DAVID COLLIER: ANTI-ISRAEL CIRCUS OF HATE COMES TO UNIVERSITY IN IRELAND
Corked is a word that defines something special turning rotten. A wine that is flawed due to a damaged or broken cork. In this case, it is perhaps fitting that Oren Ben Dor chose UCC, or University College Cork, as the new site for the failed academic hate-fest from two years ago. The hate fest, the venom, the anti-Israel activism posing as academic thought, the deception, the rush to be top of the ‘Israel hating’ pile. This is what happens when academia is not preserved properly. When unwanted and unsavoury elements are allowed to infest and spoil the natural academic process. The proposed conference is effectively ‘corked’.http://david-collier.com/ben-dors-circus-hate/
What do you do when on the one hand you want to adhere to the strongest principles of free speech, but on the other believe that academia is being used for something illegitimate.
For two years, the organisers of the disgraceful Southampton conference have had the ability to rent the local hall, pull these activists together, and conduct this vile call for the destruction of Israel in private. This is not good enough for them.
Almost all the academics involved are activists. People who are apparently on a mission to bring about the end of the democratic state of Israel. These people, in the vast majority, see Israel as an Apartheid, Nazi-like state. The conference is seen by these people, as part of their activism.
Therefore, it is not the ‘in gathering’ of like-minded people that is important. It is not about the discussion, but rather how the output can best be utilised to further delegitimise Israel and strengthen their personal cause. They need this to be in a university because they must have the academic stamp of approval.
It is that stamp that I believe should be denied them. They have the right to be activists, they have the right to be wrong, they have the right to gather together many hate-minded, vicious and sinister people to create fiction, spread lies, distort history and attempt to pass on whatever nasty disease they have all caught. They just should not be permitted to do this as if it were a legitimate academic exercise.
I have worked on the list of academics. I have updated the list from Southampton, added new material and included the new speakers.
I have also created a table, which is available at the bottom of this article. I think the table highlights precisely why this conference is so troublesome. Almost every single person on the list is an anti-Israel activist.
Out of the 47 present, there are only two who sit on the other side of the fence. Professor Alan Johnson from BICOM and Professor Geoffrey Alderman. Neither had been on the cast list for the original conference at Southampton. They were added later to present some type of Zionist argument when the public outcry began. I imagine the same reasoning is taking place here. In other words they are here to oppose the conference, in their own way.
I believe the action is misplaced. As can be seen from the table below. The concentration of hatred is the best argument against the conference itself. It delegitimises its own position through its clear one sided nature. Their presence, however minimal, dilutes the visible concentration. Because their inclusion isn’t the intent of the organisers, it’s impact is self-defeating.
Additionally, if the academic stamp is the legitimising factor for the organisers, anything that further legitimise the illegitimate is self-defeating. Their presence allows the organiser to declare that the conference was balanced, that Zionists were present, however ridiculous such a statement may be. For these reasons, despite my respect for both these academics, and the work they do, I believe their choice to be in error.
The list of ‘academics’ is present here. There is a table underneath.
IMPORTANT: This is a complicated exercise, that crosses nations, continents and language barriers. I have done my best to ensure accuracy, but especially with academics who produce their work mainly in languages other than English, this is a difficult task to complete. If anyone can provide either corrections or *additions* then please do not hesitate to contact me. I apologise in advance for any errors.
Those speaking at Cork
Dr. Anthony Löwstedt
Media Communications Department, Webster University Vienna
Lowestedt claims that 98% of “all gross human rights violations so far committed in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are sole responsibilities of the Israeli Jews, and talks of Israeli apartheid. In that piece he references “The Israeli state death squads” and claims that ““In many cases, it is enough for a Palestinian to get killed if s/he even looks at a military installation or a soldier the wrong way”. He claims “the supreme goal is to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from Palestine” although whilst in Israel he “did not get to discuss this matter in detail with Israelis”. Riddled with inaccuracies such as “you must be a Jew to serve in the Israeli army and if you are not a Jew you cannot serve in the army”, distortions and statistical headstands, these pieces indicate that Lowstedt’s opinion is driven fiercely by his internal bias rather than through some academic process of research.
