http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/39927/alderman-disinvited-belfast-isra...
Mr Farrow told Prof Alderman that he had made “a mistake in agreeing to extend an invitation to you Geoffrey without consulting the academics in question”.
If that is the case, one must conclude that Professors Avi Shlaim of St Anthony’s College, Oxford and Beverley Milton Edwards, of Queens University, Belfast, were unwilling to debate with Prof Alderman. Presumably, they were reluctant to have their views contradicted; they were unwilling to undergo proper scrutiny.
However, the debacle reveals some good news. Israel's academic opponents seem to feel that their arguments are weak and as a result, they are unwilling to debate the issues in a public forum. It is not just a matter of cowardice; deep down, they obviously know that they are quite simply wrong.
Of course, it is possible that Mr Farrow has not presented us with the real reason for "the mistake", and if that is the case, then I withdraw the above critique. In such circumstances, it might be totally untrue to suggest that Profs Shlaim and Edwards were unwilling to debate with Prof Alderman and I unreservedly apologize to them.
(Professor Shlaim is a noted critic of Israeli policy, while Professor Edwards is the author of a recent study of Hamas.)
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