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Academic freedom and politics

From: "Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.ac.il>
To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>, "Ancient Near East Discussion Forum" <ane AT oi.uchicago.edu>, "Aaron L. Katchen" <ajs AT brandeis.edu>, "Amira Meir" <ameir AT huc.edu>, "Amnon Till" <amnont AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il>, "Ariel L. Szczupak" <als-ane AT amis-jlm.co.il>, "avigdor horovitz" <victor AT bgumail.bgu.ac.il>, "Avraham David" <adavid AT vms.huji.ac.il>, "Basil Lourie" <byzros AT infopro.spb.su>, "Bruce Gardner" <b.gardner AT ABDN.AC.UK>, "Chaim Cohen" <chcohen AT bgumail.bgu.ac.il>, <CMFauber AT aol.com>, "Cynthia Edenburg" <Cynthia AT oumail.openu.ac.il>, "David Weisberg" <david_weisberg AT hotmail.com>, "Dr.Aviva Klein-Franke" <Aviva.Klein-Franke AT Uni-Koeln.DE>, "Ed Greenstein" <edgreen AT post.tau.ac.il>, "Ephraim Nissan" <E.Nissan AT gre.ac.uk>, "First Century Judaism Discussion Forum" <ioudaios-l AT Lehigh.EDU>, "'Frank Polak'" <frankha AT post.tau.ac.il>, <hebraisticum AT mail.uni-mainz.de>, "History of the Ancient Mediterranean" <ANCIEN-L AT LISTSERV.LOUISVILLE.EDU>, "H-NET Jewish Studies List" <H-JUDAIC AT h-net.msu.edu>, "Ian Hutchesson" <mc2499 AT mclink.it>, "Isaac Kalimi" <kalimi AT gmx.net>, "Itzik Peleg" <peleg_ik AT ein-hashofet.co.il>, "J Lukinsky" <jolukinsky AT jtsa.edu>, "Jim West" <jwest AT Highland.Net>, "Joseph Tabory" <taborj AT mail.biu.ac.il>, "JSN - H-Hudaic" <ajhyman AT oise.utoronto.ca>, "Lisbeth Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>, "Malcah Yaeger-Dror" <malcah AT u.arizona.edu>, "Menashe Elyashiv" <elyashm AT mail.biu.ac.il>, "Michael Fox" <MFOX AT lss.wisc.edu>, "Michael Zank" <mzank AT bu.edu>, "Ofra Inbar" <ofrain AT beitberl.ac.il>, "Olga Kuminov" <kuminov AT zahav.net.il>, <orion AT mscc.huji.ac.il>, "Prof. Karl Schneider" <schneider_karl AT th-ludwigsburg.de>, "Raymond de Hoop" <rdehoop AT tref.nl>, "Remy Landau" <remylandau AT yahoo.com>, "Robert Biggs" <robert_biggs AT memphis-orinst.uchicago.edu>, "Rochelle I. Altman" <risa AT isis.hol.gr>, "Shalom Paul" <Shalom AT h2.hum.huji.ac.il>, "Shlomith Yaron" <shlomit AT oumail.openu.ac.il>, "Sol Cohen" <cohens AT mail.cjs.upenn.edu>, "Steven Fine" <fine AT bhu.edu>, "World Congress of Jewish Studies" <jewishst AT vms.huji.ac.il>, "Yaffa Binyamini" <yaffabin AT beitberl.ac.il>, "Yael Eiran" <yael_eir AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il>, "Yitschak Sefati" <sefati AT mail.biu.ac.il>
Subject: Academic freedom and politics
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 13:31:51 +0200

This is not a list for political discussion. but of academic discussion and
free interchange of ideas. All academic freedom is based on free interchange
of ideas, whether through personal contact, conferences, correspondence,
articles or monographs. Any attempt to limit or curtail such free
interchange of ideas violates a fundamental principle of academic freedom.
Therefore, any politicization of academia, in whatever direction, except in
the defense of academic freedom, is inexcusable.
It is for this reason that I write the following:
As you may or may not know, a call for a moratorium of all European-Israeli
academic and cultural ties signed by 120 European professors (mainly from
the UK) was published on April 6 in The Guardian. (A similar call has been
initiated in the USA). In response to protest letters by Professor Hillel
Shuval, Dr. Aaron Benavot and Dr. Eva Illouz, which were circulated in
Israel, Europe and North America, individuals were asked to send an email
OPPOSING this initiative.
To further this protest a special web site has been set up to collect
signatories supporting a new statement of opposition. The web site address
is:

http://www.geocities.com/euroisrael.huji.ac.il

A list of all signatories as of April 24 can be found at:

http://euroisrael.huji.ac.il/lists.html

Even if you have sent an email of support previously, I ask you to visit the
web site, read the declaration and submit your name to the new protest.

I also ask that you circulate this information to colleagues and friends
abroad, especially in Europe, who are inclined to oppose the proposed
boycott.

Thank for very much for your support.
Sincerely,
Jonathan D. Safren
Editor of the English Section
Mehqere Hag - A Journal of Jewish Studies
Center for Jewish Holiday Studies
Beit Berl College
Beit Berl Post Office
44905 Israel

Academic freedom and politics, Jonathan D. Safren, 04/26/2002
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- Re: Academic freedom and politics, Jonathan D. Safren, 04/26/2002