Dr. Azmi Bishara
General Director, Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, and former Member of the Knesset. A name on this list that was not on the list at the original Southampton Conference. Bishara, was once an elected member (MP) of Israel’s Knesset. After the Israel /Lebanon war of 2006, Bishara went to Lebanon and praised the actions of the terrorist group Hezbollah. Bishara is accused of giving Hezbollah information on strategic locations in Israel that should be attacked with rockets during the 2006 Lebanon War, in exchange for huge amounts of money. He fled Israel to avoid trial. Bishara does not just support BDS as a tactic, he discusses the need to “escalate the struggle in Palestine into a full confrontation (uprising / intifada) with the occupation”.
Dr. Blake Alcott
Independent Researcher
Alcott’s article ‘a two-state solution is a Zionist solution’ clearly states his position as he declares that the Zionist goal is for ‘eretz israel’ to be ‘Araberrein’, which again sees Nazi terminology used in descriptions of Zionism. Calls Noam Chomsky a ‘soft zionist’ and actively supports the boycott. Hypocritically, Alcott finds bias uncomfortable when it doesn’t suit him. Speaks of Israeli Apartheid and signs articles as a ‘Pro-Palestinian activist’.
Dr. Catriona Drew
School of Law, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Unsure of her academic position as still only has one article listed on the SOAS site. Called on the UK to stop the violence in Gaza. Teaches on the conflict at SOAS, so that cannot be good. She has a book due to be published that may spread more light on her outlook. Does not publicly appear to participate in BDS.
Dr. Ghada Karmi
Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter
Writes frequently on Palestinian issues in newspapers and magazines. Karmi likes using the term ‘genocide’ or ‘genocidal’. According to the Wiki page, Karmi clearly believes that “Israel does not deserve to continue as a state”. In favour of a one state solution she notes “would be the end of a Jewish state in our region”. Karmi openly calls herself an activist, describing Zionism a “loathsome” ideology. Karmi incredibly declares in the same piece that the radicalization and extremism of Arab societies “can be traced back to Israel.” Apparently another academic with a mental block, she declares there were no pogroms in Arab lands, and actively promotes the boycott.
Dr. Haitam Suleiman
Al-Quds University Jerusalem
Worked together on a paper with Professor Robert Home that suggests Israel’s story now lies ‘within a colonial and postcolonial narrative’ and explains the article is the outcome of field research undertaken by a Palestinian Arab living in Israel (Suleiman).
Adv. Yoella Har-Shefi
Legal adviser for the Ani-Israeli Association and a human rights activist
Har-Sheffi is apparently not a practicing University Academic, so beyond understanding she is in the legal field, there is little to find on her in English. She did argue for the ban of Wagner to be lifted, was ‘fired’ from her mainstream paper as a journalist for her beliefs and openly deplored Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Called on the UK government to recognise Palestine.
Dr. Hatem Bazian
Departments of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies at Berkeley University of California (UC Berkeley)
A Palestinian activist, Bazian’s ‘reading list’ for Palestine highlights how he views balance and integrity in academic research. From an online search, Bazian seems one of the most extreme of the ‘esteemed academics’ on display at the conference. Talks of Apartheid, Ethnic Cleansing, Murder and Oppression. Called for an international day of action for Palestine, is an activist on Twitter and Facebook and actively calls for a boycott. Both Campus Watch and the ADL have dealt with his extremism.
Dr. Jeff Handmaker
The International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University (EUR)
Suggests companies such as IKEA are complicit in a serious human rights violation, lending support to the settlement enterprise. Apartheid, war crimes, cover-up’s, quite the collection. Handmaker has argued that ‘true humanity’ will be found when “the Israeli regime is held accountable for decades of repression, dispossession and regional destabilisation.” Handmaker has often written for the anti-Israel propaganda rag, the Electronic Intifada.
Dr. John Reynolds
Law Department, National University of Ireland Maynooth
Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway. Reynolds participation in a 2013 paper ‘Apartheid, International Law, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory’. He began his career as a researcher for Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq. Seems to be one of those who activism led to a career in academia. States elsewhere that Israel is a colonial power, the resistance is understandable, the rockets are understandable and Reynolds supports the boycott
Dr. Marcelo Svirsky
School of Humanities & Social Inquiry LHA Faculty, University of Wollongong
Clearly an activist. Only need to read this piece ‘From Auschwitz To Sderot: The Decline Of Our Humanity‘ to understand his position and how far he is willing to go to bring Nazi analogies into the equation. Actively supports the boycott.
