Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Prominent Norwegian University to Vote on Israel Boycott [Candace de Russy]
In a move that would be the first of its kind at a European university,
reports the
Jerusalem Press, the governing board of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) will vote next week on a proposal to boycott all Israeli academic institutions and their representatives.
Among those protesting the proposed boycott are NTNU professor Bjørn Alsberg, who argues that it it not "the role of the university . . . to make political statements on behalf of everybody [at the institution]" and that if the university wields a "boycott as a weapon . . . [it] would also have to be critical towards other countries violating human rights."
University of Haifa's Rector, Prof. Yossi Ben-Artzi, states that "academic boycotts serve only to harm academic freedom, impede intellectual advancement, and offend universal values."
And, in a letter to the president of NTNU's Board of Directors, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's director for international relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, writes — judiciously: "Never since [Vidkun] Quisling [a Norwegian army officer and politician who collaborated with Nazi forces in Norway] has there been such academic prejudice in Norway, and never since Hitler has any University rector in Europe granted it his personal blessing."
The Board should reject this boycott.
Hat tip: Winfield Myers.
11/03 03:23 PM
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