No solution in boycotting Israel. By George Kerevan. The Scotsman, May 10, 2013.
Kerevan:
Severing
academic links with Israel is pursued vigorously by the far left in Britain,
principally through the University and College Union Left, a ginger group in
the main lecturers’ trade union that is dominated by the Socialist Workers
Party. The British Marxist left has adopted Palestinian nationalism as its
moral crusade.
. . . .
[Stephen]
Hawkings’ (inconsistent) stand is dangerous because it violates the cardinal
virtues of scientific discourse that emerged with the Enlightenment: that the
rational pursuit of knowledge, unencumbered by political or religious
prejudice, betters all mankind in the end. That the free pursuit of truth is
more likely to undermine ignorance and oppression than strengthen it. And that
ending national and religious enmities is better achieved by academics meeting
and co-operating, than by keeping them apart.
Of
course, free academic discourse does not necessarily provide instant solutions
to great political problems. But denying academic freedom makes those problems
worse. Supporters of the boycott will reply that Israel is a colonial entity
that limits the academic freedom of Palestinians. For the record, I think
Israel’s 46-year occupation of Gaza and the West Bank has been a disaster for
Israel itself – militarising the state, encouraging religious fundamentalism in
both communities and cutting Israel off from its friends.
Equally,
I remember that Gaza was originally part of Egypt and the West Bank part of
Jordan, and that Israel did not “colonise” them but occupied them in
self-defence during the Six-Day War in 1967. I also remember that neither Cairo
nor Amman respected the human rights of the local Palestinians during their
“occupation”. And I know that the Egyptians and Jordanians were only too happy
to abandon these territories to the Israelis rather than confront emerging
troublesome Palestinian nationalism.
Israel
was not founded by religious “colonisers” but by left-wing socialists – SWP
please note. Certainly, many Jews came to Israel from abroad, fleeing the
pogroms of Europe. But they also came fleeing pogroms in North Africa, Iraq and
Iran. The factious ethnic shifts in the modern Middle East are not down to
Zionism but more complex processes: Arab nationalism has also left its negative
mark on the region’s indigenous Christians, Armenians and Kurds.
My
point is that the history of Israel and Palestine has been thoroughly distorted
by the boycott campaign. If anyone is naïve in this debate, it is the far left
who think the abolition of Israel will result in a secular, democratic
Palestine with free universities teaching the theory of evolution to women
students. Quite the opposite.
The
best answer to the problem of Israeli and Palestinian co-existence remains the
negotiation of a Two State solution. Unfortunately, the so-called Arab Spring
(which has encouraged Sunni fundamentalism) and the as yet unfathomable
consequences of the Syrian civil war have pushed both sides on to the
defensive. Israel prefers “facts on the ground”, which means more settlements
on Palestinian territory. That strategy only isolates Israel from its friends
and plays directly into the hands of those who lay blame for he present impasse
solely at the door of the Jewish state.
Among
these I include the Church of Scotland, which has blundered into the
Israel-Palestine issue with great big muddy boots. A report destined for this
month’s General Assembly says that the Bible does not promise the Jewish people
a home in the Holy Land. The Old Testament promise “I will give unto thee, and
to thy seed after thee, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession”
was actually “metaphorical.”
Of
course, the modern Kirk thinks that everything in the Bible is metaphorical, so
these theological contortions should come as no surprise. If the Kirk thinks
that Jehovah got it wrong, it should have the courage of its liberal
convictions and tell Him so.
As an
atheist, however, I don’t need the Kirk to tell me that the Old Testament is no
justification for illegal settlements in 2013. But trying to isolate Israel
merely strengthens the religious fanatics of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran – who
don’t treat their religious texts metaphorically.