Dr. Mazen Masri
City Law School, City University of London. Has served as legal advisor to the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Masri is active in supporting the boycott and uses parallels of apartheid to describe the Israeli system.
Dr. Michael Kearney
School of Law, University of Sussex
International Law speech that deals with Israeli ‘apartheid’, an article on Israeli ‘war crimes’. Has spoken of Israel ‘priming for genocide of Palestinians’. Supports boycott. Another academic who served as a researcher for Al-Haq (Dr John Reynolds) along the way to his academic position.
Dr. Mutaz Qafisheh
College of Law, Hebron University
Wrote on Palestine in the UN. Was a Legal Advisor and Project Manager for the Palestinian Legislative Council. Compared Israel to Apartheid.
Dr. Ronit Lentin
Retired Associate Professor in Sociology, Trinity College Dublin
Wiki states Lentin “has published extensively on racism”, described by BDS Sydney as an ‘activist’, Lentin has said “Israel is determined to eliminate the Palestinians”, “a logic of genocide”. Actively supports the boycott. Speaks of Apartheid.
Dr. Ruba Salih
Centre for Gender Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Palestinian academic, has written and researched Palestinian issues, including this piece on the refugees. Opposes sanctions against Iran as sanctions hurt the children and the weak, supports boycott against Israel. Was the academic involved in the discussion with Pappe, when Pappe admitted BDS was not a call from within. Has compared Israel to South African Apartheid.
Dr. Salman Abu-Sitta
Palestine Land Society
Abu-Sitta is a Palestinian researcher. He writes about Palestinian refugees and the Palestinian right of return. States “Palestine is the patrimony of Palestinians. No amount of spin, Hasbara, or Za’bara, myths, bombs, F16s, roadblocks, siege, walls, ethnic cleansing and Apartheid will change that. Remember that”. Supports a boycott. Has suggested Israel’s actions “replicates the brutality” of the Nazis and that Gaza has been subject to “incremental Genocide”.
Dr. Valentina Azarova
Centre for Global Public Law, Koç Üniversitesi
Quite an academic backstory but hardly one that suggests academic even-handedness. Actively supports the boycott and believes the solution to the issues are to be found in the international criminal courts.
Dr. Victor Kattan
Law Faculty, National University of Singapore
Actively supports the Palestinian position. Called for papers on BDS and actively supports the boycott. Has written for the PSC magazine on Apartheid.
Elias Khouri
Novelist, Beirut
A Lebanese novelist who was not on the list at Southampton. Has a section on his wiki page on his political activism and enlisted in Fatah in the late 1960’s. Openly supports a boycott. Has called Israel ‘Apartheid’. In his work, Khouri suggests Israel needs to suffer defeat (lose a war?) to become ‘human’. Talks of ‘the Israeli Nazi’ going on to argue that Netanyahu. belonging to a “fascist party”, and a ’Neo-Nazi’, follows the “path of [Ze’ev] Jabotinsky” who “did not conceal his fascination of the Nazis.”
Joni Assi
Community arts activist
A difficult one to track down. Also not at Southampton. There is a ‘Joni Assi’ from the An-Najah University, Nablus. Also a Joni Assi from Berzeit. They may be one and the same. There does not seem to be much from Assi in English at all. Certainly not with this spelling.
Mr. Eitan Bronstein Aparicio
Co-Director of De-Colonizer and Founder of Zochrot
Described as a ‘de-colonizer’ and in that video says the system meets the definition of Apartheid. One of the founders of Zochrot. Bronstein Aparicio Actively supports the boycott.
Ms. Lea Tsemel
Lawyer and human rights activist
Described by the BBC as “the woman who defends suicide bombers”. Has stated the country took a cue from Nazi Germany–“the same racism, the same hatred, the same ideology of super race. Tsemel has supported the boycott. Suggested the situation in Israel is Apartheid.
