tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/academic-boycott-4554/articlesAcademic boycott – The Conversation2022-03-11T01:43:55Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1790802022-03-11T01:43:55Z2022-03-11T01:43:55ZWhy universities need to open the lines of communication with Russians, not close them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451473/original/file-20220310-15-1rjg7v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=125%2C8%2C1608%2C1044&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mor/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/anu-statement-on-ukraine">decision</a> by the Australian National University (ANU) and <a href="https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/deakin-u-and-wsu-stand-up-for-ukraine/">other universities</a> in <a href="https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/unis-responding-to-the-pain-of-ukraine/">Australia</a> and overseas to suspend all ties and activities with Russian research institutions, while significant in its moral stance, could have unintended consequences.</p>
<p>We need to be careful we are not shutting off networks and ceasing dialogue with Russians, as this is counterproductive and empowers Russia’s propaganda machine.</p>
<p>Keeping open the lines of academic communication, among other channels, is necessary to support the groundswell of opposition within Russia to the war in Ukraine. Informal networks can bypass Russian government censorship and are doing so.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-russia-really-about-to-cut-itself-off-from-the-internet-and-what-can-we-expect-if-it-does-178894">Is Russia really about to cut itself off from the internet? And what can we expect if it does?</a>
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<p>In an <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSF9opgJ1oML0E8YMrE6cPubP-Npvl0-oNoLzw7OQMXB-ryf2xV_gqddo45GzWJY1aIsKXbT3w5XU6D/pub">open letter</a> ANU academics recently wrote: </p>
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<p>“[T]his policy primarily affects the research and educational institutions in Russia, and ultimately Russian scholars who may be the last remaining voice of reason in the country.</p>
<p>”[…] The policy of alienating Russian researchers at large will only help the Russian state’s propaganda of aggression and isolation. This policy will likely be interpreted as yet another case of western russophobia.“</p>
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<h2>The choice confronting ordinary Russians</h2>
<p>There is a dissonance confronting the Russian people right now. While local TV is running stories about Russia "liberating” Ukraine via a “special military action”, the messaging does not match the reality on the streets.</p>
<p>Shelves in Russia are becoming empty. Prices are spiking. Credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay no longer work for Russians. The dollar value of their savings has been cut in half, and there are long queues for ATMs.</p>
<p>These impacts will only increase in coming weeks with the flow-on effects of recent Western corporate and government actions.</p>
<p>Critically, there are two ways that Russian people could respond to this dissonance.</p>
<p>One is to recognise these impacts are a direct consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and turn on their government in a civil uprising that topples the Putin regime, or at a minimum weakens his ability to sustain the invasion.</p>
<p>Another is to turn against the West, as the perceived “enemy” attacking Russia.</p>
<p>Therein lies the challenge.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-what-anti-war-protesters-in-russia-risk-by-speaking-out-178098">Ukraine: what anti-war protesters in Russia risk by speaking out</a>
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<h2>What can we do?</h2>
<p>The first step is to recognise that ordinary Russian people are victims in this war as well. They, for the large part, had no say in the invasion of Ukraine, yet are paying a substantial price for it.</p>
<p>In the US, a congressman <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/national-politics/article/Swalwell-proposes-expelling-Russian-students-16947581.php">proposed</a> “kicking every Russian student out of the United States”. That conflates the Russian people with the Russian government, but does nothing to undermine Vladimir Putin or support Ukraine.</p>
<p>Does this mean we should ease up on the sanctions? No. Despite the collateral damage they impose, sanctions are a critical weapon that the West can use to undermine Putin’s military aggression, given the reluctance to go into combat.</p>
<p>What we also need to do, though, is fight the information barriers being put up by the Russian government. We can help Russians see what the rest of the world sees.</p>
<p>That includes the horrors and suffering Ukrainians are going through, the mounting casualties on both sides including civilians, the lack of any reasonable justification for the invasion, and the misinformation being spread by the Russian government.</p>
<p>It is virtually impossible to censor all external communications, email, online platforms and internet-based information services. There are ways to get through to Russian citizens. As the list of censored or blocked sites changes, so too must the channels we use.</p>
<p>We may need to move between platforms or use creative ways to connect. For example, the use of <a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/03/09/russians-turn-to-vpns-to-stay-connected-as-online-censorship-tightens-over-ukraine-war">virtual private networks (VPN)</a> from Russia to bypass internet censorship <a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/03/09/russians-turn-to-vpns-to-stay-connected-as-online-censorship-tightens-over-ukraine-war">spiked 633%</a> in the past week.</p>
