Academics, Free To Condemn
In every society whose totalitarian rule set out to subdue dissent, the first target was always the academics, the institutes of higher learning, to either shut them down, or have them agree to fashion their modus operandi and priorities after that of the state, eschewing free thought and debate in the search for excellence in education. Currently, Hugo Chavez is having his go at Venezuela's institutes of higher learning, and he's discovering it's a goal that keeps eluding him.Universities, institutes of higher education, value their freedom to do research, to validate mankind's higher cerebral aspirations, to pick and probe and search in the name of science. If freedom of speech and association is held in high esteem anywhere, it is in the halls of academe.
All social revolutions appear to target their institutions of higher education; traditionally the opportunities to attain greater educational opportunities was the precinct of the enabled class. The aristocracy, the nobility, those whose great good fortune it was to inherit wealth so they hadn't a need to labour physically to keep body and soul together.
When social or cultural revolutions occurred, from the mighty French Revolution, to the upheavals of Communism in Stalin's Russia and Mao Tse Tung's China, it was the educated, the intelligentsia who were handily sacrificed; those who would question and demand logical responses.
Counter-intuitively, or perhaps just to prove how adept mankind is at dissimulation and contrariness, it seemed always to be those who benefited from advanced institutionalized education that gave their unqualified support to the goals of those who championed and authorized these great social revolutionary events in recent human history.
While scholars in Russia and China were swept away in a deadly flood of cleansing, their Western counterparts cheered on the revolutionary fervour and ideals.
Which brings us to the current issue of British academics critical of what they deem Israel's "occupation" and treatment of Palestinians, campaigning to boycott Israeli academics in a brave show of solidarity for the maltreated Palestinians. No scientific exchanges, nor guest speakers, no welcome within Britain for Israeli scientists, academics or university students.
Academics in France and Australia are not far behind their British counterparts in condemning the State of Israel and targeting its academics to ensure the message is understood. The principles of global and free intellectual exchange manifest in our institutes of higher learning are set aside in the interests of taking a stand.
Where intellectuals align themselves with the lethally deluded left to politicize knowledge.
On May 30, British academics represented by the Union of Colleges and Universities voted in favour of boycotting their professional peers in Israel. A sad malignancy, this affront to freedom of intellectual exchange. Even during the Cold War when the USSR was at odds with the West, their scientists were free to exchange data for the betterment of human understanding.
The bitterly recalcitrant left will have its way. And deny there is any element of anti-Semitism involved; merely a well-deserved censure of the State of Israel. And here's a turn-about: The British House of Lords has denounced the motion..."Academic freedom is the first target of tyrannies, and those who ignore attacks on academic pursuits are co-operating with tyranny."
Columbia University's president, Lee C. Bollinger declared the boycott "utterly antithetical to the fundamental values of the academy", adding "...if the British UCU is intent on pursuing its deeply misguided policy, then it should add Columbia to its boycott list...for we gladly stand together with our many colleagues in British, American and Israeli universities against such intellectually shoddy and politically biased attempts to hijack the central mission of higher education."
A spokesperson for the University of Toronto has no comment on the situation, other than to insist it values academic freedom. University of British Columbia president Stephen Toope considers the situation "an affront to modern society, [which] must be condemned". Fearfully diluted responses, contrasting with the American Association of University Professors who pull no punches.
McGill University in Montreal had plenty to say: "The boycott of Israeli universities which is being considered by the United Kingdom's University and College Union should be thoroughly condemned. We live in a world in which universities and their faculty members should seek to promote scholarly understanding and to remove barriers to academic exchange and expression.
"It would be a gross violation of the values which form the foundation, and progressive evolution, of civil society if the UCU endorsed this action. We urge our British university colleagues to reject the boycott proposal.
"We join in solidarity with president Lee Bollinger of Columbia University and chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau of the University of California, Berkeley, in support of unfettered interaction with Israeli scholars and institutions and in saying to those members of the UCU who would pursue this deplorable action: If you choose to isolate Israeli universities, you should add McGill to your boycott list. We will stand steadfast against those who seek to undermine academic freedom."
The Canadian Association for University Teachers has been silent on the issue. However, the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship has been the only Canadian organization to unequivocally protest the British campaign, calling it as they see it: "academic cannibalism".
Labels: Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, June 20, 2007
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