Hampshire has now done the right thing
Hampshire has now done the right thing. It has made it unequivocally clear that it did not and will not divest from Israel. Indeed, it will continue to hold stock in companies that do business with Israel as well as with Israeli companies, so long as these companies meet the general standards that Hampshire applies to all of its holdings. As I previously wrote to President Hexter, if Hampshire did the right thing and made its position crystal clear I would urge contributors to continue to contribute to this fine school. I now do so. Dear President Hexter of Hampshire College
Dear President Hexter I appreciate your note and your efforts to clarify the actions of Hampshire. The reality, however, is that the media and much of the world believes that Hampshire has become the first college to divest from Israel. This perception is being used by enemies of Israel to get other universities to divest. I am deeply committed to seeing that bigoted effort fail. Neither Hampshire nor you, nor Mr. Roos has done enough to make it clear that you rejected the SJP's campaign to divest from Israel. Stop contributing to Hampshire College
Several months ago, a rabidly anti-Israel group on the Hampshire College campus began a campaign to try to get the college to divest from six companies that they claim helped "the Israeli occupation of Palestine." Those who came up with this formulation regard all of Israel, including Tel Aviv, Haifa and Ben Gurion Airport, as "occupied Palestine." In other words, their goal is to end the existence of Israel. This divestment effort is part of an international campaign against Israel. Until now, every American university administration has categorically rejected this attempt to single out Israel in a world filled with massive human rights abusers. But Hampshire caved in to student and faculty pressure and as Board of Directors agreed to divest from these six companies along with a series of others that did not meet the standards of Hampshire College. The student group, supported by many faculty members, claimed total victory, issuing a press release that boasted that Hampshire has become the first college in the United States to divest from Israel. It urged other universities to follow its lead. 'Free speech for me, but not for thee'
Sometimes it's hard to determine whether the academic hard left, which spends more time blasting Israeli imperfections than Arab genocides, is living in an Alice in Wonderland Topsy Turvy world or in an Orwellian Newspeak world. In a recent example, a group of hard left radicals at Harvard claim they are being muzzled. At a recent Faculty meeting, Professor J. Lorand Matory, who teaches Anthropology and Afro-American studies, but who spends much of his time bashing Israel, (a country he has never visited) alleged that critics of Israel like him "tremble in fear" when they express their views at Harvard. He submitted a motion stating that "this Faculty commits itself to fostering civil dialogue in which people with a broad range of perspectives feel safe and are encouraged to express their reasoned and evidence-based ideas." Matory's motion received support from other paragons of political correctness, who are well-known for their advocacy of censorship of the "offensive" speech of others, but who are now complaining that there's not enough free speech for them at Harvard. |
 |
 
Combined feed for all JPost.com blogs
Top Rated Posts
Tags:Blogroll |
Comments (7)
