Israel-hating” or “Jew-hating.” I
> have also seen attacks within American academia and media on Arab
> American, Muslim, Jewish scholars and teachers whose work critically
> explores the foundations and practices of Israeli state and society.
>
> Until
> now, as a believer in boundary-crossings, I would not have endorsed a
> cultural and academic boycott. But Israel’s continuing, annihilative
> assaults in Gaza, and the one-sided rationalizations for them have
> driven me to re-examine my thoughts about cultural exchanges.
> Israel’s blockading of information, compassionate aid, international
> witness and free cultural and scholarly expression has become extreme
> and morally stone-blind. Israeli Arab parties have been banned from
> the elections, Israeli Jewish dissidents arrested, Israeli youth
> imprisoned for conscientious refusal of military service. Academic
> institutions
> are surely only relative sites of power. But they are, in their
> funding and governance, implicated with state economic and military
> power. And US media, institutions and official policy have gone along
> with all this.
>
> To boycott a repressive military state should not
> mean backing away from individuals struggling against the policies of
> that state. So, in continued solidarity with the Palestinian people’s
> long resistance, and also with those Israeli activists, teachers,
> students, artists, writers, intellectuals, journalists, refuseniks,
> feminists and others who oppose the means and ends of the Occupation,
> I have signed my name to this call.
>
> Adrienne Rich
>
> ................................................................
> --------
> Jewish Peace News editors:
> Joel Beinin
> Racheli Gai
> Rela Mazali
> Sarah Anne Minkin
> Judith Norman
> Lincoln Shlensky
> Rebecca Vilkomerson
> Alistair Welchman
> ------------
> Jewish Peace News archive and blog: http://jewishpeacenews.blogspot.com
> ------------
> Jewish Peace News sends its news clippings only to subscribers. To
> subscribe, unsubscribe, or manage your subscription, go to
> http://www.jewishpeacenews.net
|