<p>Rather than buckling to Putin’s efforts to suppress them, social media networks can consider creative ways to allow Russians to continue accessing their services.</p>
<p>For example, Twitter recently launched a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/mar/09/twitter-tor-version-russia-block">privacy-protected site on the dark web</a> to bypass Russia’s blocking of its service. Other platforms and media services should consider similar actions to maintain the flow of information to the Russian people.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/economic-sanctions-may-deal-fatal-blow-to-russias-already-weak-domestic-opposition-178274">Economic sanctions may deal fatal blow to Russia's already-weak domestic opposition</a>
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<p>Individuals can take it upon themselves to speak directly with Russian citizens. For example, my colleague, Marta Khomyn, has made such <a href="https://medium.com/@marta.khomyn/i-have-a-dream-aa232c2039b6">an offer</a>.</p>
<p>We can also draw on our networks. For example, Russian academics living abroad have used their university networks to connect with academics in Russia. Others can use business networks or social networks.</p>
<h2>This is a war about Russia’s future too</h2>
<p>We should ensure the attitude we display towards ordinary Russians is not one of resentment but rather one of willingness to work together to bring an end to the war. Russians are also suffering, so there is a natural alignment of incentives to end the war – an alignment that gives us common ground and a reason to work together.</p>
<p>What’s more, this is a war about Russia’s future as well as Ukraine’s. There arguably has never been a better time for the Russian people to break free of the oppressive regime and choose a liberal and democratic future.</p>
<p>We can recognise and applaud the brave Russians, including many academics and students, who are actively speaking out against the war, and work with the Russian people rather than against them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179080/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Talis Putnins receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC).</span></em></p>Academics and students are prominent among the Russians who are defying the Putin regime and opposing the invasion of Ukraine. They need to be supported, not cut off by the rest of the world.Talis Putnins, Professor of Finance, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/447082015-08-20T04:07:01Z2015-08-20T04:07:01ZIsrael and the BDS debate: two academics respectfully agree to differ<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91872/original/image-20150814-3570-1wq8sva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Deciding whether or not to support academic BDS action should not be reduced to being 'for or against' injustice.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/takver/4671068929/">Takver/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From Australia, we watch Israel at a great distance, safe in the knowledge that the regular and horrific levels of violence in the region are far from our shores. But we still find ourselves, like most of the world, asking: what can we do? One response is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which protests against <a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/BA123CDED3EA84A5852560E50077C2DC">documented</a> human rights abuses perpetrated by Israel, such as settlement expansion on Palestinian land. </p>
<p>The purpose of economic BDS is to put pressure on nation states that are consistently in breach of international law and the principles enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. </p>
<h2>The implications of academic BDS</h2>
<p>Our focus here is the implications of academic BDS. This is the call to academia to disengage from Israeli education institutions that endorse, participate in or benefit from the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, illegal settlement expansion and the blockade of Gaza.</p>
<p>We are colleagues who share many views and identify ourselves as academic-activists. Our pedagogy is shaped by social justice principles. But, when it comes to academic boycott, we hold different positions, which are more complex than simply withdrawing custom from Israeli businesses. </p>
<p>One of us has chosen to support academic BDS. That support is founded on the democratic principle that academic BDS is a people’s movement of legitimate non-violent alternatives, because international and state institutions have failed to hold Israel to account. </p>
<p>The other rejects the academic boycott, but stresses that individuals and organisations have the right to support academic boycott without being professionally pressured or accused of anti-Semitism. </p>
<p>It should go without saying that BDS specifically rejects anti-Semitism in any form. Academic BDS operates at the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2013/10/31/3880687.htm">institutional level</a> – it is not about condemning individuals for their <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2013/11/04/3883595.htm">Jewish identity</a>. </p>
<h2>Academic integrity and freedom</h2>
<p>The best of intellectual traditions seek co-operation and dialogue, in a free flow of ideas, to find solutions to intractable problems. To the principles of academic integrity and freedom, we add awareness-raising as <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/title/pedagogy-of-the-oppressed/oclc/4736792">integral to teaching</a>. </p>
<p>This includes standing against abuse, apathy and inaction. As the then Australian Chief of Army, Lieutenant General David Morrison, famously <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/army-chief-deserves-acclaim/story-e6frgd0x-1226669007789">said</a> of sexism and sexual assault in the armed forces: </p>
