All Content

The AUT Boycott: Freedom vs. Academic Freedom

Omar Barghouti and Lisa Taraki 31 May 2005


On May 26, the Association of University Teachers (AUT) in Britain reversed its previous decision — taken on April 22 — to boycott Israeli universities. Intimidation and bullying aside, no tool was as persistently used, abused and bandied about as much as the claim that academic boycott infringes on academic freedom. Freedom to produce and exchange knowledge and idea was deemed sacrosanct regardless of the prevailing conditions. There are two key faults in this argument. Omar Barghouti and Lisa Taraki, founding members of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), comment. 

Palestinian right of return is feasible

Laila El-Haddad 31 May 2005


May marked the 57th anniversary of al-Nakba (The Catastrophe), when Jews declared their state in Palestine and thousands of Palestinians were expelled from their homeland. Today, the Palestinian refugees number more than six million, comprising nearly one-third of the global refugee population. Aljazeera.net interviewed Salman Abu-Sitta, general coordinator of the Right of Return Congress and founder of the Palestine Land Society, on the issues surrounding al-Nakba and the fate of the refugees. Abu-Sitta has worked tirelessly for the Palestinian Right of Return for several decades, and has over 50 publications to his credit. His research has shown that there is ample space in present-day Israel to accommodate all Palestinian refugees. 

EI's Ali Abunimah discusses the Bush-Abbas meeting on Chicago Public Radio

31 May 2005


President Bush met for the first time with Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas, promising $50 million to the Palestinian Authority. This promise of aid money has been called a vote of confidence for Abbas. Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah offered his opinion on the offer on the 26 May 2005 edition of the Worldview program on Chicago Public Radio. 

One Hand Clapping: Applauding Tolerance and Pluralism in Israeli Academia

Sharif Hamadeh 31 May 2005


The walls and outposts of the Zionist enterprise are becoming ever more conspicuous, so too are the contradictions inherent in the 57-year-old experiment of establishing a state that is both “Jewish” and “democratic” in pluralistic Palestine. The recent, albeit short-lived, decision of Britain’s Association of University Teachers (AUT) to impose an academic boycott on Bar-Ilan and Haifa Universities attests to the growing realization abroad that Israel’s policies adversely affect Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line. 

Israeli army kills more Palestinians

Khalid Amayreh 29 May 2005


Israeli occupation soldiers have shot and killed a Palestinian man in the southern West Bank town of Hebron, hours after the killing of another Palestinian near the northern city of Jenin. Palestinian sources and witnesses said Israeli soldiers patrolling the streets of Hebron’s old town on Sunday killed Omar Mahmoud al-Ghafi Hoshiyeh, 200 metres from the Ibrahimi Mosque. Palestinian witnesses told Aljazeera.net there was a verbal confrontation between the victim and one of the Israeli occupation soldiers, after which the soldier shot him seven times. However, an Israeli army spokesman said Hoshiyeh tried to stab a soldier. 

Photostory: The Erez Crossing Point in Gaza

Rima Merriman 29 May 2005


These 10 photos were taken on 22 May 2005 and show the passage from the point of arrival at the border of Gaza to the point of entry into Gaza. A sign at the entrance to the passage says in faulty Arabic: “Continuing with violence results in the withholding of ease of access and luxury for the people.” The passage is similar to the design developed by Temple Grandin (an assistant professor at Colorado State University) for the routing of cattle as they are led to slaughter. The Israelis are on the scene through remote control. When a person exiting from Gaza approaches the turnstile, a disembodied voice, rough and rude, tells him or her to drop bags to the floor, to lift up clothes, turn around, etc. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

25 May 2005


This week Israeli forces wounded a number of Palestinian civilians, including three children. Israeli forces conducted 16 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Houses were raided and 14 Palestinian civilians were arrested by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Israeli forces used a Palestinian civilian as a human shield while searching his house in al-Mughraqa village in the central Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have continued to close a number of roads and border crossings in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the current Intifada and IOF arrested 14 Palestinian civilians, including three children, at military checkpoints in the West Bank. 

Situation of workers in occupied Palestine continues to deteriorate

27 May 2005


Despite a new climate of dialogue among Israelis and Palestinians, conditions of life for workers and their families in the occupied Arab territories continue to be extremely hard, according to a report issued by the International Labour Office (ILO). While domestic output grew in 2004 following four years of recession in the Palestinian economy, the unemployment rate in the occupied Arab territories increased to close to 26 per cent, reaching a record 224,000 unemployed, says the report. Fewer than half of all men of working age and only 10 per cent of women of working age are employed. As a result, every employed person in the region supports six persons in the total population. 

Take No Prisoners: The Fatal Shooting of Palestinians by Israeli Forces During Arrest Operations

26 May 2005


During the second intifada, Israel formally adopted a policy of assassinating Palestinians suspected of membership in armed organizations waging battle against it. In an attempt to counter the sharp criticism against this policy, Israel argued, among other things, that targeted assassinations were only carried out when it was unable to apprehend the persons targeted for assassination. According to B’Tselem’s figures, since the beginning of 2004, Israelis security forces have killed eighty-nine Palestinians during operations that the defense establishment refers to as arrest operations. At least seventeen of the persons killed were not wanted by Israel, but were civilians who were not suspected by Israel of having committed any offense. In addition, at least forty-three of those killed were unarmed, or were not attempting to use their arms against Israeli security forces at the time they were killed. None of these cases were investigated. 

Half-blind 15-year-old boy faces long jail sentence

26 May 2005


Zaki Mohammed Mansour (15) of Saffa village, West Ramallah, in the West Bank of Occupied Palestine was released on “bail” of 20 000 shekels (about $4800) two days ago. Zaki, who has been charged with making a roadblock and throwing stones, has lost two months of school this year. There is a strong possibility that when Zaki is called for final judgement in his case in about one month’s time, that he will either get a prison sentence or he will have to pay a hefty fine of 5,000 or 10,000 shekels, which will be deducted from the 20,000 shekels bail money he has paid.