Dear All,

In the fringe of the ongoing rather heated debate concerning the issue of academic boycott - I’d like to quote Shamai Lebowitz, from his article “ Israel: a call for divestment”:

“Sanctions are a powerful and nonviolent means to insure that the Israeli government abides by international law and ends its appalling human rights violations in the occupied territories. Divestment resolutions are long overdue. We have witnessed the power of worldwide economic pressure in the collapse of the South African apartheid regime. If American civic institutions follow the same strategy, we could see the end of the Israeli occupation in our lifetime. Americans should stand up for human rights and justice, follow their own law and take the most productive step toward peace and security in the Middle East.”

To read more go to: www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050328&s=leibowitz

For Hebrew go to: www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=2009

I support the idea of boycott in all fields because the boycott is essentially a non-viloent means to resist and protest an impossible situation - a crual military occupation going on for decades - almost half a century -and it is only getting worse and worse all the time. Academia and academics are not “priviledged children” and they can be and should be the target of boycott just as any other institution and people in the aggressor society. I find it rather painful to follow the logic and the arguments presented against the boycott by some staunch anti occupation activists. While I can fully understand that sometimes people would prefer not to participate in a discussion - I can’t understand the ‘necessity’ to do so by all means.

Yehudith Harel