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<p>The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91862/original/image-20150814-11482-icd0hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91862/original/image-20150814-11482-icd0hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91862/original/image-20150814-11482-icd0hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91862/original/image-20150814-11482-icd0hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91862/original/image-20150814-11482-icd0hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91862/original/image-20150814-11482-icd0hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91862/original/image-20150814-11482-icd0hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A neighbourhood in the Gaza strip on the 13th day of Operation Protective Edge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://one.aap.com.au/#/asset/20140721000999039470">Eloise Bollack/AAP</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>The double harm argument</h2>
<p>The case against academic BDS questions whether it derails effective alternative activism. This is <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/180492/israel-palestine-and-bds">explored</a> by Noam Chomsky, who eschews the centring of academic freedom (and themselves) by BDS proponents: </p>
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<p>Failed initiatives harm the victims doubly – by shifting attention from their plight to irrelevant issues (anti-Semitism at Harvard, academic freedom etc) and by wasting current opportunities to do something meaningful. </p>
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<p>While BDS potentially ignores constructive Israeli voices, the more destructive voices build up their platform in the breach. When the Israeli Defence Force bombed United Nations buildings in Gaza, The Australian <a href="http://www.icjs-online.org/index.php?article=5394">reported</a> that Zionist law firm Shurat HaDin warned that academics who supported BDS would be “next in the firing line” for a lawsuit. </p>
<p>This became their story, when Israel was bombing international humanitarian infrastructure.</p>
<p>The question here is whether we compromise one form of solidarity for another. The findings of Israeli academics who work for human rights, who document the conflict and who theorise resolution cannot be devoid of all merit. We cannot incorporate their conclusions if we opt against working together. </p>
<h2>A risk of losing sight of the key concerns</h2>
<p>All too often, the debate is lost in a cacophony of anti-Semitism accusations and the focus shifts to Western institutions instead of Palestinian rights. Our answer is neither to shout back, nor to go quietly into the relatively gentle Australian night.</p>
<p>BDS, and resistance to it, are founded in passionate commitment. As academics, we must locate reason in the actions, the words and the many complex human transactions that make up a campaign and a bilateral friendship. </p>
<p>Whether we support BDS and commit to promoting it, or decide to support the rights of those who do so, we are making a moral and ethical decision that is integral to our practice.</p>
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<p><em>This article is based on a chapter written by the authors in the new book <a href="http://www.sussex-academic.com/sa/titles/jewish_studies/BurlaLawrence.htm">Australia and Israel</a>: A Diasporic, Cultural and Political Relationship (Sussex Academic, 2015).</em></p>
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<p><em>Ingrid and James will be one hand for an Author Q&A between 9 and 9:50 am on Friday, August 21. Post your questions in the comments section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44708/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ingrid Matthews is enrolled as a Masters research student at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS) at the University of Sydney.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Arvanitakis receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Office of Learning and Teaching. He is a board member of the Australian Public Education Foundation, a member of the Australian Research Council: Excellence in Research for Australia 2015 Evaluation Committee, Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT): Committee Member: Awards Committee, a member of the panel of experts for the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA and a research fellow at The Centre for Policy Development. </span></em></p>All too often, the debate around the BDS movement is lost in a cacophony of anti-Semitism accusations and the focus shifts to Western institutions instead of Palestinian rights.Ingrid Matthews, Lecturer, UWS School of Law; Researcher, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityJames Arvanitakis, Professor in Cultural and Social Analysis, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/135982013-04-19T04:45:29Z2013-04-19T04:45:29ZBoycotting Israeli academics, or boycotting academic freedom?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22608/original/cr7dcy2q-1366265308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Continued boycotts of Israeli academics pose a threat to the very freedoms that academics hold dear.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joe Castro</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Wednesday last week, the Student Representative Council at the University of Sydney <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/students-call-for-israeli-uni-boycott/story-e6frgcjx-1226618629958">adopted a motion</a> to boycott Israeli academics. The motion called specifically for the University to cut its current research ties with the <a href="https://www1.technion.ac.il/en">Technion</a>, Israel’s leading higher education technology institute, and supported the general academic boycott of Israel <a href="http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/sydneys-university-of-conflict/story-e6frfkp9-1226532467627">called for</a> by the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS). </p>
