Israel boycott

Prize author: Hawking is wrong over boycott

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:50:28 +0100

Two writers with links to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have been nominated for a major British-based literary prize.

Croatian-born author Josip Novakovich, who is a visiting professor of creative writing at the university, and Israeli novelist Aharon Appelfeld, who studied there, are among the 10 nominees in the running for the £60,000 international Man Booker Award, which is due to be presented in London next week.

The prize was last claimed by Phillip Roth and is open to writers working in any language.

Speaking ahead of the award ceremony, Mr Novakovich said he disagreed with fellow academic Stephen Hawking’s decision to boycott a conference in Jerusalem next month.

“In general I don’t believe in boycotts,” he said.

“No matter what anyone thinks of the politics the only way to resolve an impasse is through dialogue, so it is always better to come and discuss it.”

Mr Nova-kovich, who teaches both Hebrew- and Arabic-speakers at the university, added that academics would do better to adopt a policy of talking to everyone.

“It would make it easier to reach a common solution,” he said. “Going to Israel is far better than saying no to dialogue — no dialogue actually resolves nothing.”

Living in Jerusalem, he said he was struck by how well the different religious groups co-existed in the Old City — something, he noted, which was too rarely acknowledged by the media.

“My attitude in literature is to look at a story and see what is working and then do it more, and I think politically it should be the same — let’s see what is working and let’s try to make it stronger.”

He said he did not expect to win the award, because the other nominees “have been published way more than I have”, but he was looking forward to meeting other writers, including Mr Appelfeld.

Students reject boycott

Marcus Dysch — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:30:28 +0100

The National Union of Students has rejected a proposal to join the international boycott movement against Israel.

At a national executive meeting only five NUS officers voted in favour of an anti-Israel motion, with 15 against and three abstentions.

Union of Jewish Students campaigns director Judith Flacks said: “Failing to pass this motion is a positive sign for Jewish students who put their faith in NUS to reject calls like this.

“The policy would have served only to delegitimise Israel and provide no prospect for peace.”

UJS said it had circulated a petition at the conference signed by 200 delegates objecting to a boycott of Israel.

The motion, proposed by Sheffield University and Goldsmiths College, London, called on NUS to lobby governments and universities to terminate contracts with “companies that are complicit in the occupation of the Palestinian territories”.

It also sought to encourage links with Palestinian universities, to introduce a “right to return for all refugees” and to increase sanctions against Israel.

Church agrees to tone down anti-Israel report

Marcus Dysch — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:20:44 +0100

A “truly hurtful” report about Israel is to be rewritten in an attempt to diffuse a row between the Church of Scotland and the Jewish community.

The discussion document compiled by the Church’s church and society council provoked outrage after apparently suggesting that Jewish claims to the land of Israel could be invalidated by the treatment of Palestinians.

Church leaders will vote on whether to adopt the 5,000-word report as policy at its annual general assembly this weekend.

But at a meeting in Edinburgh with a delegation of Jewish community leaders, representatives of the church and society council agreed to tone down the language in the document.

In a joint statement following the meeting, the Jewish groups — which included the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, the Board of Deputies, Movement for Reform Judaism and Rabbis for Human Rights — and the Church said an agreement had been reached for parts of the report to be changed.

“We agreed that the drafting of the report had given cause for concern and misunderstanding of [the Church’s] position, and requires a new introduction to set the context for the report and give clarity about some of the language used,” the statement said.

The alterations will make clear the Church’s “long-held position of the right of Israel to exist” and will condemn “all things that create a culture of antisemitism”.

Board vice-president Jonathan Arkush said: “It was a good meeting with a positive outcome. We set out our deep concerns about the report and we were listened to. The joint statement is the beginning of what we hope will be a much better process of dialogue and understanding.”

The report’s contents had provoked strong criticism from interfaith groups and threatened to cause a breakdown in relations on a par with the fall-out from the Methodist Church boycott of Israel in 2010, which saw the Board cut-off all links with Methodist leaders.

Israel’s ambassador to Britain, Daniel Taub, said the report “not only plays into extremist political positions, but negates and belittles the deeply held Jewish attachment to the land of Israel in a way which is truly hurtful”.

He added that if it was adopted by the Church’s general assembly, it would be a “significant step backwards for the forces of tolerance and peace”.

