Anti-Semitisim: The Socialism of Fools

In a brilliant editorial, Robert Fulford writes in Canada's National Post [$, unfortunately; thanks to Jack for the link]:

In the most fetid swamplands of leftwing British academe, it is not enough to condemn Bush, Blair and the Iraq war while endorsing all Palestinian claims to the West Bank and Jerusalem. New rules require that you also punish Israeli professors and make them suffer for what you regard as their country’s sins, even if the particular professors are critics of the Israeli government.

This argument, sometimes called the Academic Intifada, looked like a temporary aberration when it surfaced three years ago. Today it’s become a permanent (though by no means triumphant) belief among certain intellectuals.

... The British may disapprove of the Chinese government but no one proposes banning academic relations with China — or even with the U.S., which many British professors regard as the world’s most dangerous nation.

Only Israel has been selected as a target for boycotting.

I posted several items about the AUT and its discriminatory, anti-Semitic, boycott attempt last spring [see here, here, here, and here].

Fortunately, saner members of the academy at large are resisting these anti-Semitic tendencies. One web-site which I recommend, and which Fulford mentions as well, is that of David Hirsch, called "Engage".

Other related valuable websites and blogs include

• Melanie Phillips Diary
• Normblog
• Little Green Footballs
• Benador
• Adloyada