Why the Calls for an Academic Boycott of Israel are Fallacious

The proposed boycotts of Israeli scholars by some members of UK teachers' unions have always seemed wrong to me. I oppose them on two grounds:

1. they are anathema to academic freedom, which I prize very highly no matter how much some "scholarly" research offends me, and
2. it seems so unfair and unreasonable to single out Israel when that country has so much more freedom than any other country in the middle east and there are so many other countries (China, anyone??) that restrict freedoms so much more seriously.

Recently I re-watched the 1960 movie, Exodus. (Actually, I much preferred the book). I was struck by how much, during the 1960s, the entire liberal left supported Israel then in contrast with their views now. What has changed? The main thing that has changed is that Jordan, Syria, and Egypt lost two wars and the Israelis took steps to protect themselves against future possible attacks. Odd, isn't it.



And while we're on the topic, why haven't the UK leftie academics called for a boycott of Arab academics because of the treatment of Jews and Christians in so many Arab countries?



.