Hawking’s shame

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:48:46 +0100

Looked at overall, the BDS campaign is miserably unsuccessful. Trade between the UK and Israel is at record levels and growing ever higher. But, on an individual level, there are still those who are willing to single out the Jewish state for boycott.

Whatever sophistry is used by its proponents, the BDS campaign is fundamentally antisemitic. Despite the fact that Israel has by far the best human rights record in the Middle East, let alone compared with nations such as China and Sri Lanka, it is Jews on whom the boycotters focus their attack.

It is sad to have to add Stephen Hawking to the shameful list of boycotters. We had thought better of him.

Hytner: Othello's race 'not a big deal' to the Venetians

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:24:34 +0100

The racism in Othello is not as pronounced as the antisemitism in the Merchant of Venice, the director of the National theatre said this week.

Sir Nicholas Hytner, whose critically acclaimed production of Othello starring Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear is currently selling-out at the National, expressed his view in conversation with JC theatre critic John Nathan at the London Jewish Cultural Centre on Monday evening.

Discussing how the interpretation and reaction to William Shakespeare's work has changed over time, he noted that in 1604, London audiences would have had a very different response to a man with black skin than they did in 1804 or 1904.

"It was written before we had learnt to be as racist as we became," he said. "I give you as evidence of this the Merchant of Venice. Same city, same world, there isn't a page in Merchant of Venice which isn't obsessed with Shylock's Jewishness."

Sir Nicholas, who is only the second person to have run the National Theatre for more than a decade, described Merchant as "an antisemitic play which contains within it a criticism of antisemitism".

"Everybody in the play is antisemitic, they ascribe everything bad that is done to Shylock's Jewishness," he said. "You can't imagine Shylock being appointed commander of the armed forces.

"In Othello it's not a big deal to the Venetian duke and the senators of Venice that they are appointing a Moor. Not many people in Othello are vocally racist."

Sir Nicholas, who announced earlier this year that he was standing down from the National in March 2015, said he hoped his swansong would be a production of a new play by an up and coming writer. Although he gave no indication of who his preferred successor would be, he said it was great "for a theatre to have an artist as chief executive".

His tenure at the National has seen collaborations with Habima, the Israeli theatre company that faced boycott calls when it performed at the Globe Theatre last year. "I don't personally agree with boycotts," he said. "None of my colleagues said let's not work with them."

But he also revealed that as a young pupil of Manchester Grammar School, he initiated his own boycott – of the school's Jewish choir, joining the non-religious one instead. "The standards were not high enough in the Jewish choir so I boycotted it on musical grounds."

West End Israel boycott protest fails to close stores

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 09 May 2013 21:30:43 +0100

Protesters were evicted from two busy stores in central London at the weekend after attempting to demonstrate against the sale of Israeli eco-friendly goods.

Members of the Palestine Place group claimed they “shut down” the Whole Foods store in Kensington and “occupied” the John Lewis store on Oxford Street.

They were targeting the sale of Sodastream drinks machines. The firm is based in Mishor Adumim, an industrial park next to Ma’ale Adumim, the third largest West Bank settlement.

Anti-Zionist activists claim that Palestinians living in villages around the industrial area are prevented from building permanent structures by the Israeli military.

The protests had been promoted online as a major anti-Israel initiative, with details of the targeted shops kept secret until the day of the demo.

But, while the protesters claimed that the Whole Foods shop had to be evacuated after its entrance was blockaded, a Whole Foods spokeswoman said the store had not been forced to close and that it was not evacuated.

Instead, police were called and moved the campaigners outside.

“It was something that had to be dealt with, and it was — swiftly,” said the spokeswoman.

At John Lewis, demonstrators erected tents, meant to symbolise Israeli settlements.

A John Lewis spokeswoman said police were called shortly after the demonstration began and moved the activists off the premises. Normal trading resumed quickly in the ground floor area of the store that was affected.

She added: “Our general manager spoke with the protest organiser and encouraged him to contact him directly in order to have their concerns properly addressed and responded to.”

There was also a demonstration at the EcoStream store in Brighton. It has regularly been targeted since it opened last year.

EcoStream offers customers recyclable household products and SodaStream drinks sold in refillable containers.

Alex Barton, 22, was one of the protesters at the Whole Foods store. He argued that, “Palestinians are being driven from their land to make way for illegal settlements” and that these “are only viable because they are able to export goods to European retailers.

