[Peace-discuss] Chomsky's boycott

[C. G. Estabrook]

December 13, 2010
Chomsky’s boycott
By Semra E. Sevi

Israeli academics, having led the way in the fields of biomedical,
semiconductor, and weapons technologies, have much to provide the world.

However, the ensuing conflict between Israel and Palestine has impeded
this development. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign
against Israel has been an extremely contentious issue on campuses
around the world. Its supporters see the campaign as an effective means
of pressuring Israel to uphold international law. On the other hand, its
critics see it as rife with double standards and as a counterproductive
approach to resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Attempting to censor and silence the dialogue is never the answer. Only
an open exchange of ideas from all academics will lead to a true
understanding and, ultimately, a resolution. There is always hope in
education.

Boycotts of researchers or research institutions contravene the purpose
of academia, which is deeply rooted on the freedom of inquiry and
freedom of speech.

Recently, I coproduced an interview with Noam Chomsky for TVOntario, in
which he discussed the Middle East, America’s foreign policy, and the
BDS campaign. In that interview, when asked if he supported BDS, Chomsky
stated that he is unconvinced of the tactic.

“I would not support an academic boycott. I did not even support them on
South Africa, apart from specific racist practices, like hiring,” said
Chomsky.

In correspondences with Chomsky, he elucidated his stance on the issue,
“I have always been skeptical about academic boycotts. There may be
overriding reasons, but in general I think that those channels should be
kept open.”

Supporters of the academic boycott argue that Israeli academics cannot
exempt themselves from a boycott on the grounds of academic freedom
while they fail to speak up for the academic freedom of Palestinians. To
this I say, it does not make it right to censor an academic just because
they do not shed light to the Palestinian plight. It truly is
unfortunate that Palestinians are denied education, and I wish we could
change that, but students in many places are denied education. And if we
boycott Israel it does not end there. Why not boycott the whole world?
Simply because you cannot. Why, then, should the Palestinian cause be
more important?

Chomsky has been directly connected to BDS from its roots, signing a
controversial Harvard-MIT petition in 2002, which he agreed with in
principle. It called for making U.S. government aid conditional on
dismantling settlements, the divestment of Harvard and MIT assets from
U.S. companies that sell weapons to Israel, and the divestment from
Israel all together. However, Chomsky was against the last tactic, which
called for divestment from Israel.

“There's not much to say. I've been involved in BDS activities since
long before the term was invented. It's a tactic, not a principle. Like
any tactic, one has to evaluate particular proposals. Some are fine,
some counterproductive,” stated Chomsky.

Former Harvard University president and Director of the National
Economic Council Lawrence H. Summers’s sentiment regarding the academic
boycott of Israel was resounding, “I found it shocking and deeply
troubling that a substantial group of faculty members at major
universities would propose seriously, and indeed seek to pressure, for
universities like Harvard to sell, to divest, any stock, any company
that did any business with Israel. It seemed to me that such a boycott
that singled out Israel was profoundly misguided.”

When asked about boycotts in general, Chomsky asked, “Why boycott Israel
and not boycott the United States? The U.S. has a much worse record.
Apart from Israel, the United States is by far the world’s major arm
supplier.”

In specific to academic boycotts, Chomsky iterated that, “Harvard
University has always been deeply implicated in implementing U.S.
foreign policy, from providing the leading personnel for major war
crimes (Bundy, Kissinger, etc.) to the activities carried out in the
[Kennedy] Government School, and much else. These vastly exceed
University of Tel Aviv’s contributions to war crimes – quite apart from
the fact that Israeli crimes are in fact US crimes, a tiny fraction of
them.”

“Bundy and Kissinger are two of the major war criminals of the modern
era. There is a long list of others. The [Kennedy] Government School is
utterly outlandish. Among its more ‘benign’ activities is having the
head of the [Carr] Human Rights Center, [Sarah Sewell], write the
introduction for David Petraeus’s famous [military] counterinsurgency
manual.”

Universities are probably the least malign of all the actors in this
conflict. “If we want to boycott those directly involved in atrocities
let us go after the corporate system, the governments, and the citizens
who pay taxes, etc.,” said Chomsky

“Academic institutions are among the least of the participants, and they
offer some of the best hope for confronting these crimes. However,
they’re not above the fray by any means.”

Chomsky, one of the many staunch supporters of Palestine is still
fighting, having turned 92 today. When asked if the fire still burns
inside of him at his age, he responded with a resounding yes.

Semra E. Sevi, a staff writer at The Varsity, is a political science
concentrator at the University of Toronto.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/12/13/israel-chomsky-boycott-academic/