<p>That the boycott suppresses academic freedom is clear but less obvious is that it does not promote international peace and that it is fundamentally racist. Earlier this year, The Conversation <a href="https://theconversation.com/establishing-the-facts-about-the-boycott-of-israeli-academic-institutions-11565">published an argument</a> in defence of the boycott by the CPACS’ Paul Dulffill, and the issue deserves to have both sides discussed.</p>
<p>What is the launching of a universal boycott of Israel intended to achieve? The purported reason given by CPACS - and supported by the SRC - is that because Israeli academics reside in a country alleged to have breached international law, those smarting academics will supposedly turn around Israeli foreign and security policy. </p>
<p>In reality, Australian academics have minimal influence on this country’s foreign policy, and even less in Israel where national security concerns predominate. Of course, Israeli academics facing attack tend to fight back like the rest of us when pushed against the wall. The academic boycott will never be effective in its supposed objective of changing Israeli policies.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, <a href="http://www.studentsforpalestine.org/">Students for Palestine</a> and CPACS supporters of the boycott might still assert that it has secondary value in Australia, perhaps because the boycott raises academic awareness here, which might percolate through to Australian foreign policy makers. So, if an implicit objective is to generate Australian antagonism, a local boycott targeting Israeli academics might supposedly influence Australian foreign policy. However, there is no evidence that this symbolic activism at the University of Sydney will influence government or swing votes in the ballot box.</p>
<p>On their own avowal, the members of both the University of Sydney SRC and CPACS are active in Palestine solidarity campaigns and have picked a side in an international dispute - Dulfill says that the CPACS “can hardly be expected to be neutral or disinterested”. That conflict is complex and their choice is morally questionable, but they wish to push their interests on others.</p>
<p>Advocacy for the university to officially engage in a boycott and to propose that it be adhered to by academics is intellectual totalitarianism, anathema to respectable universities which resist political pressure to adopt partisan policies or repress academic research. Within a learning environment the freedom to doubt, to analyse and to form and articulate an independent perspective is fundamental and the essential quality of a university. </p>
<p>Choosing official sides between competing nationalities, religions and races politicises a campus, alienates members of faculty staff and is toxic to faculty collegiality. Jews would be alienated but not only them. It is reminiscent of ideological purges within the <a href="http://www.gendercide.org/case_stalin.html">Soviet</a> and <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1966/10/22/maos-last-purge-pbi-am-a/">Chinese</a> communist parties.</p>
<p>Let’s put this in comparative perspective: should the University of Sydney cease all collaborative research with Indonesian institutes until the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-media-only-tells-half-the-story-about-west-papua-11313">Papuan self-determination</a> movement is satisfied? What about publishing official Sydney boycott manifestos on the democratic failures in China, Fiji, Malaysia and Singapore? If the problem is military applications of technology, then it must also boycott the ANU, the universities of NSW, Wollongong, and the list goes on. </p>
<p>Should the University of Sydney itself be boycotted if it does not officially adopt a boycott of Israel? Should University of Sydney academics who do not individually endorse an official boycott be penalised?</p>
<p>It has been truthlessly suggested that the academic boycott does not affect individual academics and that the Palestine Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (<a href="http://www.pacbi.org/">PACBI</a>) guidelines are clear on this. To the contrary, the PACBI guidelines do not meaningfully distinguish between Israeli academics and representatives of their institutions. Normally, any academic engaged in an international collaboration is assumed to informally represent his/her own institution. For example, an outstanding Australian-Israeli biomathematics colleague was told by a science journal that it could not publish him because of his Tel Aviv University address.</p>
<p>Academics are members of a social sector who typically tend to be public intellectuals and advocate for individual freedoms, liberal values and social justice. Professor Dan Avnon of the Hebrew University, who was <a href="http://sydneypeacefoundation.org.au/jake-lynch-and-the-australian/">not allowed by the Sydney CPACS</a> to spend part of his sabbatical there, had sought to undertake individual academic work in Arab-Jewish peace studies. Shunning people who typically reach out for peaceful dialogue is an irony all can see.</p>
<p>Of course, the threat to academic freedom would be limited if this is the only boycott. Then, ambivalent University of Sydney staff might feel some relief: the boycott would simply be a symbolic demonstration of the University’s claim of a moral high ground. Just the Jewish state alone and no more. Sad, that is.</p>
<p>Australian suppression of peaceful engagement with Israeli academics could make sense only because its objective has nothing to do with peace. The long-war objective of the academic boycott is the same as the trade and diplomatic boycotts that Arab states have imposed on Israel since its inception 65 years ago. </p>