“Whole Foods and John Lewis market themselves as responsible retailers, but there’s nothing ethical about Israeli occupation and apartheid.”

Stephen Hawking’s boycott call sparks galactic row

Zoe Winograd — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:20:55 +0100

Stephen Hawking’s decision to join the academic boycott of Israel has prompted anger from the organisers of a conference he was due to address.

The acclaimed physicist and author of A Brief History of Time was due to be the keynote speaker at the fifth President’s Conference hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres next month. But he has told Mr Peres that he will not be attending “based on his knowledge of Palestine”.

Conference chairman Israel Maimon said: “The academic boycott against Israel is in our view outrageous and improper, certainly for someone for whom the spirit of liberty lies at the basis of his human and academic mission.”

Israel Law Centre, a civil liberties group, told Wired magazine that in order to be consistent, Prof Hawking should now pull the Israeli-designed Intel chip out of the computer that enables him to talk.

A spokesman for anti-boycott group Fair Play commented: “Professor Hawking’s misguided withdrawal from the President’s Conference is both bizarre and unfortunate. President Shimon Peres is one of Israel’s strongest and most consistent advocates for peace.”

There was confusion when a Cambridge University spokesman initially rejected the claim that Prof Hawking was boycotting Israel, saying the scientist had withdrawn on “health grounds, having been advised by doctors not to fly.” Hours later, however, it was confirmed that it was a boycott.

This year’s conference will celebrate Mr Peres’s 90th birthday with guests including former US President Bill Clinton, former President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Barbra Streisand.

Cambridge University: Stephen Hawking to boycott Israel conference

Zoe Winograd — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:59:20 +0100

The University of Cambridge has confirmed that Stephen Hawking is not attending a conference in Jerusalem as part of an academic boycott.

The acclaimed physicist who works at the university was due to be the keynote speaker at the fifth annual "Facing Tomorrow" conference hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres next month.

The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine issued a statement this week that Professor Hawking’s decision was based on his support for the boycott.

"His independent decision is based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there", it said.

The group said the statement had been approved by the professor of mathematics.

Initially a university spokesman had said the 71-year-old scientist had withdrawn on “health grounds, having been advised by doctors not to fly.”

The conference Chairman Israel Maimon said : "The academic boycott against Israel is in our view outrageous and improper, certainly for someone for whom the spirit of liberty lies at the basis of his human and academic mission… The imposition of a boycott is incompatible with open, democratic dialogue."

Stephen Hawking's withdrawal from Israel visit is due to 'health reasons'

Zoe Winograd — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:36:28 +0100

Stephen Hawking has announced that his decision to not attend the Israeli President’s Conference is due to “health reasons” and “not an academic boycott” as previously claimed by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine.

Professor Hawking, world-renowned physicist, was due to head the fifth ‘Facing Tomorrow’ conference hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres in June but he told Mr Peres last week that he will not be attending.

Earlier today, sources claimed that Professor Stephen attributed his decision to a new-found “knowledge of Palestine.”

The information stemmed from a claim made by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine that Professor Hawking had approved a statement saying that: "his independent decision to respect the boycott, is based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there".

According to a University of Cambridge spokesperson , the 71-year-old professor of mathematics has asked the committee to remove the statement.

Stephen Hawking to boycott Israel conference

Zoe Winograd — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:43:26 +0100

Professor Stephen Hawking has pulled out of a conference to be held in Jerusalem as part of an academic boycott of Israel.

Reportedly, the well-known physicist told Israeli President Shimon Peres that he will not be attending the ‘Facing Tomorrow’ conference in June “based on his knowledge of Palestine.”

The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine described it as "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there". The statement came with Professor Hawking’s approval.

Professor Hawking originally agreed to headline the fifth annual conference hosted by Mr Peres which, this year, will also celebrate the President’s 90th birthday.

A Fair Play spokesman said: "Professor Hawking's misguided withdrawal from the President's Conference is both bizarre and unfortunate. President Shimon Peres is one of Israel's strongest and most consistent advocates for peace through negotiation and compromise with the Palestinians, and the President's Conference is a venue for promoting his approach. Professor Hawking could have joined the Conference and explained his views on the conflict in the region, just as many other participants have done. By boycotting the conference, he has thrown away this opportunity and will help nobody."