Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University – TAU Donor
calls out TAU President Klafter on non-action against anti-Israel
activities by Rachel Giora & Anat Matar
A red line is crossed when a professor
transitions from stating his or her opinion on certain political
matters within an academic environment, to actively pursuing and
promoting the international boycott of Israel in non-academic
spheres. The latter activity should not be protected or condoned by
Klafter and his administration. Furthermore, faculty members stating
at their international Israel-bashing forums that they are TAU
professors, gives undeserved credence to their nefarious views. At
the same time, it harms the university’s reputation. TAU now appears
as a hotbed of anti-Israel activity in the eyes of its donors,
thanks in part to the president facilitating this behavior through
his inaction. Rachel Giora and Anat Matar are the two most
high-profile faculty members who fly all over the world, encouraging
the academic boycott of the very university that pays their
salaries.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=168972
Beacons of academic freedom?
A red line is
crossed when a professor at an Israeli university transitions from
stating his opinion on politics in academia or outside it.
By
Mark Tanenbaum
17/02/2010
Prof. Joseph Klafter, president of Tel
Aviv University, is mistaken if he feels members of the board of
governors, such as myself, have a problem with free speech at the
university (“The
double boycott challenge,” February 16). We don’t. Even when the
anti-Israel polemics are repugnant to our pro-Israel sensibilities.
I do, however,
have a problem with these professors hiding behind the university’s
skirt of “free speech” while in essence actively working to harm the
State of Israel. This insidious and dangerous activity must be dealt
with firmly by the TAU administration. Allowing the professors to
actively advocate and promote the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions (“BDS”) Movement in general, and the academic boycott
of TAU in particular is unacceptable.
A red line is
crossed when a professor transitions from stating his or her opinion
on certain political matters within an academic environment, to
actively pursuing and promoting the international boycott of Israel
in non-academic spheres. The latter activity should not be protected
or condoned by Klafter and his administration.
FURTHERMORE,
FACULTY members stating at their international Israel-bashing forums
that they are TAU professors, gives undeserved credence to their
nefarious views. At the same time, it harms the university’s
reputation. TAU now appears as a hotbed of anti-Israel activity in
the eyes of its donors, thanks in part to the president facilitating
this behavior through his inaction.
Rachel Giora and
Anat Matar are the two most high-profile faculty members who fly all
over the world, encouraging the academic boycott of the very
university that pays their salaries. How wacky is that?
Both have made
publicly recorded statements to the press that TAU is complicit in
the “criminal,” “racist” and “illegal occupation of the
Palestinians’ land” due to its military research activity. Yet there
is not a peep from the administration defending the university
against these slanderous and libelous remarks. In addition, there is
total silence from the university when Matar wrongly accused an IDF
soldier of murdering a Palestinian and blasted his picture all over
the Internet. The state attorney is now looking into that incident.
Matar was due to
speak on Wednesday at London University’s School for Oriental and
African Studies (SOAS) to promote the academic boycott of Israel.
The Jerusalem Post reported it (“TAU lecturer to urge London
audience to boycott Israel,” February 17).
She made sure she
was listed in the program as a faculty member at TAU.
And again, there
has been no statement from TAU’s administration about its esteemed
faculty member’s efforts to destroy their beacon of academic
freedom.
If Matar were not
such an obvious hypocrite, she would quit her job at the university
she so despises, and apply for a position in Ramallah. Let’s see how
long the Palestinian Authority would tolerate her “right to free
speech.”
State employees
such as these faculty members at TAU should not be able to receive a
paycheck from the government with one hand, while signing
anti-Israel boycott petitions with the other. One must remember that
TAU is a state-supported institution. As such, the president bears a
fiduciary responsibility to the Israeli taxpayers and the Education
Ministry that professors at his university do not actively promote
and work toward the financial destruction of their country through
the BDS movement.
A South
Africa-like boycott, which is being advocated by these faculty
members, will swiftly bring Israel to its knees by the crushing
economic damage it would inflict. Our enemies would defeat us
without firing even one shot.
Prof. Klafter does
not realize that Israel is fighting against annihilation in a new
type of war. It is a war in which no tanks, airplanes or rockets are
involved. It is a war in which Israel’s military might is of no
avail. It is a war of delegitimization fought by our sworn enemies.
It is a war to crush us through economic and political isolation.
It is a war fought
against us from within our borders by these faculty members.
They are aiding
our enemies. And foolishly protected by Klafter and his
administration.
The writer is a
member of the Board of Governors, Tel Aviv University, the Board of
Directors, American Friends of Tel Aviv University and the Board of
International Overseers, Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University.
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