<p>The Friends of Palestine approach within the SRC and CPACS entails denial of any Jewish state. They are warriors in the conflict, adding fuel to its fire. There could be no more elegant demonstration for why Jews need their own country.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13598/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory Rose receives funding from ARC, AGD, APCMC, UN, UOW.</span></em></p>On Wednesday last week, the Student Representative Council at the University of Sydney adopted a motion to boycott Israeli academics. The motion called specifically for the University to cut its current…Gregory Rose, Professor of Law, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/115652013-01-14T20:01:22Z2013-01-14T20:01:22ZEstablishing the facts about the boycott of Israeli academic institutions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19191/original/9qbthkdx-1358138645.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Boycotting the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is not Anti-Semitic; it's a recognition of violations of international law.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/delayed gratification</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The last weeks of 2012 saw a great amount of criticism levelled at the <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/">Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies</a> at Sydney University and its director Jake Lynch following their boycott of an exchange program with Hebrew University. </p>
<p>Critical coverage in The Australian newspaper has been particularly intense. Christian Kerr <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/sydney-university-peace-centre-rebuffs-israeli-civics-teacher/story-e6frgcjx-1226530838896">broke the story</a>, and wrote follow-ups <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/alp-hits-out-at-israel-boycott/story-e6frgcjx-1226535676088">here</a>, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/sydney-university-body-slammed-for-ban-on-israeli/story-fn59nm2j-1226534848253">here</a>, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/opposition-warning-on-bds/story-fn59nlz9-1226536432732">here</a> and <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/no-funds-for-bds-backers-bishop/story-fn59niix-1226537177015">here</a> along with <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/centre-chief-jake-lynch-rebuked-over-israeli-snub/story-e6frgcjx-1226532467968">Milanda Rout</a>, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/across-the-divide-boycott-shocks-unity-professor-dan-avnon/story-e6frgcjx-1226532541040">John Lyons</a>, and editorials <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/editorials/sydneys-university-of-conflict/story-e6frg71x-1226532467627">here</a> and <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/editorials/ugliness-lurks-in-the-cloisters/story-e6frg71x-1226534038506">here</a> </p>
<p>Lynch <a href="http://newmatilda.com/2012/12/13/what-impartial-means-oz">has said</a> this decision was made as part of a larger academic boycott of institutional ties with Israeli universities, called <a href="http://www.pacbi.org/index.php">The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel</a> (PACBI). </p>
<p>PACBI <a href="http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1108">justifies</a> this boycott by saying, “these institutions are complicit in the system of oppression that has denied Palestinians their basic rights guaranteed by international law”.</p>
<h2>Legal truths</h2>
<p>On the often emotive issue of Israel-Palestine, it is important to be clear on established facts. Critics of the academic boycott campaign seldom point out the legal fact of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. </p>
<p>The world’s highest authority on international law, the International Court of Justice, ruled in <a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1671.pdf">July 2004</a> that Israel is occupying Palestinian territory in violation of international law and international human rights treaties. </p>
<p>These violations include articles of the <a href="http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/full/380">Fourth Geneva Convention</a>; <a href="http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/full/195">the Fourth Hague Convention 1907</a>; <a href="http://www.david-morrison.org.uk/sadaka/briefings/BRIEFING-UN_Security_Council_resolutions_contravened_by_Israel.pdf">UN Security Council Resolutions</a> 446, 452 & 465; and articles of <a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm">the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights</a>, <a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm">the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights</a>, and <a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm">the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>. </p>
<p>Israel is a member of the <a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/homepage/">International Court of Justice</a> and has fully ratified all of these international standards, with the sole exception of the Fourth Hague Convention. This means Israel has committed to fully respect these international laws and treaties.</p>
<p>The Israeli government <a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Israeli+Settlements+and+International+Law.htm">denies these violations</a> of international law. Journalists should not take this denial as reason to avoid reporting the legal issues of occupation under the misguided idea that the facts appear “muddy” and they fear producing “unbalanced” journalism. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, as with most legal proceedings, one can’t simply take the accused, in this case Israel’s, word for it as to whether they have broken the law or not. The issue must be taken to the relevant legal authorities, which in this case is the the world’s authority on international law, the International Court of Justice. </p>