Ms. Mia Tamarin
Law School, University of Kent
Israeli who studied in the UK and applied for conscientious objector status and became an activist on her return to Israel. Beyond doing the rounds, being held aloft by those on the other side of the great divide and clearly suited to the agenda, one can only ask academically, what she is doing there.
Ms. Ofra Yeshua-Lyth
Writer, journalist, and member of Jaffa One State Group.
Yeshua Lyth says that a secular democratic state is actually a call for the annihilation of Israel, a call she supports. Claims Israel built an apartheid state on the basis of religion and ethnicity. Actively supports the boycott.
Ms. Salma Karmi Ayyub
Barrister
Is or has been an external consultant for the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq. Writes frequently about possible Israeli war crimes, taking Israel to the ICC is described as a leading Palestinian activist who discusses and defends BDS in this video. Pushes arguments about Apartheid.
Professor Alan Johnson
Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM). One of two academics who have chosen to come and present an argument for Israel because it is a biased conference. Not originally on the list for Southampton, but then added once the public uproar about the one sided nature had begun.
Professor Brad Roth
College of Liberal Arts & Science and School of Law, Wayne State University
Actively supported a boycott. There was little online when I compiled the list for Southampton, and not much has changed since.
Professor Cheryl Harris
School of Law, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
Another not on the list for Southampton. Harris is Harris Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Professor in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Took part in a one day conference at UCLA called “the pedagogical challenges of teaching Palestine at the university”, with her speech described by Campus Watch as “not only paranoid, but groundless.” Seems only to have joined the anti-Israel bandwagon at this point.
Professor Geoffrey Alderman
Politics and Contemporary History, University of Buckingham
Geoffrey Alderman is the second academic not to fit the anti-Israel mould of the conference. Like Johnson his presence is an act of defiance in the face of an anti-Israel tsunami.
Professor George Bisharat
Hastings College of the Law University of California
Bisharat is a Palestinian-American professor of law who clearly supports a one state solution. He believes Israel is committing war crimes and calls for a boycott of Israeli apartheid. Bisharat continually uses Nazi references, talks of massacres and master plans and frequently addresses complex historic events with simple sound bites, one sided propaganda, and outright distortions.
Professor Haim Bresheeth
Centre for Media Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Another scholar who is a self-described activist. In a piece that I am sure even he may consider foolish today Bresheeth states that Israel can only be explained by the many decades of instrumental colonialism, a place where to be ‘pro Israeli’ is to be foolish. That Israel will only relent under the most intense political, financial and cultural pressure from the world community. That pressure is now developing swiftly, and is now more likely than ever to lead to the collapse of the apartheid state in the Middle East. Actively supported the boycott. In the two years since Southampton, I saw Bresheeth at an Ilan Pappe event. He spoke of the need to entirely dismantle every element of Zionism. Also compares Israeli behaviour to the way Nazis treated Jews.
Professor Ilan Pappe
Department of History, University of Exeter
Hardly needs an introduction, also described as an activist. I have seen Pappe perform at several events, and for extremism, he rarely disappoints. He pushes BDS at every opportunity. He is the author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006). Firmly believes Israel is racist, apartheid, an ethnically cleansing state and so on. Suggests Israel has committed genocide. Admits BDS was not a call from within. Just as importantly the video highlights Pappe seems willing to hide the truth when necessary. Also stated “indeed the struggle is about ideology, not about facts”. Of Pappe, Benny Morris said this: “At best, Ilan Pappe must be one of the world’s sloppiest historians; at worst, one of the most dishonest. In truth, he probably merits a place somewhere between the two.”
Professor Joel Kovel
Independent Researcher
Unaffiliated Researcher. Another academic referred to as a ‘political activist’. Kovel’s 2007 book Overcoming Zionism argues that “the creation of Israel was a mistake”. Argues that Israel practices ‘state-sponsored racism’ fully as incorrigible as that of apartheid South Africa and deserving of the same resolution. Has been active in calling for a boycott of Israel.
Professor John Strawson
School of Law, University of East London
Strawson held a previous post at Birzeit University and appears as a signee on anti-Israeli declarations. Strawson was the first academic on the original Southampton list who seems to reject the label Apartheid and the boycott.
