[Peace-discuss] Pardon my sarcasm

[David Green via Peace-discuss]

With Israel/Palestine, one must understand the rules.
When Israel bombs Gaza, it is always in retaliation to Hamas “rockets.” Moreover, Hamas’ goal is to kill every Israeli Jew. Israel never does anything except defend itself.
When academic organizations in this country propose a boycott of institutional relationships with Israeli universities, this violates academic freedom, even if it leaves Israeli academics free to participate in all scholarly activities.
However when a scholar of Palestinian background is hired, academic freedom must take a back seat to civility in all aspects of that person’s life; freedom is subordinated to the notion that all “viewpoints” must be “respected.”
Even if that individual of Palestinian background has a stellar teaching record, it is assumed that his anger at Israel is both anti-Semitic and imminently threatening to the self-esteem of prospective students. When this scholar implies in non-scholarly communication that Benjamin Netanyahu’s killing Palestinian children is ghoulish, that only confirms his/her anti-Semitism.
A corollary is that sensibilities of Jewish students—assumed to be pro-Israel—are more important than those of pro-Palestinian students, especially those who find it refreshing for the institution to hire its first professor of Palestinian background who is also qualified to address the Israel/Palestine issue in a scholarly manner.
When administrators ruin the career of such a scholar, it is understood to be for the cause of all the ideals the university stands for, which are imminently threatened by his/her presence in a classroom.
These rules are not all that difficult to understand.
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