<p>As in domestic legal proceedings, a party who has been found to have violated the law may continue to publicly maintain their “innocence” no matter what the legal facts are, as the state of Israel continues to do. This refusal to accept the court’s ruling should not be read as overturning the actual legal validity of the ruling. Israel remains legally obliged to fulfil its promises regarding international law and human rights treaties.</p>
<h2>Supporting peace does not equal anti-Semitism</h2>
<p>The strange accusation that the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and the academic boycott it supports are anti-Israel or anti-Semitic also needs to be corrected. Neither the centre nor the academic boycott call for the shunning of an individual or group based on their Israeli, Jewish (or any other) identity. The <a href="http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1108">PACBI guidelines</a> are very clear on this: “Mere institutional affiliation to the Israeli academy is … not a sufficient condition for applying the boycott”. </p>
<p>Indeed, the centre regularly hosts Israeli and Jewish academics and speakers. These include <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/news/2008.shtml">Dr Jeff Halper</a>, <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/news/index.shtml">Professor Ilan Pappe</a>, <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/news/2005.shtml">Dr Uri Davis</a>, <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/news/2009.shtml">Rabbi Michael Lerner</a>, <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/get_involved/2012%20CPACS%20brochure%20.pdf">Professor Noam Chomsky</a>, journalist <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/news/index.shtml">Antony Loewenstein</a>, the Sydney-based <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/news/latest.shtml">Palestinian - Jewish Dialogue Group</a>, author <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/news/2010.shtml">Anna Baltzer</a> and activist <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/news/2009.shtml">Angela Budai</a>. The centre also recently hosted a seminar supported by <a href="http://iajv99.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/invitation-to-keynote-address-for-un-international-day-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-people/">Independent Australian Jewish Voices</a>. </p>
<p>Ignoring these individuals’ many initiatives promoting peace in the Middle East is a dangerous mistake. In conflicts such as Israel-Palestine, governments don’t always have all the answers. Given the lack of success of official diplomacy in the region we should be encouraging, not dismissing, these additional non-official peace efforts. The centre was set up with stated goals of <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/about/vision.shtml">promoting a culture</a> of peace and reducing violence in all its forms. </p>
<p>The fact that pro-peace Israeli and Jewish voices often criticise Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine is not surprising given that the International Court of Justice has ruled Israel’s occupation of Palestinian is illegal under international law and human rights treaties. When it comes to established violations of international law, human rights and the violence which often accompanies these, a peace centre can hardly be expected to be “neutral” or disinterested.</p>
<p>Confusing opposition to the Israeli government’s violation of international law with being “anti-Israel” or “anti-Semitic” is as misguided as labelling any critics of Australian government policies “anti-Australian”. In international conflicts such as Israel-Palestine governments can’t simply be relied on to provide all the answers: free speech and open criticism of government are key.</p>
<h2>A fair play</h2>
<p>Sydney University’s special exchange program with Hebrew University, which Hebrew University academic Prof Dan Avnon hoped to take advantage of, was a legitimate focus for the boycott according to PACBI guidelines. </p>
<p>I note that Hebrew University is yet to publish an official statement condemning the state of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. What’s more, according to the Israeli-Palestinian Alternative Information Centre, numerous special programs at Hebrew University <a href="http://usacbi.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/economy_of_the_occupation_23-24.pdf">actively support</a> the Israeli military and its personnel, which the International Court of Justice makes clear are an active party in the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. </p>
<p>The established fact of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory is a key reason given for the academic boycott of complicit Israeli academic institutions. </p>
<p>For journalists to ignore this shows a distressing ignorance, or fearful avoidance, of issues which are of obvious importance to Australians and audiences worldwide.</p>
<p>So I call on journalists and commentators: if you are concerned with serious reporting of the academic boycott and the wider Israel-Palestine conflict, show it by tackling the issues and facts, rather than tackling the man. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11565/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Duffill works for the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and has signed Jake Lynch's boycott petition. He volunteered for Project Hope on the West Bank in 2010.</span></em></p>The last weeks of 2012 saw a great amount of criticism levelled at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Sydney University and its director Jake Lynch following their boycott of an exchange program…Paul Duffill, Researcher, Part-Time lecturer, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies; Coordinator, Global Social Justice Network, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.