Professor Kevin Jon Heller
School of Law, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Another academic from SOAS, he states here he is “generally wary of academic boycotts“, so it would be interesting to know how he voted in the recent SOAS wide boycott vote that saw a 60-40% split amongst ‘SOAS staff’. Heller not as rabid as his colleagues, but still maintains a clear fascination with tweets such as “Israel doesn’t need tunnels. It sows #terror through bombs, artillery, missiles, tanks, ground troops”.
Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian
Faculty of Law/Institute of Criminology and the School of Social Work and Public Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Talks of policies of fear and colonialism, politicises the internal violence against Palestinian women by suggesting “Colonialism is empowering killers and sustaining internal crimes through bureaucratic and legal means”. Is part of the pro-Palestinian speaking circuit, incredibly suggests here that ‘ Rape and other forms of sexual violence against Palestinian women have always been an element of the settler colonial state’s attempts to destroy and eliminate indigenous Palestinians from their land’. Recently discussed Israeli Apartheid in the introduction to a book about Israeli State crimes.
Professor Nur Masalha
Centre for Religion and History, St. Mary’s University
Frequently described as a Palestinian activist online. Supports the general divestment and the academic boycotts. Quotes Tutu in his paper Remembering the Palestinian Nakba: “Israel was practicing apartheid in its policies towards the Palestinians”
Professor Oren Ben-Dor
Law School, University of Southampton, UK
Oren Ben-Dor is in my opinion one of the ‘darkest’ characters at the conference. One of the organisers and ‘hosts’ for the event, he has claimed “Israeli Apartheid is the Core of the Crisis”, going on of course to claim “Only when this realization sinks in will it be possible to envision a stable political solution–a single state over all historic Palestine”. Ben Dor actively supports the boycott and another piece against the silencing of Gilad Atzmon, provide a wonderful insight into the hypocrisy and double standards of leading academics who promote the Israeli boycott. But it is in his discussions on Jewishness, the holocaust and Nazis, that Ben Dor takes the reader into some truly dark places. There is a 25 minute video, that is highly disturbing for those with the stomach to watch. This single quote “”It is the denial that there is something so Jewish in that which has provoked the holocaust, and the dealing with which has been so successfully postponed by the holocaust”, should provide much food for thought. It should be remembered that it is this academic, fixated with ‘Jewishness’, that has been the driving force for this conference to take place.
Professor Penny Green
School of Law, Queen Mary University of London
Not sure where to start with this one. Was not at Southampton. Considers Israeli government ‘criminal’ and openly calls for boycott. Perhaps the worst signal of Green’s standing in the Israel hating community was the notorious UNHRC shortlisted her for a 6-year term as the world body’s investigator of “Israel’s violations.” Has compared Israel to Apartheid and Islamic State. She asked why the UK did not ‘bomb Israel’.
Professor Richard Falk
Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Research Fellow of the Orfalea Centre of Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Another one that needs little introduction, with his own personal wiki section on the conflict. Has compared Israel’s policies to the Nazi’s and wrote an article called “Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust”. Actively supports the boycott, calling it a ‘civic duty’. His latest book ‘Palestine Horizon: Toward a Just Peace’, is about to be published.
Professor Robert Home
Law School, Anglia Ruskin University
He worked together on a paper with Haitam Suleiman, that suggests Israel’s story now lies ‘within a colonial and postcolonial narrative’. At Southampton, they were presenting the paper together. At the present time, the full programme is not up for the conference at Cork, and so I cannot be sure if this is the intention this time.
Professor Robert Wintemute
Law School, King’s College London
Wintemute is one of the new arrivals to this conference. He certainly has supported the rights of BDS. Has signed on petitions for the academic boycott. I think the most important element of Wintemute’s position is detailed in a post he made concerning Israeli LGBT rights. He states he has ‘taken up’ the Palestinian cause and goes on “in 2010, I stopped citing positive developments in Israeli law with regard to LGBT human rights. They add relatively little to developments elsewhere and, in my opinion, are overwhelmed, tainted and discredited by Israel’s negative record on Palestinian human rights.” Not only does this self-identify Wintemute as an activist, it discredits the academic position entirely. Presents “legal backing” for Israel as an “apartheid state” during Apartheid week on campus.
