Double Moral Standards

The UK University and College Union’s double moral standards

Jonathan Dahoah Halevi *

At its annual conference on May 28, 2008, the University and College Union, the largest trade union of academics and related staff in the UK, proposed a vote to reintroduce an academic boycott of Israel. The proposed motion asked members “to consider the moral and political implications of educational links with Israeli institutions, and to discuss the occupation with individuals and institutions concerned, including Israeli colleagues with whom they are collaborating.”

Israel's academia has been targeted in recent years by the UCU, which regards imposing a boycott as taking a moral stand against the “Israeli occupation” of Palestinian territories and as a way of exerting pressure on the Israeli government. The motion reportedly demands that Israeli academics denounce Israel's policy as a condition for normal academic contact. Silence is perceived as complicity, even though academicians play no official role in decision-making in Israel.

The adoption of high moral standards is praiseworthy. However, the UCU's position toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is inconsistent. In sharp contrast to its harsh criticism of Israel, it has never condemned the Hamas government's terrorist policy or the daily terrorist attacks from the Gaza Strip against Israeli targets.

The UCU's moral standard is double. Following a decision by its Congress 2007, Palestinian academics were invited to take part in a speaking tour of UK universities and colleges. Four members of the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees attended meetings across the UK in April 2008, representing the Palestinian universities of Bir Zeit (Ramallah), Al-Najah (Nablus) and Bethlehem. The UCU-PFUUPE discussions concentrated on promoting cooperation and supporting Palestinian academic institutions, ignoring the strong Palestinian terrorist organization presence there.

During the second Intifada Al-Najah University was rightly called the Suicide Bombers' University, and hundreds of Al-Najah students are operatives of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the PFLP and other Palestinian terrorist organizations. Scores became suicide bombers and involved in terrorist attacks against civilian Israeli targets. The student union at Al-Najah has traditionally been controlled by Hamas and its activists use the university's facilities to preach radical Islamic ideology and recruit new members. In recent years, student union chairmen have also held high positions in Hamas's terrorist-military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Qais Adwan for example. Hamas students, brandishing guns and wearing explosive belts, used to organize demonstrations at the university to extol suicide bombings, including those committed by their peers.

Hamas is also proud in its strong presence in Bir Zeit University. On April 23, 2008 Hamas published an official announcement praising its student organization, the Islamic Bloc, for its remarkable achievements in the student union elections. Hamas students from Bir Zeit and Bethlehem Universities were involved in terrorist attacks against Israel, including dispatching suicide bombers to carry out attacks in Israeli cities.

The situation is the same in all the Palestinian academic institutions in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. The Islamic University in Gaza is controlled by Hamas. The University's president, Jammal Al-Khoudari, was officially supported by Hamas in his campaign for election to parliament in 2006. Prominent deans and professors are well-known Hamas leaders, such as Dr. Nazzar Abd Al-Qadir Rayyan, Dr. Atef Adwan, Dr. Ahmed Abu Halabia, Dr. Yunis Al-Astal, Dr. Saleh Al-Riqab and Ismail Radwan.

Rayyan also served as commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip. His son Ibrahim, 17, carried out a suicide bombing attack in the Israeli community of Elei Sinai on October 2, 2001. When Dr. Rayyan was informed of his son's death he said (according to the Hamas Website), “Today Ibrahim's wedding is taking place. He is the first jihadist in my family. I'm proud of him and his deeds, because the nation needs more [sacrifices]… Ibrahim is a man, although young. I would expect any youngster like him to make the same sacrifice and even more for the sake of the nation. He was raised on the love of jihad and istishhad [martyrdom for the sake of Allah].”

Palestinian universities are a breeding ground for the terrorist organizations. The decision to improve relations with the Palestinian universities while considering a boycott of Israeli institutions should raise questions about the UCU's moral standards and genuine motives.

* Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi is a senior researcher at the Middle East and radical Islam at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He is co-founder of the Orient Research Group Ltd. and a former advisor to the Policy Planning Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs .

U.K. GOVERNMENT CONTINUES OPEN ANTI-ISRAEL POSTURE

Blogmaster's 2 shekles: The blackballing of Moshe Feiglin by the U.K. should be taken as a complement. It seems that Israelis who speak their mind and tell it like it is are either banned from Britan or the British Government issues groundless warrants of arrest for our political and military leaders. Israel should cease to do business with the U.K., close British-owned (non Israeli) businesses and deport the Brits back to Mother England. This action is a backhanded slap by the ignorant leftist British Government and should not go unanswered.