Professor Ugo Mattei
Distinguished Professor of Law, and Alfred and Hanna Fromm Chair in International and Comparative Law, University of California, Hastings College of the Law
Signed the ‘One State Declaration’ (A call for the end of Israel). For those who still fail to grasp this position, Israel will not voluntarily choose to end itself. Those pushing for this, intentionally or not, are calling for the total and violent destruction of the Jewish State and the genocide of all those Jews who would try to defend it.
Professor Virginia Tiley
Professor of Political Science, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Wrote a book called ‘the One State Solution’ and led a research team that “found that Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are consistent with colonialism and apartheid”. This piece is a must read to understand Tilley’s mind-set, and she uses Nazi comparison’s without hesistation. Tilley actively supports boycott.
Professor Yakov Rabkin
Department of History, University of Montréal
Another dark character who I have seen speak at events in the two years since Southampton. Author of a book A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism. Claims Israel’s ‘turn to the right’ is now termed fascist by ‘the mainstream’ and Israel has “become a beacon for right-wing movements around the world thanks to a gamut of ideological, political, economic and military values contained in political Zionism”. Has stepped up his anti-Zionist activity since Southampton. Was recently in the UK to promote his latest book, ‘What is Modern Israel’. Fights against the anti-Semitic label of the boycott. Talks at BDS events about Israeli ‘Apartheid’. Uses this quote in his latest book “As long as hundreds of Palestinians are not being lined up and shot, but are killed by Israelis only one a day, are we Jews free from worrying about morality, justice? Has Nazism become the sole norm by which Jews will judge evil, so that anything that is not its exact duplicate is considered by us as morally acceptable? Is that what the Holocaust has done to Jewish moral sensibility?”
Professor Yosefa Loshitzky
Centre for Media Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Loshitzky is currently writing a book called ‘Just Jews? Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Contemporary Culture and Beyond’. Make of that what you will. Talks about how Israelis enjoy the suffering of Palestinians, uses Nazi metaphors to describe the conflict and actively supports the boycott.
The table
Table of Academic / contributors for the Cork event.
The academics are the ones listed in full on the event website. The institutions, where relevant are those listed on the same page.
I chose to highlight four separate indicators of the contributor’s activity with regards to their attitudes on the Israel /Arab conflict.
Once again. This is a complicated exercise, that crosses nations, continents and language barriers. I have done my best to ensure accuracy, but especially with academics who produce their work mainly in languages other than English, this is a difficult task to complete. If anyone can provide either corrections or *additions* then please do not hesitate to contact me. I apologise in advance for any errors.
BDS:
Whether the contributor had at any point signed up for any level of BDS activity, or contributed inside a setting that was promoting BDS. I do not distinguish between boycott of settlements and boycott of Israel, because the BDS movement does not distinguish them.
Activist:
Sometimes this was simple, Pappe for example, self -describes as an activist. Performance in a non-academic setting, such as promoting the cause inside a Palestine Solidarity Campaign meeting is taken as activism. So too is continually writing for outlets such as Electronic Intifada.
Apartheid:
The first of two columns that delegitimise the academic standing of the activist. Israel is not an Apartheid State. Israel controls the lands it captured during a war in 1967, which includes those people who were living there. This is a conflict situation between competing claims. To attempt to apply the Apartheid label to Israel, is to highlight that activism, rather than academia is the driving force of their output. As Israel is not, nor can it be described as Apartheid, then the attempt to label it as such is a strategic move in the delegitimisation campaign. If the vast majority (over 71%%) of those participating, have incorrectly applied this label, solely because it is strategically important for their ’cause’ for them to do so, then this figure ably highlights the lack of academic honesty present at the conference.
Genocide / Nazi
The second column that destroys the academic standing of the conference. Israel, despite the headlines it receives, is a low intensity conflict, with relatively few casualties. Not far from Israel, more people are dying in months, than have died in this conflict since 1967. Israel’s own casualty figures, show that the conflict is two-sided. Therefore, any attempt to use the word ‘genocide’ or to compare Israeli actions to those of the Nazis clearly shows that the person responsible has no clear analytical frame of mind on the subject of Israel. I chose not to distinguish between referencing genocide in a discussion about Israel and clearly describing Israel’s activities as matching Nazi behaviour, even though, in most current definitions of antisemitism, the Nazi comparison crosses the line.
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