Feiglin banned from entering Britain
Jonny Paul, Jerusalem Post Correspondent, London,
THE JERUSALEM POST
Mar. 9, 2008

The UK's Home Office has banned Likud central committee member Moshe Feiglin from entering Britain.
A letter sent to Feiglin from the office of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, and published in this week's Jewish Chronicle, says the minister has excluded him from the country, even though he had no plans to visit.
"I am writing to advise you that following the London bombings in July 2005, the home secretary announced a list of particular activities that would normally lead to a person being excluded or deported from the UK on the grounds that their presence in the country is not conducive to the public good," the letter reads.
The unacceptable activities listed in the two-page letter include "writing, producing, publishing or distributing material; public speaking including preaching; running a Web site and using a position of responsibility" to "foment or justify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs; seek to provoke others to terrorist acts; foment other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others to serious criminal acts and foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK."
The home secretary concluded that Feiglin should be "excluded" from the UK on the grounds that his presence "would not be conducive to the public good."
According to the Jewish Chronicle, the Home Office would not elaborate on why or how the decision was made. The letter did, however, cite a number of extracts from Feiglin's articles.
In an extract from an article posted on the Arutz Sheva Web site, Feiglin is quoted as saying: "In order to declare that we are right, we have to declare war. It's not the Arabs who are murdering mothers, but those merciful people who gave weapons to the murderers. It's not the Arabs who are burning babies, but the peaceniks who recognized the justice of the Arabs' cause. It's not the cruel people who are bombing us, but the merciful people who showed them mercy. War now! A holy war now."
In another extract, on the Israel Science and Technology homepage, Feiglin is quoted as saying: "The basis of Islam is not the quality of mercy, but of justice. If Christianity bridges the gap between sin and morals by automatic benevolence and absolution (that over long periods were sold by clergy), Islam does this in a far simpler way. It abolishes both benevolence and morals - their holy Muhammad is strong, cruel and deceitful."
These comments brought the leader of the Likud's dissident Jewish Leadership faction "within the scope of the list of unacceptable behaviors," the letter read.
"It is considered that you are seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK," the letter added.
There is no right to appeal the ban, but such decisions are reviewed every three years.
Feiglin told the Jewish Chronicle: "This is all very strange, because I have no plans to visit Britain either in the short or the long term. I have never been banned from anywhere else, in fact I am giving a lecture in Canada at the end of this month."
Earlier this month, British authorities granted permission to Ibrahim Mousawi, chief foreign new editor for Hizbullah's Al-Manar television station in Lebanon, to enter the UK to participate in a number of political events.
Accused of anti-Semitism and incitement, and recently banned from entering Ireland, his television station aired a 29-part "documentary" in 2004 in which it depicted stereotypical Jews hatching a plot for Jewish world control and domination.
Following the 9/11 attacks, Al-Manar alleged that 4,000 Jewish employees did not turn up to work at the World Trade Center that day and that the attack was masterminded by Israel.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1204546432524&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Copyright 1995- 2008 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/

Jewish Summer Camp Attacked in Canada

Police investigating suspicious fire at Jewish summer camp near Montreal

Canadian Press

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

MONTREAL (CP) - Police are investigating a fire at a Jewish summer camp north of Montreal that destroyed one of its residences.

No one was injured in the blaze in Val-David in the Laurentian mountains.

Investigators said Tuesday they have yet to determine whether the fire was deliberately set, but say they have several clues that suggest arson.

"The investigators... know for sure it's a suspicious fire, but we cannot say right now if it's an arson," said Quebec provincial police spokeswoman Isabelle Gendron.

Adding to their suspicions, Gendron said the summer camp was the site of a smaller fire last Saturday.

"At that time there was not much damage, but with the fire that occurred last night there is nothing left," she said.

Investigators believe someone broke into one of the camp's buildings over the weekend, prior to the first fire.

Val-David is about a one-hour drive from Montreal and is the site of several summer camps for Orthodox and Hasidic Jews.

BOYCOTT ISRAEL????